First, tell me what drove you to write your book, A Different Way to Win?
When I started the process, my father was still with us. We were thinking of putting something together for the Harvard Business Review on his career and approach to business – how he got to the Rooney Rule and the other core elements of his career, He did such a great job balancing competency and doing what he needed to do as a leader while being respectful to those around him.
He was very involved in political causes obviously – especially as you look at the NFL today, how was he able to marry his political approach while keeping it out of the locker room and NFL?
Well, everything is blurred in this world these days, but my father did what he did because he felt a passion for it. He didn’t do those things for himself – he did them because he wanted to improve situations and conditions for folks. Throughout his career – the Rooney Rule, Ireland – he was a guy with influence but used that to help folks who had been systematically left out. And he would work with anyone – he didn’t care about the labels. As long as they would help him achieve those aims, he didn’t care.
Fairness was a driving factor for him – that’s what he cared about.
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