Tom Brady and the 3 Hallmarks of a Great Teammate

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Tom Brady has been the MVP of the NFL. He has won seven Super Bowls and is universally considered the G.O.A.T. — the greatest quarterback of all time. 

Brady prided himself on being willing to fit into the culture, not being above criticism or coaching. He was one of the guys, despite his success on and off the field. 

Recently in the Harvard Business review, Brady teamed with Nitan Nohria to discuss something else Brady achieved during his fabulous career, being a great teammate. 

Brady shared his views on being a great teammate for the article. 

1.  A Team Focused Philosophy. 

Being a great teammate always means putting the team first.  

“We always tried to be an ideal teammate. Much of my approach came from being born into an amazing family and having a strong upbringing, and this orientation deepened when I was in high school and college,” he writes.

“Playing football at the University of Michigan, we had a team-centric philosophy that became central to who I am today. There’s an old saying in sports: ‘Do you want to be a star, or do you want to be a champion?’ At Michigan, I was focused on our team goals—on winning games and championships for our school, and on being a great teammate rather than achieving individual goals. That attitude stayed with me throughout my NFL career.”

2. Put the team first, always, even when facing personal adversity. 

Brady discuss his Michigan experience.

“That was one of the first lessons I learned about leadership. In college, I ‘red-shirted’ as a freshman, and I didn’t get to play much during my second year. In my third year, I thought I had a good shot at being the starting quarterback, but I was beaten out (fair and square) by a great leader and quarterback named Brian Griese, who went on to play many successful years in the NFL. My job was to support and push Brian in practice to help him get better.”

3. Understand and complement the style of the formal leader. 

“I spent most of my career playing for Bill Belichick. He’s the greatest coach in the history of the NFL, and many fans are familiar with his coaching style. He’s very intense and matter-of-fact. He grew up as the son of a coach at the Naval Academy, and that’s where he learned his coaching style,” Brady writes.

“He is a product of that rigorous military environment. The focus was on discipline and accountability, not on empathy or compassion. No matter how we played, Coach Belichick’s coaching style was to motivate the team by looking for weaknesses and areas to improve.”

There are so many other gems in this article from Brady as he uses his experiences to help others understand the characteristic of being a great teammate.

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