Recently, I had the privilege of being the MC at a business breakfast. Our guest speaker was Len Dawson, who is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and was the quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs in the first Super Bowl. Mr. Dawson discussed three keys to success.

Before the meeting, I spent a few minutes talking with Len. He is a wonderful man. He told me that he doesn’t participate in many of these events, so I knew it was a real pleasure for him to speak. After a video presentation about his life, he brought it to the lectern.

He talked about his childhood before his professional soccer career, as well as his career as a sportscaster afterward. (He still does the radio broadcast for the Chiefs.) He then went on to give us three keys to success: fundamentals, teamwork, and a winning attitude.

Fundamentals: Mr. Dawson discussed how important fundamentals are to success. He told us that he faithfully practiced his exercises for 20 years. He also talked about being prepared.

In the video slideshow, there was actually footage of Len throwing an interception in Super Bowl I. Not many people would want to hold that up as an example to anyone! But he included it to make a point about being prepared.

He told us that on that particular play, he wasn’t prepared for a blitz from the Green Bay Packers defense. Because of that, he tried to throw a pass when he shouldn’t have. He made his point well that he is preparing part of the fundamentals.

Teamwork – Mr. Dawson went on to talk about teamwork as another big key to success. “If everyone on the team is doing their best, then that’s teamwork,” Len said, “and you can be successful.”

He told us that we must be open to listening to the opinions of others. At Super Bowl IV, Len was sitting on the bench next to his wide receiver, Otis Taylor. The Chief’s defense was doing a great job against the Minnesota Vikings’ offense. Otis told Len about a play he knew would be effective against the Viking defense. “Back then,” Len said, “the quarterback called most of the plays.”

He went on to tell us that Otis proceeded to write the play on the dirt like children do. Otis told him that if he tried the play he knew he could beat the defender. A few minutes later it was time for the offense to take the field. Otis asked Len if he was going to call that play. “No,” was Len’s reply. “Not until we’re in the group. Hell yeah, I’m going to call that a play!”

The play worked very well, leading the Chiefs to a touchdown. Len Dawson and the Kansas City Chiefs then went on to win Super Bowl IV. And though Len was named the game’s MVP, he emphasized that the Chiefs won because of his teamwork.

A winning attitude: The final point Len talked about was having a winning attitude. Len said the difference between Super Bowl I and Super Bowl IV was a winning attitude. In Super Bowl IV, they knew they could beat the Vikings. Their fundamentals were in tune and they were prepared. They used teamwork and had a winning attitude.

A winning attitude is not only important, it is critical to success. And yet it is often overlooked.

Fundamentals, teamwork and a winning attitude are three important keys to success. Having that determination, conviction and absolute certainty that you are going to succeed will produce great results. It doesn’t matter if it’s football or sales or whatever, having a positive winning attitude will bring you success.