Steve Clagett on High Performing Teams

Steve Clagett is the Director of Learning and Development with the Baltimore Ravens. Prior to arriving with the Ravens, he’s had quite a journey and quite an experience and a pretty incredible resume, which includes serving as a White House Fellow, where he got to interact with the President of the United States and a lot of other dignitaries and people that are making decisions that influence our daily lives. He also worked within the US Navy, rising to becoming a Lieutenant Commander where he also worked with the Navy SEAL Teams. We talk about mission, we talk about values in today’s conversation, and we talk about what is applicable and what may not be when it comes from the military to the sports world. We also talk about politics in today’s conversation. He also was a Pat Tillman Scholar. He is someone who cares about the work that he’s doing and is looking to make an impact certainly within the NFL, but beyond the NFL and in the community that he helps serve in Baltimore as well. So, this is a rich conversation where we really zoom in and think about character and how you assess for character and how you think about putting together the best possible team to compete, to contend, and ultimately to win.

Steve had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include:

“The power of the year [2020] means more now than it did then” (8:00).

“We don’t say he’s a [Navy} SEAL. We say he’s a team guy” (11:50).

“Part of the competition is who you are as a teammate” (12:20).

“I believe in having a hypercompetitive organization” (12:30).

“You have to make sure that competition reinforces selflessness” (12:40).

“For me, accountability comes in phases” (14:15).

“Both [the military and the NFL] exist in some ways to inspire others” (16:40).

“When I look back at my career, I think of times I could have been more of a glue guy” (19:15).

“As a leader, there’s that constant balance between the mission and the man” (19:25).

“You need people [on the team] who get people out of their comfort zones and push the team in different directions” (21:05).

“I really enjoyed leading teams and solving complex problems” (22:10).

“I would define effective leadership as working with the team on establishing a vision, giving them clear roles and responsibilities, the resources they need to get the job done, and then getting out of the way” (27:50).

“Ideally you want a culture of disagree and commit” (30:50).

“What I’ve learned over the years is the value of diverse perspectives” (36:20).

“When you can improve the morale, when you can improve the culture of an organization, it just makes coming to work every day better” (39:05).

“The toughest decision I ever made was leaving the SEAL teams” (41:35).

“Sometimes loyalty is just [to] your teammates” (44:35).

“I think intrinsic motivation isn’t as important as external motivation” (52:50).

“I wonder sometimes if we’re too hard on people for their honesty” (53:20).

“One of our biggest reasons for success is we know who we are” (58:50).

Additionally, I’d encourage you to check out Farming 4 Hunger and The Taylor Anne Foundation. You can also connect with Steve on LinkedIn.

Thank you so much to Steve for coming on the podcast!

I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers.

Thanks for listening.