Learning to ‘always compete’ (with Pete Carroll, Seattle Seahawks Head Coach)

In the English season finale, JP chats to NFL legend and head coach of the Seattle Seahawks, Pete Carroll. Learn how Pete’s philosophy of ‘Always Compete’ drives everything he does, from protecting his team and promoting a culture of 'no excuses', to always showing up early and making time for the wider community. It even helps him take on the hypothetical challenge of coaching an EPL team. Thank you, Coach Carroll, and go Hawks!

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Transcript

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JP: Welcome back to the Positive Leadership Podcast. This is JP. Thank you so much for tuning in and welcome to all the newcomers, by the way. Please keep sharing your feedback on my LinkedIn account or any other social media. 

Today, I've got the great pleasure to have a very special coach, a very special guest, indeed. He is an NFL legend and he is the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks for 11 years. He won the Super Bowl. Pete Carroll. 

But let me tell you why I decided to invite Pete. Because a few years back, I had opportunity to meet with him at the VMAC, which is their training field, and what stuck with me was the way Pete embodies what a positive leader is all about. So what a better guest to think about that than one of the most successful coaches on the planet to help coach all of us.  

A very warm welcome, Pete, thank you so much for joining us. 

PETE: Appreciate it and really happy to contribute JP, you're doing great work. And Microsoft is such a big factor in this community that it's just natural for us to interact as much as possible. So we're happy to be here. I like the colours you’re wearing there too.  

JP: Yeah, I'm not sure that the listeners will see that, but yes, for all of you, I'm wearing a very nice Seahawks jersey today. Number 12. I guess we'll come back to that, right.  

But Pete, let me start by really congratulating you on the great opening game just against the Colts that you’ve been winning. And for any listeners who didn't watch the game on Sunday, because some of them are anywhere on the world, Pete, and some of them are fans, some of them may not know, you’ve been winning by 28 to 16. So I know – and something I wanted to start with - I know you've created a number of routines in your week with the team and I think you're still at this, what you call, Monday’s tell the truth meaning. 

So could you share with us, if you are in the lockers, what did you discuss with the team? And what was the truth about on Monday? 

PETE: Well, we do have a routine that we do and we're trying to be uncommonly consistent on what we do. So we need to have, you know, kind of our stagings. And so Monday is tell the truth Monday, and we just held that that big meeting yesterday. And it's a meeting to bring everything into focus and to get everybody on the same page, so that when we leave the last event, we move together into the next, you know, the next challenge that we have.  

And so it's really important, it's an accountability meeting. It's one where the coaches will speak about what went well, and what didn't go well, and what they could have done better. I do the exact same thing, and try to get everything connected, so that it all makes sense for us, so that we don't want to have any conflicts moving forward or people distracted. We really do try to demonstrate accountability and so that's why we all say, “Oh, I messed up here, I could have done this, I wish I would’ve thought of that”, in hopes that the players are comfortable and open to do the same in the meetings that follow. So we come back around, and it's just a reassessment of what took place and then getting us on the same page so that we can all step together as we go forward. 

JP:  I love it. I love it. In many ways it resembles some of the business leadership meetings we have as well from time to time at the company level, as you can imagine. And I think one of the learnings we have at Microsoft, I mean, it’s something Satya shares with all of us, is bringing clarity about the accountability. What’s working, not working, and what can we do, should we do, to make a difference? I think that makes tons of sense and I'm sure it was a powerful first day for the week. A lot of energy.  

So Pete, I've been reading your book, a really exciting book, Always Compete. I love competing as well, a lot. And you've got a very strong philosophy because I think intentionally you're helping people to realize their potential, to become their very best version of themselves. And I’m a believer personally that one of the most critical roles of leaders is to unlock the potential of people. And that's why I've been studying, practitioning as well, this so called Positive Leadership, which as you know well is more than a school of thought. It’s actually a lot of practices by many different people, psychologists, business people, coaches, etc. And to me, before I ask you the question, the core foundation of Positive Leadership is all about one’s self-development. In other words, knowing yourself, your strengths and talents, but also your deraillers from time to time, having a self-esteem of yourself and developing, adapting a growth mindset to learn it all. And so I’d like to ask if you share the same beliefs or other beliefs you may have to build that deep self-confidence with each one of your players or team members, one at a time? 

PETE:  Yeah, well, this is the ongoing challenge of, you know, our approach and how we do things here is to constantly be in connection with working to be, to find your best. And in doing that, that's why the philosophy of this phrase ‘always compete’ is right at the heart of it, because that’s, you know, aspiring to generate, you know, the best outcome that you're capable of creating. And so that means that what I have to do, being the leader of it, is to make sure that I'm doing that always as well. So it starts with me. And like you said, you know, it goes back to a real self-discovery process that we all go through, whether we want to or not. If you proactively go through the process, then you have to come to some realizations of what's really important. What do you stand for, and what makes you who you are? What are your uncompromising principles that you live by that you will not step away from? And to find out, you know, really what the authentic self is. And so that's ongoing, that's not a static process, you know, because things change, and we must adapt, we must keep getting better. And so what I need to do is create an environment where that is how we operate with everybody that's in the program. And due to that, you know, I've found that the way to connect with how to stay in touch with that is to realize that what we're trying to do is help everybody find the best, but we're trying to make sure that we can make them feel like they belong, they’re comfortable, and give them the opportunity where they can hear what they need to hear, they can be exposed to what they need to be exposed to improve. And then it's our job as coaches to show the people that they are getting better, where they can realize their own self. And in that, you’re constantly, you know, building and reminding and supporting that process. And so that's how we go about it, you know, and the key to all of that, JP, is for us to stay on track, is to care. We have to care for the people that we're dealing with and you have to really care that they do feel you, they do feel that your support, that you are working, you know, on their best behalf. And that relationship is crucial, because we have made it through the ups and downs, as you pointed out, there's challenges to that, there's challenges… Sometimes you just can't quite get it done, and you just can't quite feel real confident about something because you haven't developed the skill that you need yet with it or the belief yet that you need. So that's kind of that's kind of how we operate.  

JP:  No, it's so true, Pete. I love it. As you may know, I mean, at Microsoft, we've been adopting kind of a manager framework for the thousand managers across the world where they are actually sponsoring for the company, which is about care, coach and model. So it's always caring. And what I found very helpful, certainly, is exactly as you say, creating an environment of safety and trust for people. And start by ourselves, right, leaders. By being vulnerable about who we are and sometimes the challenges we go through ourselves and trade that really deep empathy by having that trusted foundation as a base that everyone can open up and finally give his best when good and bad times are coming. Yeah, please. 

PETE:  Yeah. I think you mentioned there, vulnerability. You know, we have to create an environment where it's okay for people to take the risks that they need to take to find out what their limits are and you have to make it a safe place for people to operate and so they need to feel like they belong, they need to show that they have support and then allow them to go to places that they wouldn't go if they weren't feeling comfortable, if they weren't feeling supported and backed up and that's a really important part of it, you know. Brené Brown taught us so much about vulnerability and she talks about you have to make a safe place in the environment so that you can go to places that you wouldn't go otherwise. 

JP: That's wonderful as a starting point. This appears in your framework Always Compete which is this pyramid which is printed as a chart, I love it, and it's all about practice. I love practicing as well a lot with my teams and you said practice is everything, Pete, and I think that beyond obviously the physical, technical, tactical practice that you have, you know, as part of being a head and of course a head coach of the Seahawks. I'd like you to talk more about the mental practice the way you teach your players how to quiet their mind and control their self-talks because we all… I have a lot of self-talks with myself. And why is that important to win and get those players to create that mental health, in a way? And if you can, it would be wonderful even maybe to hear from you any exercise you would suggest to our listeners across the world on the way they could do that, right, back home in their office when they are little boys are turning them crazy? 

PETE:  Yeah, well, what's really important for us is to understand the value of self-talk. That… We respond to the words that we say, and we, you know, we react, we watch, and we observe, and we take note of the things that we're saying. So if we say things that work against where we want to go, then it's going to take you to places that you don't want to go in. So that's why positive self-talk goes hand in hand with positive leadership. And so there's a discipline to that, you know, there's affirmations, those are positive statements that you make, you know, that allow you kind of a roadmap to where you want to go. And you know, it is really important, the words, the language that we use is really, really important. I mean, just for example, we want our people to be on the supportive, positive, upbeat side of things as much as possible and that's not always easy to do that, but it does take discipline. And so, rule number two in our program, there's no whining, no complaining, no excuses. Well, that is just a little bit of a self-guiding tool, because we don't want violators, you know, we want people to work hard, being conscious of what you say and the words that you say to people around you, and of course, words that reflect how you're feeling and operating and knowing that we can manage and we can coach our way to really helpful process and to, you know, aid the work to becoming what you're capable of becoming. One of the other things that we do a lot of, and we talked a lot about this in the mental side of things, is using your imagination is really a big tool to us. What that is for us, is to imagine that what the outcome is supposed to be and then as we're preparing, you can't always be in the real life situations, but if you use your imagination, you can picture yourself, you can place yourself in those settings, then you have a chance to practice and start to prepare and develop the thoughts and the words and the awareness that you would like to have to get the desired outcome that you're trying to get. So use your imagination is an absolutely ongoing tool for us. When we practice our game, we don't go full speed in tackle and hit all the time. We run full speed as much as we can we, we create as much of it as we can. But yet, we have to only go to a certain threshold, and then we have to, you know, save it for them for the ball game. So that's where the players have to truly picture what the desired outcome is. I mean, all the way to the point of making an attack on a ball carrier, you know, we picture exactly how we want to fit, where our head would be placed, where our shoulder would be placed, foot placement, the way we would throw, use our hands and our arms, all of that, and then think our way through that and stay in that state. And so when we're all operating like that, it takes focus to do that. And that's really where you can generate the best kind of performance. And let me say this about practice. Practice is where we make us. That's where we make us as a team. You can't only imagine it, you have to go out and do the work. And so why we make such a big deal about practice is that every single time we go out, every day, there’s a theme, there's a purpose, there's a concept in preparation to make it so that we can be the closest we can possibly be to what the performance has been called. So we talk a lot about the matchups that are in practice, you know, who I'm going to go against and that the person across from you is the person that makes you push yourself to define your limits. And so we develop a relationship with the people that make us who we are. And in essence, we've realized that if you really want to get the most out of it, then you need to push them the hardest that you can push them and in that, that person is responsible for your development. And so it allows us to connect even on the level of how much we care about them and in terms of what they offer to us, and how and how they help us and there's a lot that goes into it, so practice is a big a deal as I can make it. 

JP: It's a huge deal. And I get you, Pete, fantastic. And I love as well the value of self-talks and the way you want your players and all of us to picture ourselves succeeding and the power of imagination. Let’s shift gears, if you don’t mind, and talk a little bit about culture. I think you also use that word quite a bit having listened to some of your talks as well. And I know, certainly from within Microsoft as well, the power of really reigniting a mission of a company and we talk to the hearts, the minds of the people, not just the employees, but the end tie set of customers, partners and places where we operate. And I guess for the Seahawks, because of course, you are more than a head coach, you're clearly leading through your head a community of fans, but also an entire management team. That's also a pretty huge business. And you also talk about the broader Seattle community as well, you know. How do you think about your role and how do you think about the way the Seahawks mission fits in to that? So in other words, what is the mission of the Seahawks, if any, I'm sure you've got one, but what does it mean for you, as the leader of the organization to convey the mission every day to all of those stakeholders? 

PETE:  Okay, that’s a big question. Just to take it back to a starting point, no matter what group you're working with, or what team, or what club are, or what business or, you know, what service you provide, you have a way that you operate, you have guidelines that, you know, demonstrate what you feel, and how you think day to day work and how long range work should be, whether you realize it or not. Often we don't take the time to step back and say, Well, really, what is this environment? What is this, the word is ethos, you know? What do we create here, and often, unknowingly, you've created a culture, and you may like what you have, and you may not like what you have. What we find is really important is to constantly be in connection with the fact that we are in the culture and that it does have purpose and it does have meaning and it does give us an action mode that we that we operate in. And so we want to make sure and we want to make an environment that supports the performance in the desired outcome. So that means that we take responsibility for, you know, supporting it, creating and making a constant checkpoint process to make sure we're on point, you know. To do that you’ve got to know what you want. You have a culture, whether you like it or not, so we want to take charge of that and make sure that it's a culture that's supportive, and really, to the benefit of the organization. So, you know, there's a lot that goes into describing what it is, but there's a whole atmosphere that we want to have when you walk in our building, you can tell something's up. You can feel it, you know. You're aware of it, it's how people greet each other. It's how we interact on a regular just common walking down the hallway mode. It’s with intention that we want to be supportive and we want to be upbeat and we want to be, you know, front and center and available for the interactions. And to do that you have to care, you have to care about how you come across, you have to care about how you affect the people that you deal with. And so it all begins with respect and we want to hold the people that we operate with in high regard. And we want to regard them in a way by the way we act towards them to demonstrate that they're important, and that we care to hear what they have to say, and so we have to listen really well, we have to be available. And we have to be with the thought that it matters. Our actions, our interactions matter to the people around us. And in our environment, you can find a real, active, moving, flowing kind of relationship with everybody and then everybody counts. And everybody is a big deal around here. And that's why we go back rule number three in the program is be early. Well, it's all about respect. That's about how you respect who you're dealing with. And do you care enough about the people you're dealing with to organize your life and prioritize your actions so that you're available for the people you're supposed to be around, and you're there ready for them, you know. That’s a level of respect and regard that is really, really important in our environment. As well as, as far as I understand, a general way look at it, we want to have fun doing what we're doing. You know, we want to enjoy the day to day, we want to enjoy the challenges and we want to enjoy the you know the accomplishments and we also want to enjoy the coming back from when we don't accomplish what we want. We take all that seriously too and it doesn't take us long to bounce back, you know, and that's why I think we can show that we've been uncommonly consistent over the years and that's a real important part of the makeup of our environment.

JP:  I so much agree with you, Pete, in the way you describe the culture, the vibes that you feel in a place that you go. The words that people decide to pick or not to pick. The way people react to the biggest challenges in their organization. And, and actually interestingly enough, one of the new values we picked up as the senior leadership team and the entire Microsoft Company a few years back as we reflected on our future, is respect as well. So not a big surprise, because I think that like you, we believe this is just the core foundation of creating that safe environment for people to again open their, bring their best, and really build strength to strength together. So great way to get into your belief system and you already called out two of them in the Always Compete framework, but I've got another one I’d like you to expand for our listeners, which is always protect the team, because that's a big powerful one. And I like to ask you, how you make it real? Because sometimes, you know, you go to some clubs, and you see some very nice swirls on the lockers, sometimes it’s just not real. And so I’d just like you to elaborate a little bit on that belief and the way you make it real?

PETE:  Rule number one of the program is always protect the team. And that really is about conscience. You know, it's about the conscience that you hold, and that you operate with that keeps you in connection that you are always part of something bigger than yourself, and that we have an obligation to look out for it. If we really care for it, we will look out for it and do everything we can to help it. And we kind of use the thought, you know, if you love something, you'll do anything in the world to protect it. Well, we want to love our team and we want to do everything we can to protect it. Well, that comes in so many different formats. You know, the obvious part is, you know, doing your job and making sure that you're available, that’s part of being a good teammate. We talked a lot about being a great teammate, you know, and what that entails. It’s having the awareness that you are not just part of something, but that you represent and you can support it and you can help it be better. And one of the great acknowledgments we have about being great teammates is helping the people around you be the best they can be. And so what are you going to do to do that? How far will you go? Do you care enough that you will actually be proactive in that? And think of the kinds of things that you can do to help people around you to be better. And there's a great old time legendary basketball player, Bill Russell, who lives in the area here, played for the Celtics for years, one of the all time champions in the history of professional and college and international basketball. He had a simple thought, he said, if you want to be a great teammate, you're going to wake up in the morning and think about somebody on your team and what you can do for them to help them be the best they could be. And I thought, who does that? Who wakes up in the morning thinking about some other guy first and what you could do to make them… But when you think that way, now you're deeply engrossed in what it really means to work to protect the team and so it's a real good guiding point for us to begin with. And it will take shape on the football field, if a guy starts to get in a fight, you pull them out of the fight. If a guy needs some help, and when you're blocking with him, you help him. If a guy's in town somewhere and somebody gives him a hard time and they start to get in a scuffle, you get him out of that thing. You remind them you know where they belong and who they belong to as well. It’s just a constant and it's a really good place to start for us. 

JP: I love it. And I guess the feeling could apply as well to your family, to your extended friend network and many more circles beyond, of course, a sports club or business. Actually it's real for many other facets of our lives. You know, just pushing a bit on this particular question because I love the way you really articulate protecting the team. What about the moments where you get some challenges with a player? And actually I recall, I will not name the person, but when we visited you a few years back, one of the top players at the time was really challenging. And you said you told the Microsoft senior leadership team, I was there: I never give up on a player. I don’t. And I've been thinking about that, Pete, because certainly I’m counting on all the players in Microsoft, and my foundation as well, all the people that I’m working with every day, and sometimes, wow, you get to do something when something or someone is really consistently not necessarily performing, doing everything he can and so tell us if you've been really actually applying the principle to the point that you never give up on any player? 

PETE:  Okay, well, first off, our staff, our coaching staff, each year in the springtime, there's a point in one of our staff meetings where we make the declaration that we’re a developmental staff. And what that means is, we will constantly, tirelessly be in a developmental mode, meaning that and we define that as, we create a vision for what we see a person could become, a player could become a program. And we come to an agreement of what that vision is and then we will not back off it. And we're going to do everything we can to coach them to become that vision until they no longer can be here. And there comes a point sometimes where not everybody fits and that's just what happens along the way. But usually, it's almost determined by the other person and by their willingness, or their lack of willingness, or their realization that okay, this isn't happening and I can't live up to the standards that you guys expect of me. So when that happens, then we love them down the way and off they go, but we will not give up on somebody. And we're going to keep going and going and push. And that's where it comes right back to really the heart of it, it's always compete. We're striving to create the excellence that we see possible. And that's really how we define competing. It might be interesting for your listeners that competing isn't about beating somebody. That’s not what we're talking about. We’re striving to create what we want to create. And so that's why I always compete in the setting that we're just talking about with an individual player set or an individual person in the organization, is we're going to work with them and figure out every single angle that we could come up with to help them find reason why they can continue to contribute and be part of and get better and all. So that's the main test. And it really comes back to the heart of it. When things get most challenging and most difficult, your philosophy should hold up, it should hold the hold true. And so no matter how hard it gets or how ugly it gets sometimes, or how far it looks to the top, we’re just going to stick with it and that's why always compete is really kind of a mantra around here. 

JP: Always compete, that could apply to the business world as well, certainly, which is certainly not about beating someone or even our competitors, actually, but bring the best in all games to really raise the bar all the time every day. So I love it. I know Pete, you're really an optimist. I can see that in all of your videos and your smile right now on the screen although the listeners cannot see, they can hear your smile, I know that. I am an optimist too. But I want to ask you what's going on with all your incredible positivity I know with everyone, staff and teams and the players and so on, when you have huge challenges. And you know, if you if you just reflect on what's going on in the world for the last 18 months with the pandemic, of course, it's been hitting so badly so many people, all over the planet. So I'd love to hear from you the way you've been cultivating your own positive energy at times when things are getting really, really hard for you personally, to start with as well, and for the people you are working with and supposedly supporting them every day. 

PETE: Yeah, we have been facing heartbreaking challenges, one right after another after another, that really does test, you know, the optimist, and it does test the positive thinker in me. But this is our time. If there was ever our time, this is our time to respond. And so the simple thought that something good is just about to happen kind of keeps me going, you know, and that I do feel enough of my own ability that I can affect the outcome in a way if I keep staying with it and if I can outlast the people around me who continue to bring the bad news or the, you know, the horrors that we're living without having to deal with, that we can continue to hold on to that. And there's a discipline to that. There's certainly the most valuable aspect of it is self-talk, is to continue to find the thoughts that bring you back to the positive and bring you to the reasons why, no, no, this isn't going that way, it looks like that, but really what's happening here is this is another challenge an opportunity for us to turn this. And so even at the most difficult of times, it is just the hope of turning in a situation towards the better side of it and towards the more optimistic and the brighter side of things is what we're tasked with. And if I can't do it, how can I expect anybody else around me to? So I've got to be the epitome of poise and hope. I don't have any, there's no space for me to go anywhere. So that's kind of how we operate. And it is, I guess it's a challenge, I don't know… I don't know any other way. So to me, it's not like any big pat on the back for me, that's just the way I know how to operate. And I do feel like it's important to have people around me that do understand that and are quickly reminded, or they remind themselves to return to the hope of what is about to turn here and those are coaches. They coach people, they inspire and they motivate and they lead but by their willingness to not see the darker side of things, other than to understand it. You know, you’ve got to be real. To be airy fairy, it’s not about this. It’s not the right way to go about it. It’s to take the challenge and this is what generates the purpose of your next step that you’re taking. That’s kind of how we go about it. 

JP: Yes, it makes a lot of sense and to again bring us back when things are turning south, and also helping each other to do that, because then, you know, some days, some of your people may be very challenged and helping them to recover quickly, I think it's an important part of leadership as well. 

PETE:  JP, let me just add to that. This is a choice. It’s a choice of how you choose to operate, how you choose to live, where do you want to be, do you want to be on the doom and gloom side of things or do you want to be on the side that's helping other people find their way. And so I think that recognizing that we choose how we want to operate, even though it's so challenging sometimes. And it looks so dark and so dismal, but we have the opportunity to make the choice to go ahead and turn ourselves in the direction we want to going and we can affect others by doing so. 

JP:  I think this is so true. This is in our hands and this is not just in our minds to make it up. And Pete, once you said, if you want to be great, if you want to do something really at the top of your game, you’ve got to figure out who you are, what you stand for, what's important. I actually, listened to one of your lectures at USC, which was wonderful and so you said that, and I think it tells a lot about your personal philosophy, as you call it. And you also said that everyone should be able to say instead his personal philosophy in 25 words. So would you mind sharing with our listeners? What is Pete Carroll’s personal philosophy, as of today? 

PETE:  Yeah, well, because I teach, you know, I've worked hard at trying to condense the messaging and simplify the messaging, so that it can be easily communicated and transferred to others. It’s really important having a philosophy, particularly when you're in a business with others, or you're in a club setting, or a team setting, to be able to share your philosophy with people and so that they can understand it, like, I'm a little bit off track here, but if somebody who works with me goes in a direction and makes a decision and operates in a way that it doesn't represent what we stand for and our philosophy, whose fault is that? To me, it’s my fault. If I haven't made it clear to a person that works with me, what it is we stand for and where we're coming from and how to put that into action and they falter somewhere, well that’s my responsibility. And so I have to do a really good job of standing for what I believe in and in what we think is the way to go. And also give them tools and how they can convey the same message and find a way to support that message in their own way. I don't want it to be like me, I want them to be like themselves. Truly authentically the person that they are, but I want them to be able to stand for and know what they what we stand for, so that they can represent well. So I mean, it goes right back. I really have already said it. And I know it sounds very simple and over simple, but always compete is the mentality. That is it. Every day operating to strive, to do the best you can do to help everybody around you, be everything they can possibly be. And I know that's a monumental task, but that's how it works for me. And I found that how to best operate with that mentality is to demonstrate how much you care, which goes back to how much you're willing to love the people that are with you in the endeavor that you are pursuing. I have a simple way of looking at it helps me understand it. I'm a parent, I’m father, you know, and what would you do to help your children have a fruitful, prosperous life. Well, if you really love somebody, then you'll do whatever it takes to help them be everything that they can possibly be and you'll care in every way possible. And so whether I'm dealing with, you know, troubled youth that are struggling in the streets or dealing with the players in our program or dealing with the administration or the fans that follow us, I go out at all in the exact same way. I don't know any other way to do it, but to try to find a way to care the most I can possibly care for the moment that I'm in or for the challenge that I'm facing. 

JP: Super clear. And again, I'm not going to make it up because in your book it's so articulate, Pete, when you talk about your personal philosophy, though, I'll give it a try. You always compete every day to strive to bring the very best of others. That's my simplified JP version of a more sophisticated philosophy. Thanks for that. Pete, shifting gears, you know, football like soccer because as you can imagine, my French accent I'm coming from a place where we say football but I mean soccer for you guys in the US, you know football like soccer drives and sports a lot of joy but also sadness and emotion with fans and the broader community where a club operates. So how do you see your role as the head coach when it comes to the relationships, the engagement with the fans, I think what we call in Seattle, number 12, right? 12. And the broader community. What is your personal involvement, role and the way you see that? 

PETE:  Yeah, well our following, we've referred to coined by our owner Paul Allen. It was a 12th, the 12th man. And they adopted it and then took it to heart and it’s become part of the culture of this community and you see the 12s number everywhere. I feel like… Well, take it back to the basics of it. If we're going to have a really successful program and we're going to win over a long term, we need every single aspect that is available to us to be working in conjunction, in concert with us. Well, the biggest part of that is the people that follow us, so I feel the responsibility to keep them connected, help them feel in touch with who we are and what we're all about, entertain them, inspire them, challenge them, you know, bring out the best in them just as much as we try to do with our players because they have a role. They factor into our success. When we go this weekend to Lumen Field, they're going have an opportunity to win the game and so I need them to be just as coordinated and tuned in as possible, so whatever I can do is what I do and that means that you know, I try to talk really clearly to them about who we are and what our players are all about, what our expectations are, how we see the challenges that we face to give them the movement and to share the mentality so they are part of this. I feel like they are part of the energy that supports the actions that we do on the practice field even, as well as the game field. So it's whatever I can do. That means the interactive community. It means be connected to Microsoft. It means to be connected to Amazon or whatever, you know, in all of the big factions in our community and try to help and support them and I’ve been connected to Microsoft since the probably the first couple of weeks we got here, because you guys were as big a factor as anything going on here. And so it just goes back to competing, you know. You’re either competing or you’re not. And I say this to you - we find ourselves in a relentless pursuit of finding the competitive edge in everything we do. Well that's certainly engaging with our fans and the support system, because they're going come out there and they're going to scream their heads off and go crazy, you know, and they help us beat down the guys on the other side. It’s all part of it.  

JP: We certainly can scan can sense this big, big accountability for the community, Pete, and it goes far beyond the Seahawks, I know, actually. And that's why I wanted to ask you another question about your personal commitment, not just as a teacher because indeed you also teach at USC in other forums, I know, but I know you created back in 2003 an organization called Better LA, to support community based solutions to restore peace, save lives and link individuals in the inner city to the resources they need in order to thrive. You also launched recently a great new initiative called Amplify Voices, which is a podcast as well, a wonderful one, and a media company to share stories and amplify voices from the black and brown communities. And you started the podcast conversation by asking you a simple question, what's on their heart? Okay. So tell us, tell to our listeners, why have you decided to set that up both in LA, but also Amplify Voices? And what have you learned through the process? 

PETE:  Well, I have a couple of great partners, my daughter, Jamie, and Audrey Cavenecia joined up with us when they heard that we were trying to find out a way that we could support the community again and just find other ways to do it. And we found that just the simple thought of amplify the voices of people who need to be heard and have something on their heart that they want to share, it could be their mission, it could be their work, it could be their family, it could be, you know, their own their own programs that they're promoting. We wanted to see if we could find ways to give people the chance to be heard. And so it's really that's what Amplify Voices is about and particularly in communities that that can use the help and that they're searching and looking and have so much to offer and we just tried to create a modality for them. So with podcasting and supporting their programs, giving them an opportunity to be seen where they wouldn't be seen otherwise, is really a calling that we, you know, I always want to support. Whether we have an organization to do it or not, I want to always be supporting people who are out there trying and busting their tails to do something special and to be heard and, you know, their work to be seen, their art to be recognized, their messaging, their efforts, their willingness to really go beyond is just worth it to me to do whatever we can so that's what Amplify Voices is all about. And I hope you know that some of your people might find the discussions with the people that we talk with. We have notable people, but also people that aren't so notable and we want to make sure that, you know, it helps us to promote a little bit to get names that people understand and know about. But it's interesting, I found it so fascinating that even when you're talking to Rachel Maddow, or people that are so visible, that have the chance to voice their opinions, voice their thoughts all the time, still have things on their heart that they want to express, you know, and they look for the opportunity too, so we that's what this is all about. And it's been a really good endeavor. And we're really excited about the effort. 

JP: No it’s fantastic. Fantastic to see the work you do to truly let the voices and the hearts be heard by everyone, particularly the ones that are not necessarily always broadcasted and being heard by the majority. So congrats on this wonderful work, Pete. I'm also sharing some passion for NGOs myself having my own foundation so I can really relate to all the work you do with your family, same with me as well.  

Now let me close with a fun question. Hopefully fun for you. Let's see. I don't know if you watch this Apple TV series code called Ted Lasso. You know, this is a story of very famous American football coach and he's hired to manage a British premier football team. Soccer team, right, which is one of the top prestige, of course, football leagues in the world, if not the first one. He has no experience at all at soccer, no clue the way you play it. But he's coming up with an incredible optimism, a contagious positivity and he's making also some very tasty biscuits for the people he cares for in the club. Now let me ask you this question because as I was watching the series myself, I thought about you, I said, wow, could you imagine you Pete replacing Pep Guardiola, who is one of the greatest European coaches leading Man City, right? It's a big, big coach. What would you do to get the Man City to win European Champions League this year? And it's a big question, but I wanted to connect, to build the bridge between football fans, American football fans, soccer fans across the world, because at the end of the day, it’s what it takes to be the inspiring coach you've been and you keep being, Pete, for any teams in on the planet. Go for it.  

PETE:  Well, in all humility, I appreciate the expertise that it takes to know, you know, all of the makeup and idiosyncrasies and all the details of coaching our sport and can only imagine that all that I wouldn't understand in soccer, our world of soccer, the real football. And I don't know what I could possibly do to… But if given the opportunity, I would only know how to do it, the way I know how to do it, which would be authentically go about it and try to touch the hearts of the people that play the game and try to get them to play for one another and understand what that's all about, you know, so I just, if I was coaching Microsoft or if I was coaching Manchester, you know, I would go about it in the same manner, because that's all I got. 

JP: Always compete.  

PETE: Always compete. That's right. You know, it’s all about the ball. That’s in football, it’s all about the ball. You turn the ball over, you lose and so all the same principles would come into play. But mostly it would be about trying to try to uncover the extraordinary, unique qualities of the people in the organization, the players, and try to find what makes them who they are, and then try to give them the, you know, platform to demonstrate that and it's no different. It’s no different whether we're talking about the administrative part of our work or the coaching part of it, or the player part. It’s all the same, you know. We’re trying to help people figure out what they have to offer that makes them who they are, and then celebrate the heck out of that, you know, and then you do when you do that, and people realize that you care, you can coach on a lot of different areas, you know. Because those commonalities, whether you're in a family setting, or a business setting, I think relationship wise, it really calls for the same kind of concern and same kind of care. So I don't know. I wouldn't know where to begin. I can't kick a ball but, the challenge would be fun. 

JP: It would be fun to see you one of those days in European places of football, Pete. It'd be a lot of fun. Hey, Pete, I want to be respectful of your time, it's been a wonderful to have you and I want, of course, to wish you good luck for the next game Sunday against Tennessee, but you’ve had a great start. Let me share with you and the listeners, if you don't mind, my three takeaways of this episode that I had with you, Pete. I mean, the first one is really respect, care and love fuel positivity, but at the end of the day, it's the choice you make every day. Number two, protect the team. It means really you're part of something bigger than yourself. And number three, your philosophy always compete, which is about every day striving to bring the very best version of others. So with that Pete I want, again, on behalf of all of our listeners, American football fans, European soccer football fans and every listener to thank you deeply. You're a wonderful coach, and deeply inspiring and thank you for being this great guest today to the Positive Leadership Podcast. 

PETE: I'm humbled by the work you did to understand what we're all about. Thank you so much. Good luck to all your listeners and always good luck with Microsoft and the people that make such a great organization. Thank you so much. 

JP:  Thank you so much. And go Hawks! 

PETE: Go Hawks. There you go.  

JP: Thank you. Take care, Pete. Have a great day. Thank you so much for joining me today. And I hope you enjoyed your journey into a completely different world. And thank you for many of you for joining me all along the first season together. This was indeed my last English episode for season one. Then we’ll be back with another French episode for a number of you in two weeks. The news of the day is, with your great encouragement, support and feedback, we could have a season two coming actually very soon. And we'll be learning even more of a Positive Leadership and its impact across again, many dimensions of our society. I can't wait. I hope this is the same for you. Thank you so much again for listening and for accompanying me along that Positive Leadership journey.