Last night’s Super Bowl had many firsts.
- It was the first time two brothers coached against each other.
- It was the first time a quarterback played with only nine prior starts under his belt.
- It was the first time that a Super Bowl was delayed for over 30 minutes by a power outage.
This was a vivid example of how unexpected and uncontrollable circumstances arise in our game plans.
This unanticipated event came in the third quarter and shifted the momentum of the game. It allowed the teams to rest and re-focus. For San Francisco, who was significantly trailing, it worked in their favor, giving both offense and defense a chance to regroup.
Baltimore, by contrast, came out flat after the outage. They took longer to re-focus.
As leaders, when the unexpected arises, our role is to help our teams focus, stay calm and be clear about the desired outcome.
Thus, when the outage happened the players continued to stretch, practice and strategize. Nonetheless, the momentum in the game changed.
When the unexpected happens it can shift our energy and set us back momentarily or longer. Staying grounded, maintaining focus, believing in ourselves, giving our all and not giving up are what put us in the same league as Super Bowl champions.