Tom Brady's Leadership Playbook

Do you need a reason to keep going and not quit? Learn from one of the greatest, Tom Brady. Tom started his football career late and slowly, but he leveraged a growth mindset and a competitive spirit to become one of the best athletes of all time.

We now know Tom Brady as one of the best quarterbacks ever to play, but he got a late start in football, he wasn’t very good when he started, and he had to overcome more adversity than most would go through on his journey to becoming a Hall of Fame, Super Bowl winning QB.

In an interview titled The Leadership Playbook, Brady says he didn’t start playing football until he was a freshman in high school and was the backup QB who never played on a team that didn’t win any games.

He said he became the starting JV QB the next year because the starting quarterback chose to quit football to play basketball.

Brady grew into his body as a junior and became the starting varsity quarterback while working with a mentor who helped him improve his mechanics.

This experience taught him how to have a competitive attitude, discipline, and determination to improve, as well as how to surround himself with people who could help him improve.

Brady earned a scholarship to the University of Michigan. In his freshman year, he went from being the 7th-string quarterback to the 4th-string quarterback. In his sophomore year, he was the 3rd-string quarterback, and in his junior year, he was the backup on a national championship team.

He said the grind of working his way through the depth chart prepared him to start and be the captain as a senior.

Despite having success at Michigan, he wasn’t drafted until the 6th round as the 199th pick by the New England Patriots. 

In his rookie season, Brady was the 4th string quarterback, and in his 2nd year, he was the back-up until the starter Drew Bledsoe got knocked out of the game in the 2nd game of the season, he became the starter and never left the field after that.

How does something like this happen?

Growth mindset and the power of yet.

Brady always believed in himself and his ability to get better, and he surrounded himself with great people who taught him well, motivated him when he needed it, and gave him great advice and perspective.

When Tom was a backup, he said he might only get two reps in practice, but a mentor told him to make those two reps the best reps possible. Then those two reps turned to 4, then to 8, and kept increasing until he became the starter.

Some people would have quit in his situation, but he just kept fighting to get better, and that fighter’s mindset helped him win Super Bowls in the NFL.

FEA

Tom was later asked about FEA, and he said it means F’em all. He said there are so many people in the world trying to tear other people down, and when he played with the Patriots, so many people wanted to see them lose or made excuses for why they won so much. Tom said their mindset was to take down whoever was in their way, and did this by focusing on doing the right thing every day. He said they didn’t always win and their best wasn’t always enough, but that approach gave them more of an opportunity to succeed.

Brady said this mindset created the energy and action he needed to be successful on the field, and he talked about how he never had any friends on the field, only enemies whom he wanted to dominate.

Internal vs External Motivation

Brady then talked about the importance of being motivated. He said some people wake up and are internally motivated, and others are externally motivated and need an extra push, and he talks about how he challenges people to create a more motivated and competitive environment.

Brady said their job wasn’t to just show up and punch a clock, they were there to push each other to success, and when you do, there is enough credit to go around for everybody. He said the greatest joy is experiencing those moments with other people and he has 1,000s of brothers because of the journey.

There is a lot more in the video, including his thoughts during his record-breaking Super Bowl comeback against the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl 51, so check it out!