Sometime ago my wife and I were discussing our favorite Hollywood personalities and right at the top of my list was Will Smith. I used to love watching the ‘Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’, I struggle to think of a single movie he was in that I didn’t like (okay, Wild West was close), and even though he started out as a rapper, he’s someone I wouldn’t have a problem letting my kids listen to.
I always knew I liked his “calm, cool, collected” approach, as my wife likes to say, but when I saw this video I knew I liked him even more.
While there are definitely some marketing lessons that could be taken from this video, more than anything I just wanted to share it with you because I really like what he has to say.
Enjoy!
Some of my favorite quotes are:
- “If you’ve got a dream, you’ve got to protect it.” – from his role in The Pursuit of Happyness
- “I want to do good. I want the world to be better because I was here.”
“I want to do good. I want the world to be better because I was here.”
Even though I’m a HUGE Carolina Panthers fan, I have absolutely nothing but respect and admiration for Drew Brees, the quarterback of our division rival, the New Orleans Saints. I should probably have a better idea of our won-loss record against the Saints, and I think we have a pretty good winning percentage against them few years that Brees has been there, but every time we’re set to play them it makes for a nervous week leading up to the game.
Why? Because plain and simple he’s one of the best.
Sure, there are guys like Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, and Brett Favre that get a lot of the attention, but the numbers that Brees has put up the past few years have really made him unavoidable. He came within just a handful of yards last year of breaking Dan Marino’s record for most passing yards in a season, and this year he became the most accurate quarterback in NFL history.
None of that happens without a great deal of hard work and preparation and that’s one of the reasons I love everything about Drew Brees.
You see, running a business can be a lot like playing quarterback in the NFL. You’ve got to know EVERYTHING that’s going on at all times and you’re responsible for directing the show. Your teammates (or employees) are depending on you to give them direction and they’re watching you to see how you react when the going gets tough.
When you get in that huddle at the two minute warning and need to drive down for a touchdown, they’d better see that steely resolve in your eyes and hear it in your voice or you’re not going to be successful.
You also need to put in the work ahead of time. If you’re just showing up on game day, but you haven’t done your homework, you haven’t studied your competition, and you don’t have a solid game plan in place, whether it’s football or in business, you’re in big trouble.
Drew Brees is an incredible example of how to do it right. As a business owner, I’m always watching and looking for people I can emulate and follow to help me improve myself and my business. I can tell you that in spite of the team he plays for, Drew Brees is one of those guys.
Check out these videos and see exactly what I’m talking about:
