5 Business Lessons Learned From the Aggie Spoiler: What Kyle Field Taught Us
After a dismal season and attending one of the worst losses in Aggie history against Appalachian State, I chose to do what a Good Ag would do and made the trip to College Station to support the efforts of the 12th Man against the 5th Ranked LSU Tigers. Promising news sprung from the Texas A&M locker room earlier in the week that star running back Devon Achane was coming off the injury list. This was a good sign that something special might just happen.
Evenly matched early, the Aggies took momentum with a scoop and score by defensive back Demani Richardson. Achane got stronger as the game went, rushing for a total of 211 yards and two touchdowns. Other teammates got in on the action including two one-handed catches by Moose Muhammed; one of those being a touchdown catch from Quarterback Conner Weigman.
The Aggies got the job done. The 12th Man got the job done. Jimbo Fisher, under much criticism for the season, added a spectacular win to his resume by leading his team into battle despite the results up to this point in the season. The end of the game culminated with the storming of the field to celebrate an Aggie win. The next day, LSU fell in the rankings to #9, and their playoff hopes diminished.
What Lessons from the Game Can Translate Over to Owning and Operating a Small Business
Chris Grum, Owner of Premier Custom Travel, shared a few lessons that came to his mind following the game.
- Games aren’t played “on paper.” This is why we play the games. Anyone can win on any given day, statistics be damned.
- Show up, even when others say you can’t or you won’t. If teams had listened to the experts, we might not have some of the classic upsets in sports. Believe in miracles.
- Without great minds applying point two to the business world, we might not have smartphones, home computers, cars, or many of the other luxuries we enjoy today.
- Show up.
One lesson I will also personally add is that everyone else may disagree in your approach, and sometimes you've just got to stick to your plan. In the case of the game, Jimbo Fisher, despite taking a massive amount of heat from the fanbase, stuck to the plan. In coaching business owners, I see business owners move away from their plan too quickly because they are not patient on getting the results. While there are times you need to shift your plan, more often than not, you simply need to tweak your plan. Stick to the plan.
There are probably several other lessons buried in this game that can be made applicable to business. If you have one, share it to [email protected]. Saturday was a great day with a lot of lessons learned. More importantly, it was the opportunity to create lasting memories with my family.
I've included some videos and pictures of our experience below. Make sure you Subscribe to my YouTube channel for future videos that will help you both in business and life. Learn more about coaching services offered by Red Hawk Coaching by visiting www.RedHawkCoaching.com.
