Marshawn Lynch is one of my favorite people. The term “Beast Mode” was invented for him as it 
perfectly describes his rugged approach of being a 6-foot tall, 220-pound NFL running back for the Seattle Seahawks. His style is to power around, over, and through defenders punishing anyone who gets in his way of achieving the ultimate goal of scoring touchdowns. Watching him perform is extremely entertaining and reminds me of the good old days of tough, grind-it-out (American) football before passing made up 80% of the offensive plays.
Even though Marshawn is a “throwback” player, he is also a smart, 33-year-old who has a lot to say and has great perspectives on life. A graduate of Oakland Technical High School, where he scored over 1200 on his SATs, he spent three years at the University of California-Berkley and majored in Social Welfare. At Cal, he played with Aaron Rogers who called him one of his all-time favorite teammates who “lights up a room every time he enters it.”
Now at age 33, Marshawn is coming to the end of his professional football career and starting to think about his next role in life. Based on his fascinating (and hysterical) press conference after his team lost in the NFL playoffs to Aaron Rodger’s Green Bay Packers, I think Marshawn has a future career in Leadership Development if he wants to pursue it!
During the press conference, Marshawn shared some perspectives on life and leadership targeted to younger professional athletes that I think transcend sports and has great application to today’s younger employees.
Interestingly enough, there is a perception that today’s younger employees aren’t saving enough money and are just “living for the moment.” And that is completely incorrect. A recent study by asset manager Schoders, that surveyed more than 25,000 investors, indicate that young people are saving more than pervious generations, turning upside down the perception and trend that older people are putting away the most money for retirement. The study revealed thar people aged between 18 – 37 (Millennials and Generation Z) are saving nearly 16% of their annual income including employer contributions for retirement. At the same time, people 38-70 (Baby Boomers and Gen Xers) only are saving 14% of their annual income for retirement.
Business Leadership Lessons from Marshawn
What Marshawn shared should be picked up and used by any leader who is managing young people as a way to build strong relationships, while helping the next generation develop critical life skills for success:
“Take care of your chicken”
In this phrase, chicken equals money. I interpret it as also saying “take care of the chickens because they are the ones who lay the eggs and you can live off the eggs for a good while.” The Business Leadership idea is that leaders should encourage their employees to keep moving up in the organization and saving money for retirement. Helping employees to set stretch goals and objectives their yield extra bonuses is a nice way of helping them.
“Take care of your mentals”
A sound and happy mind is also very important. Great business leaders should encourage employees to take care of their minds by exercising them and not beating them up with too much stress and negativity. Your job is to create happy (yet realistic) environments that encourage innovation and continuous improvement.
“Take care of your body”
As important as mental conditioning is physical conditioning. Great business leaders should encourage their employees to take care of their bodies by working out, going to the gym, getting proper exercise, and getting proper rest.
