Seahawks Recap
Tribal Leadership, Seattle Style
“If you hear a voice within you say "You cannot paint", then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced.” - Vincent Van Gogh
Over this recent football season we watched a powerful story unfold. A cast of characters filled our pages and screens with such pure positive emotion for months, every moment building on the last. If you're from Washington State, this story makes you proud to your core, Seahawks fan or not. It's a story of a team that empowered a city that united an entire state, through passion.
That passion was far beyond a football. It's passion for life, for humanity, for recognizing all of the things we shouldn't be able to do and then quietly succeeding in the face of that impossibility.
There is something magnetic about them, these people that have come together and created a team of underdogs. They've created a team not just built of athletes, but fans. It started with something incredible in their leadership. Even the world could see the way that each individual involved was of one mind, one focus. Within in the Seattle Seahawks we watched as a tribe unfolded and embraced all of us – long time cronies and new recruits – with equal enthusiasm.
“Aerodynamically, the bumble bee shouldn't be able to fly, but the bumble bee doesn't know it so it goes on flying anyway.” Mary Kay Ash
A tribe is a culture where a group of individuals are bound together by a shared passion and belief in a core set of values and ideals that are transformative.
The power of tribes start with their
nucleus. It's always a strong, humble leader that understands the importance of people and positivity, and how to combine the two into a combustible energy force. They partner with their co-leaders and empower them.
The center of that power for the Hawks is beloved Coach Carroll. He is the one who takes the people in his nation and believes in them, thanks and recognizes them for their part in the overall success. He's created peers out of his athletes and allows them to live out their interpretation of the values he's instilled in them and that he himself lives out every day. His own example of a life filled with giving, hope, and unwavering belief in what he stands for is like magic.
But the strength of the power itself isn't the nucleus – that's just the relay. The power comes from the people
that surround him and how they move that current beyond themselves into the community. It creates action that is so energizing that you can't help but be moved and take part. It's positivity is contagious and it infects you with things like ambition, drive, and motivation. It becomes a culture you're compelled to live.
“An individual artist needs only a thousand true fans in her tribe. It's enough.”- Seth Godin
Now, some of you may be wondering, why is this kind of blog being posted by a commercial print shop? We love this story because in a way, it is our own. We've only recently embraced the terms of culture, tribes, nations, and the core... and the Seahawks rise to the spotlight for this concept couldn't have come at a better time. We have a living, breathing, successful example of a culture right there in front of our own team. We embraced the Hawks fever with a vengeance both inside our walls and out – they were doing our thing, on this giant scale. And they were showing that it works.
Their passion as a team for their sport and the people that love it only impressed upon us the importance of living that passion for our own sport every day. Internal projects that were on back burners were pulled to the forefront and tackled as a core. defined ourselves and our vision for our clients to fully embrace what we live out every day, aAnd yes, this does impact our clients. When you choose to work with a company who has a tribal mentality, you're winning. You become an integral part of their story, no matter how big or how small your job is. You're embraced as family, considered a friend, and you know you have someone on your side just as passionate about the success and quality of your print marketing efforts as you are. That's not just your work out there, it's ours too … we'll fight for your product with just as much zest as you would.
"To think is easy. To act is difficult. To act as one thinks is the most difficult." - Johann Wolfgang Von Goeth
If you haven't noticed it already, we'd like to introduce you to our culture. You may have gotten a glimpse of it online, in our community, and of course in our business. Our goal is that we live our culture with such strength that each and every one of you love it as much as we do. Through our community campaigns and #PrintGivesBack, we invite you to join with us and touch others – just click here to find out how.
We'd love to have you on this journey with us. In true 12th Man spirit, we'll continue to watch the Seahawks as our example – we're sure you will too. After all, positivity is magnetic and powerful.
always winning.
Always.
"Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing." - Vince Lombardi
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/winning.html#CA8uIqEy06x8pYvH.99
2 TheCORE | Jan Feb 2014