Ethics, the NFL and DeflateGate – A Free Offer

22 Jan Ethics, the NFL and DeflateGate – A Free Offer

Blaming is easy. Solving problems is tougher. What the NFL needs right now is a double dose of ethics, and I know exactly how to solve the problem and I’m willing to do it for free.

Please understand this is a very big thing. This is more than an issue of unfair football inflation or unfair competitive advantage.   The NFL is the largest sports league in the world, as measured by revenue. In our culture, we demand that our leaders and sports role models be held to a high standard. This is a case of getting integrity wrong, and it must be addressed.

Some have said that this is a minor event and that it will blow over. The coach has said he has “no idea how this happened.”  I say that it is an erosion of one of the most crucial parts of our society, and is clearly a pattern of behavior by the New England Patriot’s leadership.

Having a foundation of ethics makes the issue much simpler…

How did we get in this mess? How do we get out of it? For the NFL to be sustainable it must be perceived as fair and with a level playing field. Integrity and Ethics are fundamental, in society in general and business in particular.

I can prove it. Here is a quick test: Think about your goals and objectives. What is your highest aspiration? Wealth, Fame, Knowledge, Popularity or Integrity?   If you choose ANYTHING but integrity, then your ethics will be subject to sacrifice in situations where a choice must be made, and such situations will inevitably occur.  Watching the coach deflect all questions in his news conference with “I have no explanation…”, I felt I was watching someone who has their own reality, a world based on situational ethics.

Ethics becomes part of any brand, for better or worse. Golf is famous for high ethics, with players self-policing their game play. Formula 1 racing has questions about the ethics and integrity of the sport, and there has been a significant drop in viewership. I think there is a connection.

This can all be fixed with some adult education. As children, we learned ethics from authority figures in our lives. Parents, grandparents, and trusted advisors. For NFL owners, who better than the experts who train business? For any NFL team or group of teams that respond to this, I will provide a day of high quality ethics training in my learning center. For the Patriots, I will even come to you.

The result will be an organizational culture based on always doing the right thing, even if nobody is looking. The NFL is currently engaged in an intense training and PR effort on domestic violence, and they need to do the same with Ethics. After all, the New England Patriots will leave a legacy of accomplishments and asterisks. This could help fix the asterisks.