What the NFL Taught the NHL

On Superbowl Sunday, millions gathered around their TV or congregated in a local bar to watch the biggest sports event unfold. It wasn’t just the avid sports fan that watched. Everyone was there…families, co-workers, kids, moms, and grandmas.

So what does the National Hockey League have to do with Superbowl Sunday? John Collins, former CEO of the Cleveland Browns, became the COO for the NHL in 2006, and uses his NFL business experience for NHL inspiration.

When starting in his new role, his main questions were: How do you turn a business around and what kind of leader does it take?

His answer, and the key takeaway from this article? Know who your “no” and “yes” men and women are. When looking for new events and avenues to capture and reactivate a bigger fan base, Collins was confronted with all the reasons why his idea would never work in the NHL.  Which leads to his mantra: when playing with new ideas, structure input so that your employees and peers tell you why it CAN happen and how it could be done. Only after this, think of possible obstacles you might face.

And just because you know your audience and product, it doesn’t mean that others do.  “When we talked to the media agencies and marketing companies, it’s not that they didn’t value the NHL, it’s just that they didn’t know how to spend money on it,” Collins says. “The league needed to articulate in a pretty clear way what we were going to do.” The lesson for the rest of us business leaders? Clearly articulate your vision, strategy and value to your employees, customers, investors and potential clients.

Who knew there was so much to learn from hockey?

What about you? What helps you shape and inform your business and management decisions? Past experience? Mentors? Let me know in the comments section.