5 Lessons From Brett Favre

GL Hoffman

Did you see the Minnesota Vikings, San Francisco 49ers game on Sunday?

Brett Favre, nearly 40, threw the game-winning touchdown pass with two seconds left on the clock.

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Here are some observations:

1. You can’t beat experience when time is running out. In other words, when business gets tough at your company, you might want to rely on those older workers to get you into the end zone.

2. Passion is contagious. I’m thinking no one in the huddle was wondering if Brett was "engaged" in the task at hand. Are your leaders sufficiently engaged?

3. We all still love our humble heroes in moments of glory. Humility is a character trait of most true leaders.

4. Success lessens the pain. If you watched the game, you know that Brett took some hits. At an age when many of us can barely walk after raking the leaves, he was getting hit by men the size of locomotives. I’m thinking he still felt good on Monday morning.

5. “Prove it” is something we have to do, every day. Here is a future Hall of Famer, at the end of his career, and he still had to prove he could do the job. All of us should approach our own work with such an attitude.

The next game for Brett Favre is against the Green Bay Packers on Monday night. I am going to the game—and I am bringing earplugs.

G.L. Hoffman is a serial entrepreneur and venture investor/operator/incubator/mentor. Two of his companies have traveled the entire success path from the garage to IPO. Currently, he is chairman of JobDig, which operates LinkUp, one of the fastest growing job search engines. His blog can be found at WhatWouldDadSay.com.