I’m ending the year 2023 thinking a lot about the Detroit Lions, and leadership.
The first is obvious to any red-blooded football fan who’s spent more than a few years in Michigan. The 11-4 Lions have the second-best record in the National Football League and the fan base, once routinely (and accurately) labeled “long-suffering” or “downtrodden” finally has a team that is rewarding its devotion.
The transformation from the “Same Old Lions” that routinely snatched defeat from the jaws of victory into NFC division champions for the first time in 30 years took much more than better talent on the field. It took a commitment from new leadership to build a culture of accountability within the organization.
In August 2021, the Lions were coming off a 5-11 season in which their defense gave up the second-most points in NFL history. Owner Sheila Hamp fired the previous general manager and coach, hired new GM Brad Holmes and head coach Dan Campbell, and then OK’d the trade of franchise quarterback Matthew Stafford to the Los Angeles Rams.
On a podcast shortly afterward, I chatted with our Lions reporters and they sensed something new, something positive, in Allen Park.
“Real culture change is taking root; the players feel good, they’re happy to go into work, and they’re happy to play for (coach) Dan Campbell,” said Kyle Meinke, lead Lions writer, during that interview.
A former Lions tight end, Campbell has been a national symbol of the rebuild. He introduced himself in Detroit with a legendary press conference, he was a colorful main character in the HBO documentary series “Hard Knocks,” and he makes himself accessible to the media with refreshing candor.
But as someone who’s been in management for more than 35 years, I know two things are true. One, as Meinke pointed out, culture is key to building a successful organization. And two, culture starts at and grows from the top. And the head of the Lions Den is Sheila Hamp.
I’ve felt for decades that much of the Lions’ problems were due to the Ford family’s approach. Not just about how they ran the team, although the results would tell you that was poorly. More so that they accepted mediocrity in a way that seeped toxically back into the entire organization.
So in June 2020, when Sheila Hamp took over from her mother, Martha Firestone Ford, who had taken over from her husband, William Clay Ford, in 2014, I had no reason to believe things would change.
“Hey, I get it. She's a Ford, and the Fords have done a thing or two wrong with this team over the years,” said Meinke. “Truth is, Sheila has a vastly different management style than her parents. She's more active than any Lions owner I've seen in Detroit. She's at everything, all the time.”
She has joined the brain trust in the draft room to celebrate the college player picks. She has attended offensive and defensive team meetings. She comes to the practice fields and the locker rooms. And she has done things in the workplace to make the culture more open and collaborative, such as moving her office out of a corner suite into a central location to be accessible and transparent to staff members.
Meinke points out that it was Hamp who recruited Lions legend Chris Spielman as an adviser at the outset of her ownership to find the right kind of people – not just in football IQ, but in character – to build a new culture.
Holmes and Campbell were not household names, but they were well-respected in league circles for their football acumen and open leadership styles. Hamp and Spielman saw them as the right fits for what they wanted to build, and they have been proven right.
In October 2022, the Lions fell to 1-5 after losing to Dallas. That made Campbell’s record as head coach 4-18-1. Hamp took the unusual move of convening a press conference where she not only supported her coach and team, but told the world there was more happening than what met the eye.
“Our rebuild is hard, but we really believe in our process. … It requires patience,” Hamp said. “Am I frustrated? Absolutely. Are the fans frustrated? Absolutely. I think we really are making progress. We’ve seen it.”
The Lions record since that day? 19-7, with a division championship and guaranteed home playoff game in hand. The players are getting it done on the field, but this is a team united through a winning culture. That started with an owner who would not accept mediocrity, and who committed to an open, collaborative and healthy workplace for all employees.
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A personal note on leadership: I have been appointed president of MLive Media Group, effective Monday, Jan. 1. My job will grow to take responsibility for aspects of advertising operations, marketing, and representing MLive publicly around Michigan, but I will continue to write this column and respond to your emails to editor@mlive.com.
Unlike Hamp’s situation, I inherit a strong, functional organization – it’s the No. 1-read news source in Michigan, with a talented and dedicated work force and a spirit of collaboration and innovation.
But like the Lions owner, I believe in transparency, personal involvement and listening to the smart people around me. I care deeply about our “fans” and how they interact with our products. I believe positivity is important, but that it’s more important to build a culture that generates positive outcomes. Hamp is doing it right, in my book, and that can be an inspiration for all leaders.
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