Next Person Up

The NFL leadership council deals with COVID cases continuously to make sure the season is completed. It has presented unique challenges to its leaders, coaches, and executives. Besides COVID, players missing games has created significant problems for all the coaches. Week to week, starters like Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott have suffered season-ending injuries that have created huge voids for new players to fill. With roughly 35 percent of starters missing games already this season, the mantra "next person up" has become a daily slogan.

We must all prepare our teams to handle the "next person up" mentality. We cannot just talk about being ready to play when your time arrives, but rather, being fully prepared to play. Being ready and being prepared are two different paths. Being ready implies physically ready; being prepared implies mentally and physically. And that void affects our ability to lead during a crisis.

How do we achieve this next person up preparedness? Documented in his 1992 book "We Were Soldiers Once….and Young," Lt. Colonel Hal Moore describes how he trained his soldiers "two levels up." Every soldier must learn the duties, responsibilities, and skillset two levels of leadership above them.

Moore instilled a culture of learning and mentoring, which was essential for the unit's casualties anticipated in Vietnam. Moore knew he would lose soldiers. The fighting, the surprise attacks, and the lack of a uniformed plan made Moore know he was in a disruptive environment, but he had to face his situation's reality. Which meant he needed to get the next person ready to lead. While it’s a difficult reality to face, Moore and others knew that preparing for those realities would be easier than denying them and being severely ill-prepared for what lay ahead.

So he did the following 4 things:

1. Leverage your Team Leaders. For the New Zealand All Blacks rugby club, this is a core tenet of their team and success. They call it "Pass the Ball," meaning leaders create leaders.

2. Empower people to excel. People will rise and fall to your expectation, so be sure to set a positive tone.

3. Challenge Everyone to keep players (especially role players) from falling through the cracks. Challenge athletes to get better every day and track their progress. Lead everyone every day.

4. Set the Expectations. Tell everyone in the organization what you expect. We have all been training for this magical moment. Embrace the chance.

Saying next person up only works if we prepare, not just if we’re ready.

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