Great leadership has a feeling. Over the years, I had heard so much about Pete Carroll and the Seattle Seahawks’ culture that I wanted to understand it for myself. What did the Seahawks feel when they walked into the building every day?

This past August, I visited Seattle to find out.

Pete is no longer the Head Coach of the Seahawks, but I thought his way of leading people and his generous spirit were still important to share.

One of the best parts of starting The Gargano Leadership Group has been re-connecting with old friends. One of those people for me was Matt Capurro. We were colleagues at the Oakland Raiders in the early 2000s.

Matt worked directly with Pete Carroll for the past 14 years in Seattle as the Vice President of Coaching Operations. Matt is a great professional and was a guest on my podcast, Keep the Line Moving back in June. As we talked during the summer about culture and leadership – the driving force of my business, we both realized that I should experience the Seahawks culture firsthand and the influence of Coach Pete Carroll.

I was on my way to Seattle for a day of observation during Training Camp and then subsequent visits would take place this off-season.

Why visit Pete Carroll and the Seahawks?

This all started last Spring while listening to an episode of the podcast Lead by Example, hosted by former Golden State Warriors General Manager, Bob Myers. His guest was Steve Kerr, Warriors Head Coach. During this interview, Kerr tells Myers a story about visiting Pete Carroll in Seattle before he started coaching the Warriors. Coach Kerr spent a couple of days attending meetings, observing practice, and taking in the Seahawks culture.

Coach Kerr also spent time talking with Coach Carroll and during one of those conversations, Coach Carroll asked Kerr, “How are you going to coach your team?”

From the podcast transcript (ESPN/Omaha Productions):

Kerr: “I said, “you mean like what offense am I going to run?”

He (Carroll)…, “No, that stuff doesn’t even matter.” He says, “How are you going to coach your team?”

I go, “What does that even mean?”

He goes, “what are the players going to feel when they walk into the building every day? What’s the vibe? What’s the culture? Like, how are you going to determine what they feel when they walk into the building every day?”

“And that started this conversation where he basically laid it out and it was an incredible story. He said he had coached in the NFL for four years, couple years with New England, couple years with the Jets, gets fired, comes here to San Francisco as a coach with the Niners and he said at the end of every day he’d go and sit with Bill Walsh.”

“He said Bill Walsh taught him about culture. He said that Bill Walsh told him ‘You got to figure out who you are. What are the values that make you who you are? And those values have to become the culture. But you got to figure out how to make those values come alive, they can’t just be words on a wall.”

1. Your values create the culture.

They cannot just be words on a wall. As a leader, the importance of knowing oneself and the work needed to figure this out should be a top priority. What is your vision, your story and values and can you explain this over and over, so this becomes your culture, and this drives your answer to the question: “How are you going to determine what they (players) feel when they walk into the building every day?”

This premise of knowing yourself so you can establish your culture has led to intense discussions in my work with organizations, companies, my NYU Leadership class and is valuable for emerging leaders. How a leader deals with conflict, success, listening, accountability, attention to detail and even down to your process of running a meeting all matters.

2. Every detail matters.

What I have learned and observed about winning organizations and teams is that everything matters. Everything. Great cultures are created with great values and standards all the way down to how you are greeted and how the building appears.

I was welcomed professionally and warmly by the person at the front gate of the Seahawks’ Virginia Mason Athletic Center. Matt then brought me to his office and shared a busy agenda for us attending meetings, practice, and introductions to football staff.

3. Set the tone when everyone is together.

First stop of the day, the team meeting.

It was clear to see that there was a natural camaraderie amongst the players, as they filed into the team meeting room. Laughter, chatter, and energy – positive energy. They were in the last few days of training camp and a couple of weeks from kicking off the 2023 regular season and the players showed no signs of fatigue.

Pete Carroll opened the team meeting by referencing former players and how the legacy that the 2023 Seahawks are part of is tough and determined. This culture started back with players like Doug Baldwin, Marshawn Lynch, Kam Chancellor, and Richard Sherman to name a few. He also revealed that the Head Coach of the Portland Trailblazers, Chauncy Billups, was in yesterday to glean coaching and organizational culture wisdom from Coach Carroll. Coach Carroll’s advice to Billups; be yourself and know your values so you can coach the way you want to coach.

Coach Carroll was very natural with positive energy and did not force anything. This team meeting had a flow and everyone -and I mean, everyone- was paying attention to Coach Carroll. There was a tangible mutual respect felt between the players and coaches.

Coach Carroll then showed several short video clips highlighting fun team related themes. It was fast moving, and everyone was engaged.

Now it was time for two position coaches to address the entire team. Topic one was how not to recover a fumble. Video examples were used, and the message was do not try to be a hero by picking up the ball and trying to advance it. Simply lay on the ball and let the offense do the scoring. Especially if you are a defensive lineman. Everyone watched and listened.

In three days, the Seahawks were set to play the Green Bay Packers in their final preseason game. The Seahawks’ defensive coaches did a presentation featuring all three of the Packers’ quarterbacks, their throwing styles and offensive blocking schemes. Everyone watched and listened.

Coach Carroll then took the podium again emphasizing the goal for today’s practice which was to get everything out of it, and it was the most important practice of camp. “The ones will go against the ones today,” said Carroll. This means the first-string offense against the first-string defense. There was a buzz in the room.

Then it was onto the basketball hoop for shooting competitions between players – cheering and jeering fueling that contagious positive energy.

The players and coaches left the meeting charged up and ready to attack the day. My impression of the team meeting was that Coach Carroll is a confident and positive person, secure in his message and it appeared that the players could feel that.

4. Intention leads to a productive and cohesive mindset.

The Seahawks held their daily practice walk-through in their indoor facility because Coach Carroll wanted to ensure there is a separate mindset in walk-through compared to practice held on the outside fields. According to Matt, Coach Carroll wanted this distinction to allow the players to adjust their intentions.

What was clear to me during my time observing the Seahawks is that their success under Pete Carroll was because he cared and was genuine and consistent. This consistency motivated people throughout the organization to support this culture and extend its reach to key stakeholders. As I listened and learned from the people I met, it all started with Coach Carroll’s energy and vision fueling accountability and the contagious positive energy. It all starts with, “How are you going to determine what they (players) feel when they walk into the building every day?”

5. Loyalty is at the center.

From what I have experienced and was reinforced by watching Coach Carroll, is that if the leader is comfortable in their own skin and knows what they stand for, the team will follow. Cultivating a winning culture requires loyalty to people, to the culture and to yourself.

6. Attitude, commitment, work ethic and a team-first mentality fuel a winning culture.

Late August training camp practices can be mundane. Not in Seattle. No one wasted a single second – there was energy and intention. The practice was well organized, there were few dropped passes and a lot of one-on-one coaching from the position coaches and Coach Carroll.

Pete Carroll’s personal philosophy is to ‘always compete.’ This was written on the walls of the Seahawks building. In fact, coaches, scouts, and player personnel staff evaluated players on a number scale measuring their competitiveness with the goal of seeing the true makeup of the roster. Not only how competitive they are, but how are they as teammates? How do they deal with the pressures of the NFL? Do they have confidence in their ability? Do they care more about the team than self? Do they care more than just their side of the ball?

What I heard and observed, when questions like this are asked all the time and the players are consistently being evaluated and coached, culture takes hold. The results were tangible.

7. Team leaders reinforce the standard.

Back to practice. DK Metcalf caught a pass over the middle at his own 40-yard line. He then proceeded to run the ball the other 60 yards to the endzone for a touchdown. However, no one was chasing him. The play was whistled over. He scored anyway and I can only assume he wanted to show that all plays are designed to score a touchdown, and he was going to put in the work to reinforce his own standard of play and the culture of the Seahawks. The only other receiver I saw do this at practice with both the 49’ers and Raiders was Hall of Famer, Jerry Rice.

Quarterback Geno Smith was a New York Jet in my first year with the organization back in 2016. It was now eight years later, and he looked relaxed, accurate and in control of the huddle and himself as a leader. He has thrived in Seattle.

8. Do the work. Fill up your notebooks.

This goes back to Coach Carroll. Geno Smith’s journey has included the Jets, Giants, Chargers, and finally Seattle where he found a home as the starter. This is a similar path that Coach Carroll was on during his coaching career. After stints as head coach with the Jets and Patriots, Coach Carroll took a year off before becoming the Head Coach at USC, where he won seven consecutive Pac-10 titles, two national championships and a win- loss record of 97-19. However, it is the year that Pete spent in between his early NFL days and USC that proved to be the game changer.

Matt and I discussed the fact that Pete took a year off filling up countless notebooks focused on what he believes in and stands for as both a person and a head coach. He studied John Wooden and was amazed to realize that it took Coach Wooden 15 years before the UCLA Bruins started dominating college basketball to win 10 national championships. This goes back to the advice that Coach Carroll gave to Steve Kerr. He did the work to both define himself as a person and as a coach. He was now ready to lead by truly being himself.

Speaking of being himself, back to practice where I could not believe what I was seeing. In between drills and plays, Coach Carroll was running 100-yard sprints and from my count, he did this at least four times back and forth. He still had plenty of energy to give the team talk at the end of practice. Pete Carroll is 72 years old.

9. Trust each other and trust the process.

From my observation, Coach Carroll and the Seahawks placed trust and a team-first mindset as priorities ahead of self. From all indications this trust extended beyond the players.

Throughout my 12 hours with the Seahawks, I was able to visit several members of the football staff and their feedback was consistent. They were all in it together, enjoyed working for the organization, were put in positions to succeed, and they took their role in contributing to the culture seriously.

One staff member revealed that if the players were down as a group or individually, Coach Carroll had an innate ability to bring them back up by next Sunday’s game. They went on to say that Pete’s longevity and success is directly attributed to his unique ability to motivate players. He had this effect on the staff as well.

It was time for me to meet with Coach Carroll. After some pleasantries, he asked me what I thought of practice, and I shared that everyone’s energy this time of the summer was impressive. He then talked about the importance of competition. He then invited me to come to a game this season. Matt and I agreed that I would attend the early October game when the Seahawks traveled to play the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium. I thanked Pete for this opportunity.

10. Great leadership is a tangible feeling.

Matt and the Seahawks treated me like I was part of the organization. They were extremely welcoming during my time at training camp and when I attended their walk-through in New Jersey ahead of their game against the Giants at MetLife Stadium in October. They showed me genuine warmth and this welcoming culture is a credit to them and of course a credit to Coach Carroll and what he built in Seattle. It was easy to see why many of Coach Carroll’s former players responded with such respect when it was announced that he would no longer be the head coach of the team.

A winning culture is so much more than talent or what you see on the field. It requires self-awareness, intention, commitment, loyalty, positivity, trust, consistency, and a united feeling and when this takes hold, a sustainable culture is the result. The numbers back it up in Seattle. Coach Carroll was 137-89-1 over 14 seasons with a winning percentage of .606, and a World Championship.

The reason this project was so important to complete was to share the wisdom that Coach Carroll passed down to Steve Kerr and what Bill Walsh gave to Pete Carroll – that you must learn who you are before you can lead, coach, or create a culture. To me, this is everything, and now that I am teaching, coaching, and consulting on leadership, I wanted to do the work to understand Coach Carroll’s influence from a firsthand perspective. As demonstrated in this article, it was the result of serious introspection, continuous learning, and curiosity, genuinely caring about the players and staff and a commitment to a team-first mentality.

So, the answer to the question, can you feel great leadership and culture, in Seattle the answer was yes.

I want to thank all of you for following The Gargano Leadership Group!

Chris Gargano

Founder of The Gargano Leadership Group

#career #emergingleaders #leadership #inspiration #courage

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How to Work with The Gargano Leadership Group:

If you lead people and want to maximize your impact and create better time management – The Gargano Leadership Group is here to guide you. Whether you are a senior executive or an emerging leader, we all need help with our self-awareness and to examine how we are leading. Check out our group and individual coaching services here. To book a call, please visit https://calendly.com/garganoleadership or to get more information, email me at chrisg@garganoleadership.com.