An Attempt to Translate Cardinal’s Success into Community Empowerment (1/5)
Purpose:
- I’d like to propose some new ideas based on win-win ideas in a timely manner.
- I’d like to highlight some nuances on how Steve Keim (GM for Cardinals) and his team’s decision-making processes made the difference
- I’d like to point out a fact that if the leaders can transform their mindset, re-calibrate their reference points, and adjust their perspective, they can very well be leading a successful organization instead of a failing one.
- I’d like to support community leaders/members on their endeavors to transform their organizations by beginning the process from themselves.
Perspective:
- A Fan and admirer on the Cardinals Bandwagon.
- A community leader wishes that the organization would inspire more on the knowhow side than just sponsorships.
- A future opportunist on how Cardinals can catalyze a composite supply market for non-profit organizations in Arizona.
Target Audience: Community Outreach Department at Cardinals Organization, Community Leaderships, Fans, NFT Enthusiasts.
Backstory: I’m a social entrepreneur and been in community service for over 16 years. I’ve held various positions in education and community service and witness firsthand how organizations such as Cardinals can cultivate a more beneficial society for the Valley. This is not a re-defining “sponsorship”. This is more of a new formation, A transformation of community outreach relations.
Cardinals is a unicorn story for some. They believe the team they formed will not last long (due to contracts and players etc.) and if there is a year to have a parade in the steaming streets of the Valley alongside Suns championship, it is this year. Although I disagree that it can only happen this year, I truly believe that it is happening this year (unless injuries of course).
Since I’m not an expert in sports commentary by any means, I wanted approach this game I truly enjoy watching from a community perspective and elaborate how inspiring it can be when a football team turns things around.
I don’t like long, boring, and one-dimensional explanations unless it is well-thought, consist of elegantly chosen words. So, I’ll cut to the chase (at least for this time).
I remember listening to the Arizona Sports radio daily once upon a time (way before Pandemic where people used to ‘go’ to work daily) and I would enjoy rant on Cardinals executives and how poorly they’ve been handling things from draft picks to coach selections. According to the well-known experts, anything and everything were problematic with the management. They were puzzled with why he has been still GM. He has been GM for so long and he should’ve run out of time by now.
I’m always interested in how people manage to pull it off when things go south. Not because I enjoy learning about people’s struggles, but I know that it is real, genuine challenge that differs the great executives from the good ones, and it was such a test for the GM at that time. I didn’t know much about Steve Keim and as -broadly speaking- a fan of competitiveness, I wanted him to find a way more than anything. And he did find a way.
Leaving the technical analysis of how they changed the roster to the experts, I’d like to shed a light to decision making process a bit more. Not that every decision was perfect, but the way how he has been navigating the team has been very inspiring.
“Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently” says Henry Ford. This season, it felt like every player in the organization had a much clearer mindset about what’s expected and what they are asked to bring to the table. They had principles in charge, procedures in play and hard work in action at almost all times. Regardless of the results, every game so far had a certain display of a team in the right path. It was pretty clear that finally core values of the team were agreed upon the entire team.
Unless you are in a room of people who’s been successful their entire life, goal setting can be a challenge. A variety of problems from choosing the right decision-making model to nuance of how you deliver results can cause more frictions than agreements. Especially when it comes to articulation of goals, it can rub the people wrong way. For Arizona Cardinals or any other NFL team, the ultimate goal is always championship, but setting a goal like that won’t contribute to your journey that much. In retrospect, it can sometimes demotivate your team members and have them think of you as a delusional. I think a transformation occurred on Steve Keim and his team way before at what happened with the team roster. “You see what stands between us and achieving even our most ambitious dreams has far less to do with possessing some magical skill or talent, and far more to do with how we approach problems and make decision to solve them.” I’m sure Stephen Duneier wasn’t thinking about Cardinals when he said this on his Ted Talk but I feel like Mr. Keim did exactly what he was recommending to have the team we have today.
Mr. Keim was involved with the Cardinals long enough that he knew traditional way -which is bring in high caliber coaches and players, cross fingers that they work well together and hit the jackpot or totally miss the point- wasn’t going to work. Instead, he assessed the team deliberately, mapped out a plan and benchmarked their progress constantly. His strategy worked out, and they are on their way to have the cultural shift in the organization.
I don’t know if they will sustain this level of hard work and morph into an elite team for many years to come, but what I do know is that their transformation from a 3-13 team, picking Rosen at 10th draft pick, to Kyler Murray era alongside elite defensive unit could only be achievable with a visionary leadership, agreement on cultural change and maybe a bit of luck. I believe their story is just as inspirational as any other motivational movies out there.
I can’t wait to be enjoying the championship parade soon.
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