Posts by Fran Tarkenton

I believe that if you’re going to do something, you have to really commit to it. Whatever you do, give it the best of yourself, not just “enough.” A big part of that commitment is having great passion for whatever it is you’re doing. If you look around at the people giving business advice, you’ll…

What kind of culture do you want to have in your workplace? Your culture will depend in large part on the people who are part of your business. During my time in the NFL, I saw this first hand. On game day in our locker room, if we had 39 All Pros and one total…

In 1989, the 101st Congress passed what is popularly called the Whistleblower Protection Act, designed to encourage federal workers to report violations of law or regulations, gross mismanagement, waste of funds, abuse of authority, or dangers to health or safety in the federal agencies in which they work. The act protects whistleblowers against retaliation for…

Many of us underestimate the power of coaching. In sports, coaches make players better—as long as the player will listen to the coach. Why does it work? It’s because coaches have a vast experience of the sport that they’re playing, whether it’s an individual sport like golf or a team sport like football. Coaches can…

Your business is like a family: You need to create a culture of respect that makes everyone want to be their best self. My dad created—to use a business term—a very special culture in my family. It was a culture of respect, transparency, and kindness, of openness to people as they are. We didn’t yell…

I would have to think that most people are interested in peak performance, whether it be individually, as a team, or as a business. How do we, in the most stressful situations, perform at the highest level? I think this is one of the great challenges that we face in life. There is no question…

Adapted from The Power of Failure: Succeeding in the Age of Innovation by Fran Tarkenton In my experience, on the field, in the huddle, in the locker room, in the marketplace, in the venture capital meeting, and even at the cocktail party, almost no one is willing to talk about failure, its pain, its benefits,…

The most important thing in my life has been the value of relationships. The most important thing in my business life? All about relationships. In my athletic life? All about relationships. In my family life? All about relationships. If you don’t have great relationships on your football team, in your family, school, or business, then…

Many leaders work hard and do all the right things to reach the top—only to make a huge mistake that undoes so much of that work. They close the door. What does that mean? Well, a big part of achieving success in the first place is constantly learning new things and working with others to…