My 15 year old son was required to read a book from the 10^th grade book list this year, and naturally he chose the one about sports, Drew Brees’ Coming Back Stronger.  As a good mother, and fellow football fanatic, I decided to read it as well.  If you haven’t had a chance to read his story, it has some great business takeaways with the underlying theme of turning adversity into success; it is also fun to hear the replay of the games told from his point of view.

One of the motivational acronyms that he created was FAITH which helped motivate the Saints team to a Super Bowl victory in 2010.  The letters stand for the following:

F = Fortitude

A = Attitude

I = Integrity

T = Trust

H = Humility

Drew Brees defines these as:

Fortitude is toughness and courage, fighting for something you know is out there but you can’t quite grasp yet.

Attitude is about how you approach life. Sometimes you can’t control what happens around you, but you can control how you react. In a team situation, if you have confidence in your ability to deal with a specific situation and you also have confidence in those around you to do the same, you will grow and overcome any situation you are faced with.

Integrity is about doing what you say you are going to do and what you are expected to do. Hold yourself accountable. Don’t cut corners.  Don’t think that it doesn’t matter if no one is looking.

Trust is the cornerstone of all your relationships whether it be family, friends, team-mates, coaches, or supporters. You have to build trust. Learn to have trust. Give those around you a reason to believe in you.

Humility is doing whatever you have to do to get the job done. It doesn’t matter if you aren’t the one who scores the winning try, it matters that you did your part which finished with that team-mate scoring the winning try.

As I was reading this, I couldn’t think of a better set of guidelines for business, especially for those who are in marketing and sales.  Here are my similar, yet more business oriented interpretations.

Fortitude is the strength to carry-on in the face of adversity, to know what you are up to (your value proposition) and persist even when you get knocked down.

Attitude is the ability to create a positive context for any situation for both yourself and for others.  There are always a number of interpretations to any situation, and someone with a great attitude will choose the most powerful one.  It is the difference between the people who find a solution and those that dwell on the problem.

Integrity is exactly as Drew says, “doing what you say you are going to do and what you are expected to do. Hold yourself accountable. Don’t cut corners.  Don’t think that it doesn’t matter if no one is looking.”  I would also add that if everything you do is based on a foundation of integrity, you never have to doubt yourself or your objectives.

Trust is the building block for everything.  In business, trust is built based on the combination of one’s character (integrity, motive, and underlying intent with people) and competence (capabilities, skills, results, and prior track record). As Jim Burke, the former Chairman and CEO of J&J said “Trust is the absolute key to long-term success.”   Trust is what makes business relationships last for the long haul.

To me, humility comes from the foundation of being “of service”- taking the focus off ourselves and looking to how we can help.  In a team it means looking at the goal and determining how you can best help get the job done.  Unless you are a sole proprietor, all businesses are a team sport.  Humility is the knowledge that to accomplish greatness, you need more than just yourself.  It is also one of the most sought after traits in top candidates.