With disappointment, pain, and suffering cast as the horsemen of our growing financial apocalypse, I think that getting back to basics must be part of any solution. We have now been exposed to the unfortunate results of the conjuring of some of the most clever and bright minds on Wall Street, and I don’t think that most of us are happy with what we see. By using derivatives, credit swaps, and other exotic techniques they were playing a game that is the exact opposite of the basics that made the business life of America great.

Since this is still Super Bowl month, my thoughts turned to one of my favorite teachers of a basics philosophy. That person was the revered football coach Vince Lombardi. He was 46 years of age when he became head coach of the hapless Green Bay Packers who had won just a single game during the prior season. Lombardi guided them to six division titles, five NFL championships, and two Super Bowl wins. You may be surprised to learn that it wasn’t about fancy strategy or plays that no one had seen before. What coach Lombardi embraced, preached, and insisted upon from his teams was blocking and tackling, the most fundamental form of basics in football. By doing those things well in game after game, his team frequently whipped other teams who had a book full of interesting strategies.

Vince Lombardi said, "If you can accept losing, you can't win." In today’s business climate, no matter what size your enterprise, it is easy to feel less capable and destined for feeble results. If you listen to or watch the sensational and simplistic presentation I laughingly call “the news,” you’ll be blitzed with negative speculation and statistics about your business prospects. You begin to expect that one or more of those horsemen of the apocalypse will be galloping through your business or home. My buddy Wally “Famous” Amos has a favorite thought regarding being surrounded by negativity. He often says, “No boat will sink if it doesn’t let the water inside.”

Just as media screams out the headlines about how many thousand jobs were lost in a given month, I know that thousands of people are being hired without the notice of eager reporters. Remember that most daily media uses fear to attract a crowd. As our fiscal challenges grow to Frankenstein dimensions, I predict that people will more often begin gravitating to messages of hope. Just ask President Obama.

What are the most important basics for a small business owner that parallel football? In the spirit of the truly “super” Super Bowl this year, let’s have a look at what Vince Lombardi taught.

1. Kicking = You have to take action everyday and get started
The best thinking and planning means nothing without the action steps. Write down your tasks, number them by priority of importance or urgency and then tackle whatever is #1. If talking to customers, ask relevant, effective questions about their business. You need to know how to provide the best solutions possible.

2. Throwing = Sales Calls and Presentations
Like a good quarterback, you have to take your message to the prospect aggressively and repeatedly if the first time fails. As a sales manager friend reminds me, what drives sales is selling and everybody in the enterprise must be reminded that sales is the critical support for everything else. The prospects and customers must be clear on what you are offering them. The team marches on a combination of expertise and confidence.

3. Catching =Observing and Listening Well
Simply because we are enthused about our businesses we may be inclined to make the mistake of talking too much. Listening requires us to be interested in the person whom we want to develop a relationship with. They won’t care about us until they know we care about them. The better a quarterback becomes at reading defenses, the chances are much better for outcome of the game.

4. Running = Clear Goals and Persistent Follow-up

The amazing technology used for TV coverage of the Super Bowl enabled me to clearly see the eyes of the person carrying the ball. Those eyes looked for openings in the defending line and once past each impediment, they were immediately focused on the goal line. Sometimes there were direction changes along the way, slowing to wait for a team member to clear a problem and glances to the side for unseen threats, but it is always about getting closer to the goal.

Yes, it is always seductive to think that opportunities are limited in tough economic times but that isn’t true. They may be in places we haven’t looked yet and they may be firmly wrapped inside a problem, but they are there. The basics are true in good and bad times and Vince Lombardi, who coached in the first Super Bowl, never forgot that.

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