January 2025 Newsletter 

Welcome to the Keep the Line Moving (KTLM) Newsletter where we dive into practical insights to help you navigate today’s workplace challenges with resilience and effectiveness.

This Month’s Focus

Hopefully, 2025 is off to a great start for you! We are working on advancing our programs, podcasts (see below), and marketing at GLG. Stay tuned for some exciting initiatives in the months to come.

Leadership Observation

Culture is a hot topic this time of year in the NFL because teams are making leadership changes—firing and hiring new coaches and general managers.

If you ask the leader of an NFL organization, What is your culture? The easy answer is to say "winning." Anyone can say that. But what happens when you don’t win?

Culture is not something you set and forget; it’s not just words on a wall. It starts with everyone in the building working toward alignment every day. It takes constant effort, and it requires leadership.

In my opinion, the answer to the question What is your culture? depends on the organizational values.

Winning is not a value. Winning is an outcome. It is the result of a strong culture built on well-thought-out values, brought forward by well-intentioned people. What do you stand for when adversity strikes, and you are not winning? How do you treat each other, support each other, and collaborate? Building a solid culture takes real work and continuous conversation.

A winning culture is not just about having great talent either.

Culture is a feeling. What do you feel when you walk into the building? Are you being micromanaged? Are you trying to avoid certain people? If that’s happening, that is your culture.

Being aligned as an organization doesn’t mean you always agree on everything or that there won’t be arguments and creative differences. It means you can disagree while still respecting and caring about the person, valuing their opinion, and remaining productive.

Your family has a culture, your friend group has a culture, and so does your workplace. These cultures are not perfect. You can still win with a less-than-ideal culture, but doing so involves managing your ego, playing for the person next to you, and ultimately caring more about the people and the process, with a shared understanding that drives the desired outcome.

I learned something from a friend that is truly at the core of great leadership. He said, “The relationship is more important than the problem.” Think about that for a minute. Teams get in trouble when leaders prioritize being right, taking credit, and not listening to the people they’ve hired.

“You are what your record says you are” is often quoted. If that’s the case, now is the time to be accountable to the organization and the fans. These are not just personnel changes, they are philosophical changes. This requires an open-minded approach: looking in the mirror and being willing to do things differently. That’s when your culture becomes healthy, and your new reality gives you a chance to win.

I spent 21 years in the front offices of professional sports organizations and another 12 years in the media covering teams, organizations, and athletes. If someone were to ask me what common themes contribute to achieving success as an individual within a team culture, my answer would be: having self-awareness, a commitment to continuous learning, and a willingness to adapt.

Here is a quote from Hall of Famer Bill Walsh in his book The Score Takes Care of Itself: “If I led our team down the road to failure, I wanted to make sure that the quality of my reasoning was very solid. If we went down, I wanted to go down for the right reasons. That’s tough enough to take, but what is toughest of all—what is inexcusable—is to fail because you are unwilling to admit that your way was the wrong way and that a change of course is the only path to victory.” - Bill Walsh

What We Are Working On

This week we launched our new micro-podcast, KTLM Extras, our new weekly recap podcast where we dive deeper into leadership, sports, and business. Here we will review the highlights from our Keep the Line Moving guests and then dive into other engaging topics at the intersection of sports, business, and leadership.

Please let us know what you think!

Final Thoughts

Thank you for being part of the KTLM community. Together, we’re building stronger leaders and fostering a culture of purpose-driven leadership.

Unlock Your Leadership Potential

If you're facing challenges in your leadership journey or seeking guidance on fostering a more resilient and effective work culture, we invite you to schedule a free consultation with our team. Together, let's unlock your leadership potential and navigate the complexities of today's workplace with confidence.

Join us in creating a workplace where everyone can thrive. Contact us today to learn more.

Feel free to share this newsletter with your colleagues and friends. We look forward to working with you.

Call to Action:

Lastly, please send us your podcast guest recommendations. If you know a leader, an emerging leader or someone who can inspire us, please email [email protected].

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

Chris Gargano

Founder of The Gargano Leadership Group