Quarterbacks, CEOs, and the Weight of the Spotlight
Seth Wickersham’s new book, American Kings, tracks the evolution of the quarterback position in American football. As football became the most popular sport in the United States and offenses evolved to prioritize passing, the job description for quarterbacks changed. Wickersham writes about the modern QB, “You’re a general, matinee idol, spokesman for a multibillion-dollar organization, prop, civic treasure, student, teacher, psychologist, conductor, instrument of momentum, avatar of debate, dream-maker, dream-wrecker, master manipulator, magician, earnest cheerleader, astonishing a**hole, social force, and lest anyone forget, distributor of footballs into slimming windows that few can see, much less exploit.”
Two anecdotes from the book stood out to me when considering the implications of that evolution.
Hall of Famer John Elway, describing what makes certain players special, said, “They don’t ever admit anything.” Wickersham writes that QBs “have to know and internalize, if not prepare an answer to, all of their weaknesses, yet also cannot concede an inch. Not to flaws, faults, realities, not to anything that fails to fit inside a fragile but glorified ecosystem. You cannot have any doubt when you step on the field, even if deep down, it exists. You must be able to hold those contradictory forces in your head and heart.”
In other words, have multiple personalities—enough humility to analyze your weaknesses, but with an almost deranged level of confidence that allows you to perform well in public.
The second anecdote was about a “mistake” by current Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott in a critical play of a 2023 playoff game. In ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky’s breakdown, Prescott missed a wide-open receiver and a sure touchdown because he misread the defense. On social media, Orlovsky’s summary of his analysis implied it was an obvious error, writing, “How do you miss this??????”
The reality was more complex. The defense disguised its intention to blitz, causing a mistake by one of the Cowboys’ linemen and forcing Prescott into a split-second decision on where to throw the ball. The defense also fooled receiver CeeDee Lamb, who should have adjusted his route to make himself available to Prescott.
What I found interesting about the anecdote was Wickersham’s point that Prescott couldn’t explain his point of view. “[I]f he did,” Wickersham writes, “it would look like he was throwing his teammates under the bus. So he had to eat it, sitting quiet as fans believed that he had royally screwed up when it mattered most.”
It mattered little that one of the culprits, Lamb, is a star in his own right. Despite Lamb’s $100M guaranteed contract, his quarterback carries the lion’s share of the pressure. (To be fair, Dak’s current contract has $231M in guaranteed money, so there’s an upside!)
The stories both highlight that when you’re in the public eye, different emotional aspects of leadership emerge. There’s not a chapter in the definitive guide to great leadership for Elway and Prescott to read on how to have an emotionally healthy existence in a world where people have passionate interest and opinions on how you’re doing your job, and you can’t even explain it to them sufficiently.
I mentioned in a post last year that I once heard former Intel CEO Paul Otellini answer a question about the downsides to being a CEO. He said that when he was the company’s COO, he could have a meal at local restaurants in peace. But when he became CEO, so many more people knew what he looked like that he couldn’t walk around without being noticed. Yet there’s not much in the traditional leadership literature on what it takes to live as a celebrity.
Closer to home, a client of mine recently mentioned that she was wrestling with a strategic conundrum. At a high level, the question was: How should an organization committed to equity navigate public discourse when equity is a politically controversial concept?
What struck me is how easy that question is to answer compared to the more personal one: How do I, as the public leader of the organization, navigate the politics? Setting organizational strategy is one thing; maintaining your professional reputation and living with the consequences of your ethical choices are another.
Leaders who step into prominent roles don’t just take on new responsibilities—they inherit a different emotional terrain. And because we’re all different people, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all strategy for handling the public spotlight.
I suspect, however, that a critical aspect of handling that spotlight is clarity of purpose. When one has a clear vision of what they want to accomplish, it’s easier to balance the scales between public pressure and personal rewards. Put simply, purpose helps you know when it’s worth it or not.