Russell Wilson wears, and has worn, many hats: athlete, sports analyst, entrepreneur. But as he traded his helmet and uniform for the world of business, he had to figure out how to lead a non-football team with lessons from the football field.
Wilson spent 14 seasons as a professional NFL player, leading the Seattle Seahawks to a Super Bowl victory in 2014 as quarterback. Since then, he has transitioned to a role behind the camera as an analyst for CBS Sports and the NFL Today. He has also moved toward the entrepreneurship and philanthropy space, becoming an owner of American soccer club Seattle Sounders and the founder of “Why Not You?” and brand management company West2East Empire.
While Wilson was used to the high-energy leadership style of a football team, he uses a different approach to lead his businesses, he shared at the Fast Company Innovation Festival in New York on Wednesday.
“I’m definitely intense, don’t get me wrong. I’m definitely a nonstop guy,” Wilson said. “But I believe that we can uplift each other and inspire each other and still motivate each other, and still encourage each other and still do well.”
The lesson has carried through to Wilson’s work even when that leadership style wasn’t necessarily present in all aspects of his career.
“I think that’s something that I believe is very hard to do in the sports world sometimes, because it’s really about what you’re doing for me, and what you’re not doing, and the production side of stuff,” Wilson said. “But the best teams I’ve ever been on—I think Coach Carroll [of the Seattle Seahawks] always did this really well—was he really cared about the individual.”
But for Wilson, leading with care is about more than just inspiration. It’s creating an environment ripe for development.
“When you care about the individuals around you and when you build that relationship, people are willing to sacrifice for you. People are willing to go the extra mile. People are willing to share with you when somebody celebrates these moments. And I think the same thing can happen in business and life,” Wilson shared.
He added: “We can have our cake and eat it too.”
