FitzMagic Leadership

The football season kicks off this week, and this article about NFL quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick is a great read. I’ve always been a fan of his—Fitzpatrick and I were at college at the same time, so I got to see the FitzMagic firsthand. 

But now, entering his 17th season and starting with his 9th team in the pros, Fitzpatrick has established a clear track record as a great leader. One teammate sums up his reputation:

“I think he should go down—and will go down—as the most loved guy to play this game by his teammates.”

Some of the elements of the FitzMagic leadership approach are instructive:

Having emotional intelligence and the ability to build relationships with a diverse set of colleagues

“Fitz does a great job of meeting people where they’re at,” [teammate Brandon] Marshall said. “We know his pedigree. Harvard grad, super smart. So the dude can sit at the table with owners and executives in a boardroom and go head-to-head with them. And then he also can come down to the locker room and connect with the guy from the inner city, from urban America, to the guys from the country. He’s relatable. He understands everyone’s perspective. That’s really the thing that makes him special.”

Being authentic across those various interactions

“The best leaders I’ve been around, they don’t wake up in the morning and say, ‘Today, I’m gonna pour into DBs,’” former Bills and current Falcons tight end Lee Smith said. “That’s fake [B.S.]. If you wake up in the morning and you just be Ryan Fitzpatrick, people are just gonna gravitate towards you.”

Building trust and relationships as the basis for team effectiveness 

“‘Being on a new team every year, it’s not the system and learning it,’ Fitzpatrick said. ‘That stuff is gonna take care of itself. Meeting the guys and having this human connection with these guys is such an important aspect of playing QB and being part of a team. A lot of that is time. You have to put the time in. You have to have conversations. You have to ask questions. There are no shortcuts to building relationships.’”

Doing what you love

One story about a time Fitzpatrick entered a game as a substitute:

“Tampa Bay’s offense traded haymakers with the Cardinals over the final two quarters, eventually cutting the lead to 38-33 with two minutes to play. “I was changing plays, and they were all working,” Fitzpatrick said. “It was one of those games that was so much fun for me.” In the end, the Bucs fell short, but Fitzpatrick finished 22-of-32 for 290 yards and three touchdowns — in just 35 minutes of game play.

“In the Bucs facility the following day, Fitzpatrick and Tampa Bay’s other two quarterbacks met in the QB meeting room to go over the film. As the group discussed the game, Fitzpatrick began to break down. “He said he felt like he was 10 years younger, and it reminded him of why he’d first started playing when he was a kid,” said former Bucs quarterbacks coach Mike Bajakian. “And it was neat. It was neat that we kind of lit the fire in him again.”

“All the emotion that I had bottled up in 2016 just came out in that moment,” Fitzpatrick said. “It was like, ‘I do love this game. This is why I love this game.’ It was a very freeing moment for me.”

A Question for You

What can you tap into this week that makes work feel like you’re a kid again?

Something Fun

Here’s a clip of Ryan Fitzpatrick doing a post-game press conference after having stolen his teammate's clothes: