3: Lessons from the Foles era

Last night’s loss stings, and the last thing anyone wants to hear this morning is, “What can we learn from it?”  However, it’s time to reflect. 

This Eagles team has me feeling more pride and gratitude than frustration and disappointment.  Regardless of what happens next with Nick Foles, he left Eagles fans with important leadership lessons that we can strive to embody in our own lives. We learned the following lessons as we witnessed Saint Nick’s performance on the field, his class off the field, and his personal narrative in the autobiography, Believe it.

Embrace your role: When the Eagles needed Foles to be their starting QB, he commanded the huddle, he delivered an MVP performance, and he embraced the pressure of the spotlight. 

When the Eagles needed Foles to back up Carson Wentz, he fully embraced the role as Wentz’ biggest supporter. Foles recognized how his roles served as pieces to the bigger puzzle.  His mission was to honor his faith, embrace his role, and do whatever his team needed to win games and championships. He served his mission well.

It’s very difficult for us to not get caught up in the questions, “What’s next for me,” “Am I getting what I deserve,” or “Why is that person getting more than me?” 

Nevertheless, it’s generally when we focus on maximizing the role that we’re in, when opportunities find us.    

The power of belief: This Eagles team, during both the improbable Super Bowl run and this year’s improbable playoff run believed in each other when many others didn’t (myself included). 

You could sense the joy, the trust, the love, the unity, and the fearlessness that these Eagles played with when Foles was on that field.  Everyone on the team, whether it was stars like Ertz, Jenkins, Jeffery, and Cox, previously written off players like Agholor, Clement, and Matthews, and no-namers like Leblanc and Sullivan, rose to their maximum potential because of the trust that teammates had in them. 

I’ve struggled to express belief as a leader at times, and it stifled the environment. The Eagles have taught me the importance of believing in your team even and especially when there seems to be an uphill battle and things aren’t going your way.  Belief is contagious.  When the fear of failure becomes replaced with a feeling of belonging and an expectation of victory, it’s a powerful tide that lifts all boats. Nick Foles showed us that.   

Things don’t always work out: Even if you master these two leadership lessons, things don’t always work out.  The ball sometimes slips through our hands and bounces the wrong way. Failure is ok.

Keep believing in each other and embrace your role and the opportunities will be back. 

It’s been a privilege to celebrate this team over the past two years, and I’m excited to see what’s next, with or without Saint Nick on the field.  The culture and leadership lessons that he’ll leave here are powerful enough. Fly Eagles Fly.