Fall 2005
“Issues Affecting Re putation Management and Strategic Communications”
Bill Belichik: Communications Guru
Sports and business have always shared a rhetorical bond. Both
feature stars, the desire to compete and win, rivals, managers,
playbooks, equipment and records. More than a few chief exec-
utives envision themselves as coaches, the strategists who white-
board the Xs and Os and lean on athletic metaphors to charac-
terize team goals and motivate players.
Sports or business enterprises often find their reputations indi-
visible from the reputations of their public leaders. Bill Gates
and Microsoft are inseparable, for example. Richard Branson
embodies Virgin Atlantic. Red Auerbach personified the Boston
Celtics for decades. The New York Yankees may forever be
linked to George Steinbrenner.
Success in both sports and business is determined by execution,
and chief executives with shrewd communication abilities play
a dominant role in positioning their organization’s success.
These leaders can define public perception – a lopsided victory,
a stunning upset or, in bookmaking parlance, nothing more
than “covering the spread.”
The Question of Character
After listening to the litany of excuses, truths and half truths
spewed by big league baseball players and former “profession-
als” during the recent Congressional hearings on steroid use in
professional baseball, I was left with a hollow feeling. How
could the greatest of American games be threatened to its very
core? The question was not one of home run records or phar-
macologically-fueled feats of athleticism, but a question of
character — of the players, management, and fans, as well as
that of the modern-day game. It is up to us all to ensure base-
ball gets back on track and does not slip into mediocrity or
complacency.
The game is supposed to be bigger than any player. You need-
n’t fret over performance if you are playing to the best of your
abilities. The message to kids playing baseball or any sport
should always be — play fair, don’t cheat, practice, and use
natural abilities and skills to play at your highest level. If you
do this, you will always be the winner, and may even take the
game to a higher level of play and achievement.
vol. 5 no.
A few weeks ago, Bill Belichik and the Super Bowl champion
New England Patriots began another title defense. Belichik, 53,
has led the Patriots to three Super Bowl victories and the “win-
ningest” record in NFL postseason history. Considered the
game’s premier strategist and manipulator of athletic talent, he
also delivers what the media consider to be among the most
boring pre and post-game news conferences in the history of
professional sports.
Belichik is the guru of drab not just in his game day attire, but
also in his rhetoric. If not for his uncanny ability to successfully
execute week after week, he would have quickly been branded a
flake. Instead, his reputation is one of undisputed genius.
Belichik offers valuable lessons for strategic communicators;
he’s an expert at positioning his team’s success or failure in the
most positive light week after week. Five traits stand out:
{SEE BELICHIK - PG 2 }
Ted Williams, the only mortal to bat over .400, personified this
greatness. Williams was temperamental, maybe self absorbed,
often brooding, but he took a God-given natural ability and
honed it into the greatest swing the game has ever known. It was
said of Williams that his vision was so keen he could see the
seams on the baseball as it approached the plate. He was alleged
to have been able to spot the individual frames on a motion pic-
ture. Williams was great, but his most admirable quality and
perhaps most overlooked was selflessness. Williams served in
the Navy as a pilot during both WW II and the Korean War.
Williams personified character. His reputation is secure in the
annals of sports because he did it his way, but he also did it the
right way.
This issue of The Mount Vernon Report chronicles some of the bet-
ter virtues of sports and what’s involved in being a team player.
If sports are a metaphor for life, in this issue we try to examine
aspects of playing a game, playing it well, being successful, and
living life well, too.
{ B E L I C H I K - continued from PG 1 }
1. Research: Michael Holley’s 2004 book “Patriot Reign”
details the admirable preparation that Belichik undertakes
prior to speaking with the media masses. His preparation,
while brief, is concentrated and intense. He spends at least 15
to 20 intensive minutes preparing for each news conference.
He reviews what’s in the news that day and what might be
news tomorrow. He prepares talking points and he shares
them with his players, who reinforce his key messages. He
learns as much as he can about each reporter on the beat.
When the microphones are switched on, he is intentionally
bland and indifferent about everything, which works to defuse
a media feeding frenzy on any one topic.
2. Discipline: The level of preparation Belichick brings to com-
munications would be wasted if he did not have the backbone
to execute against it consistently. Few CEOs stay on message
like Belichick. Here’s a four-month dose:
Oct. 3, 2004: “We’re just trying to win a game.”
October 15: “What we do this week won’t have much effect on
next week’s game.”
November 3: “We’re not big on talking about what happened
last year or two years ago or eight years ago.”
November 8: “I think every week is important and every week is
its own game within a season… We only have 16 of them,
so every one is critical.”
December 13: “Every year’s its own year, and everybody starts at
the same place.”
Jan. 10, 2005: “I don’t know if any of those games really mean
much.”
January 20: “Really, all we’re trying to do is win a game here.”
January 31: “We’re not really defending anything. This year we
started the season with the same record as everybody else.”
3. Humility: No one will confuse Bill Belichik with Bill Parcells,
former New York Giants coach. He epitomizes the public rela-
tions maxim of “actions before words.” His performance
speaks for itself. He expertly dodges any comparisons between
himself and coaching legends like Paul Brown and Vince
Lombardi. Belichik keeps it real with self-effacing humor,
which usually comes across as hysterical because it appears
completely out of character. Asked about being named by Time
magazine as one of the world’s 100 “most powerful and influ-
ential people,” he deadpanned, “It was flattering to be on that
list when I can’t even get my dog to come when I call him.”
“Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision.
The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives.
It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.”
~ Andrew Carnegie
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“Individual commitment to a
group effort – that is what makes
a team work, a company work,
a society work, a civilization work.”
~ Vince Lombardi
4. Respect: When it comes to forward-looking statements,
Belichik is the SEC’s dream. He smothers his rivals in respect,
no matter their record, and does nothing to set expectations.
Before the January 16 play-off game with Peyton Manning’s
Indianapolis Colts, Belichik said: “The Colts, they are one of
the best.” After the Patriots dismantled them, he said, “We
just tried to hang on.” A week later, assessing the play-off
against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Belichik said, “We’ll have our
work cut out for us.” After the Patriots dismantled them, he
said, “Today, we got a few breaks and things went our way.”
The indefatigable Belichik was still at the task of defining
reality during Patriots’ rookie camp this past April, telling
reporters, “We’re just trying to get one foot in front of the
other without falling down.”
5. Prudence: Strategy? What strategy? Belichik gives nothing
away. Why discuss strategy when your rivals have just spent a
week reviewing hundreds of hours of game films from five dif-
ferent camera angles to try to figure how to beat you or what
you might do to try to beat them? Read Belichik’s pre-game
remarks from week to week and your brain will ache with his
incessant mantra of the need to “play well as a team” while
never providing a single clue as to what his team specifically
needs to do to win. “The team that wins will be the team that
plays the best from here on out,” he said as the Patriots headed
into the playoffs in January. How’s that for insight?
Belichik was more visible than ever this spring on the New
England commencement speaker circuit, and will easily earn mil-
lions some day delivering corporate motivational speeches on
leadership. But if you ever hear him play dumb on how a leader’s
communication skills dovetail with reputation management,
don’t believe a word.
~ Ed Cafasso
In the Board Room or on the Playing Field, the Formula
for Success Remains the Same
The basic principles of successful sports teams are emerging in
cubicles, board rooms and water cooler conversations across the
nation. Like never before, the terminology, mental preparation,
and practice-makes-perfect thought process of successful sports
teams is being embraced by business.
On the playing field, sports teams work together to win the
game, beat a league or personal record. At the office, colleagues
work together as a team to accomplish a goal – win a new client,
accomplish quarterly targets or beat sales numbers from the pre-
vious year. Whatever the goal, it can only be achieved with sup-
port from all team members.
Whether a team of three or 20 people, it’s challenging to build a
group of individuals who can function independently yet be will-
ing to work together, share core values and ethics, and believe in
the team’s goal or mission. A team cannot rely on the manager or
owner for success – members are accountable to each other and
must cultivate their own success. A good leader or manager can
inspire success – but the members of the team must create it.
Hewlett Packard (HP) and Motorola are known for their high
performance ethic when working alone or in teams. Regardless of
the project, HP and Motorola employees embrace a “we are in
this together” mentality, and work toward a common goal with
the collective interest and commitment of the group.
Basic principles of successful teams
In sports and business, successful teams rely on four common
characteristics. These four characteristics are simple to under-
stand, but surprisingly difficult to carry out.
Commitment is required of all team members — commitment to
the team itself, its mission, goals and purpose. Members of a team
are more likely to commit once each member has been assigned a
specific task or responsibility. By making each team member
responsible, the team will uniformly move toward its goal.
Each team member has a strength that can be used to invigorate
the team and achieve success. Whether it is leadership, humor,
intellect, creativity or team spirit, each team member must
actively contribute to the team. Successful teams are comprised
of people with various assets – a football team would never win
if every player were fast and none were strong; a business team
would never be successful if all were leaders and no one was will-
ing to support with creativity or team spirit. Each member will
be called upon to contribute their assets to help the team work
efficiently and achieve their goals.
A good communicator is hard to come by – regardless of
industry. Business people with poor communication skills rarely
pg.
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succeed – our business idols and mentors, Jack Welch and Peter
Drucker, for example, are known for their communications
expertise. Their communications abilities helped launch them
into leadership positions and storied success. Similarly, if sports
players are not good communicators, games would rarely be won.
If the New England Patriots’ quarterback Tom Brady were not a
good communicator, the Patriots’ running back, Corey Dillon,
would rarely be in the right spot to catch a touchdown pass.
Cooperation is one of the most difficult cornerstones of any
team to achieve. It is rare for all team members to agree all of the
{SEE SUCCESS - PG 4 }
Q U I Z : Are You a Team Player or a Lone Ranger?
Does your reputation at work precede you? Are you known to
be flexible? Positive? Patient? Companies are increasingly turn-
ing to teams for projects and problem solving — how you are
perceived by your colleagues may dictate how successful you
are in a team setting.
Take this short quiz and shed a bit of light on your work style.
True or False:
____ I prefer to work alone
____ I listen to others’ opinions and incorporate their
suggestions
____ I find most people trustworthy
____ I don’t mind waiting for others to finish their work
____ I give another person my full attention when speaking
with him or her
____ I get upset when things don’t go as I planned them
____ When all is said and done, everyone is out for him
or herself
If you answered “true” to four or more, then the team
approach may work best for you.
If you answered “false” to four or more, then you may to
prefer to keep the work load moving on your own.
 “You will find men who want to be carried on the shoulders of others,
who think that the world owes them a living. They don’t seem to see that
we must all lift together and pull together.”
~ Henry Ford

{ S U C C E S S - continued from PG 3 }

time. However, keeping the team’s mission in focus and remain-
ing flexible and cooperative will make working in a group more
enjoyable. Team members must be willing to put their personal
goals and independent work processes aside for the benefit of
the larger group. Team members who have patience and share
responsibilities will be happy and efficient.
Are team players born or made?
Not everyone is a team player, but working in teams is hard to
avoid. Starting in school, students are asked to work together
for lab assignments, group projects and internships. Once
entering the business world, successful team work becomes even
more essential – your job could rely on your ability to work
with a variety of people on various teams. When athletes do not
work effectively with their teammates, they are considered a
detriment to the team’s success (consider Nomar Garciaparra,
ex-Red Sox player, labeled as a “club house cancer” which
played a role in his eventual trade).
Whether working successfully in a team is a learned or natural
ability, being cooperative, a good communicator, willing to con-
tribute and staying committed to the team’s purpose will surely
bring success whether on the field or in the board room.
~ Brooke Carey
Please note: Parts of this article were supported with information from
www.meetingwizard.com and Harvard Business Review.

Reputation Advisor Overcoming Obstacles in Teams

Working effectively in teams is a critical element of highly pro-
ductive and successful organizations. According to Ken Blanchard,
author of The One-Minute Manager Builds High Performing Teams, “One
of the hardest skills for a manager to learn is how to build a team.
Team building does not naturally happen; leaders must be aware of
how their efforts can actively support an environment where team
building is seen as a priority.”
Leading Top-Notch Teams
Lead Yourself Before You Try to Lead Others. Be a model staff
member – demonstrate the sorts of behaviors you expect from
others. If you expect respect, make sure you show respect to each
team member.
Give Team Members a Sense of Ownership. It is important to
determine each individual’s needs and to do your best to meet
those requirements - whether it is a financial reward, a promotion
or peer recognition. A good leader allows all team members to
have a voice in how the goal will be reached.
Build an Atmosphere of Trust. Encourage collaboration rather
than competition. When stressed, approach the team with com-
passion not anger. By fostering an environment where team mem-
bers can offer constructive criticism without fear of retribution,
the organization and team will grow stronger.
Employees need to be prepared to deal with the problems that
arise when working in teams. The things that can go wrong in
teams are as varied as the people who comprise them. By learning
how to address these situations, you can turn problems into solu-
tions and learning opportunities.
A weak team leader. If the team leader is not pointing the team
in the right direction, it is the team’s responsibility to compensate
for those weaknesses with its own strengths. If you feel that you
have the ability to best serve the team, step up and guide the team
in the right direction.
Personal clashes influence the team. Personal issues often tend
to get in the way of teamwork. If there is a conflict between team
members, the issue must be addressed and dealt with immedi-
ately. If an amicable resolution is not reached, problematic team
members should be asked to leave the team.
Unbalanced work efforts. In some instances, the team’s work is
completed by a few members while others sit back and watch. If
individuals are not taking responsibility to complete their work,
you must address the issue with the team leader. Those not
contributing may need more direction, motivation or be closely
monitored to ensure that everyone on the team is pulling their
own weight.
For additional advice on working effectively on teams, please visit
www.monster.com.
~ Zoey Farooq

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The Mount Vernon Report™ is published and copyrighted 2005 by Morrissey & Company, an independent Reputation Management and Public Relations firm headquartered at
121 Mount Vernon Street, Boston, MA 02108. Permission to copy and distribute is granted, provided that full attribution is given to Morrissey & Company. Further commen-
tary or response to any of the topics discussed in this issue is welcome and should be directed to 617-523-4141 or via e-mail to peter@morrisseyco.com.

Printed on recycled paper.

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