Jalen Hurts & Leadership Lessons from Philadelphia’s Bird Life (Eagles)

There’s an awful lot of good football (as in American) getting played these days by Philadelphia’s Eagles.  I’m not a leading football fan/expert, but even I can see it.  The level of play (and the winning) comes from multiple factors, of course, but I’d like to highlight parts of Philadelphia Inquirer’s Marcus Hayes’ column from 12/4/22 to highlight a few leadership best practices coincident with the Eagles achieving the best in league record.

As for background, just know that the Eagles replaced a young, originally very highly regarded and successful quarterback in the course of the 2020 season.  It was messy.  The new, also young quarterback, Jalen Hurts, had and has lots of skills but were they truly elite level?  Many believed that Hurts had one ability in abundance, namely the potential to lead his offensive teammates-- their work, especially that of the line, being physical to the point of brutal as well as often complex.  How’s he doing?

First, there’s the shared joy of executing, of simply getting the job done and of understanding the powerful elixir that executing provides to battered professionals.  Vision is great, but actually getting the thing done?  Sweetness. Columnist Hayes quotes Hurts,

“This team enjoys the feeling of winning.  We’ve talked about some of these things.  Execution fuels emotion.  You go out there and you talk about something or your coach is on your butt about something throughout the week—‘You need to do it this way’ or ‘You need to do it like this,’—you go out and execute it at the most important moment of the game, execution fuels emotion.” 

Vision is all fine and good. Still, top performance, high caliber execution provides feedback worthy of savoring and sharing-- the experience of shared, demonstrated competence.  So satisfying.  So invigorating, especially in a ‘beat you down’ job… like playing in the NFL.  Therefore, help your teammates have that experience and pass the rejuvenating elixir around.
Second, Hurts leads with love.  What!?  There may be no crying in baseball (thank you Tom Hanks in the movie A League of Their Own), but there’s love in football?  Columnist Hayes writes,

“Jason Hurts lives leadership every second of his life.  He leads by example.  He leads by inclusion.  He leads with love.”

My late Wharton colleague Sigal Barsade carefully defined and carefully studied the nature and implications of an organizational culture of collegial love.  ChristianaCare in Delaware dedicates itself to delivering healthcare with love and excellence.  But the NFL!?  You must be kidding, right?
Consider this tale as told by Philly Inquirer columnist Hayes, but first know that

1. Jordan Mailata plays left offensive tackle for the Eagles, a position of special consequence to a right-handed throwing quarterback like Hurts.The left side is Hurts’ blind side, the side from which a 300+ pound person from the other team can clobber him, full tilt and unseen with possible disastrous results, i.e., serious injury and/or a game determining fumble.Mailata is massive, even by NFL standards (6’8’’, 366 pounds), and a gifted athlete making the transition from Australian rugby to American football.Already good, he keeps getting better.

2. 1 second is a long time during an NFL passing play, especially for the quarterback trying to pass (throw) the football and avoid being ‘sacked’ or tackled while doing so.Generally, quarterbacks have under 3 seconds to throw.

Now the tale according to Hayes:

“Mailata gave up two sacks at Houston on Nov. 3.  After the second one, Hurts found Mailata on the sideline.  This is the moment where {other named, HOF quarterbacks} would scream at their left tackle.  Not Hurts.  Quietly, Hurts encouraged Mailata to trust his technique, then told him, ‘Give me one more second.’

Mailata has given up one sack in the three games since, and he averaged an outstanding 77.0 pass-blocking grade, according to profootballfocus.com, his best stretch of the season.”    
To recap,

1. Pursue and celebrate great execution, individually and collectively.

2. Support and encourage the development of talent…even after you have taken a ‘hit’—or two.

Call it ‘love’… or just call it good leadership.

Be well.
Keep paddling.