Why Your Team Isn't Winning (And How to Fix It)

The simple thing that great leaders do

Jan 18, 2026

If you walked into the New England Patriots facility during Bill Belichick’s coaching tenure, you would see three words posted at the entrance: Do Your Job.

Just to be clear, I am not a New England Patriots fan.

But Belichick built a dynasty around that phrase. He won six Super Bowl titles, posted 14 straight winning seasons, and made 12 playoff appearances.

That’s pretty remarkable. And annoying if you are not a patriot’s fan.

Here is how he did it: He taught his team how to do their jobs.
Meaning, he told his quarterback exactly how long to stay in the pocket, where to look first, and who to throw to based on what the defense showed. He told his linebacker exactly when to blitz based on how the offense lined up.

Every player knew exactly what to do in every situation before the ball was snapped.

What is the business lesson here?

Most leaders do the opposite.

They hire people, give them vague instructions, and hope they figure it out.

Let’s say you tell an employee: “You need to be more visible because you are a leader in the company.”

They now have to guess what visible behavior looks like:

Should they speak up more in meetings?
Should they post on Slack?
Should they send more emails?

They do not know, so they try random things and hope you notice.

Spoiler: you don’t.

Six months later, you are frustrated because they still do not seem “visible” enough. They are frustrated because they tried and got no feedback. The relationship breaks down because neither of you explicitly discussed what success looked like.

No bueno.

That conversation should have sounded like this:

“I know your goal is to become a C-level leader in the next few years. For that, you have to learn to be visible. Let me tie this to your goal so you can see why this matters.

You are already managing client communications well. I have seen you coach your team in 1-1s. If you did these three things this quarter, I think it will get you to C-level faster:

First, show up on Slack. Use it as an internal platform to share your thoughts about the company weekly or recognize key individuals. Right now, the leadership team does not see your thinking. Slack is how you make your thinking visible to the people who will promote you.

Second, when there are group client calls and you are in charge, take control of the meeting up front. Introduce your team and make them feel like rock stars. Do not just say “here is Jenny, she will run finance for the project” and move on. Explain to the group why they are lucky to have Jenny. This shows the client you trust your team and it builds your team’s confidence at the same time.

Third, when big projects are done, write a summary of what happened. Use it as an opportunity to teach the company how the business works. If James stepped up by building a detailed flowchart that solved three weeks of work, explain what happened so people know you recognize and reward that behavior. This builds your reputation as a leader who develops people.”

The employee now knows exactly what to do, why its important, and how to win.

Isn’t that what we all want?

That conversation took five minutes. Now compare that to the six months you just lost hoping they would figure it out on their own.

Remember, you hired them so you could stop answering the same questions every week and start working on what only you can do. If you are always watching them, answering their questions, and fixing their mistakes, you are just adding more work to your plate.

Now, you are frustrated.

And they are more frustrated.

In fact, this is ultra-important because you are not just teaching this to one person. You are helping them learn a skill that they will carry into the organization.

Here’s what happens: when you give instructions this clear, you teach the next group of leaders to do the same for their teams.

Meaning, when you promote Sarah to become a VP, the first thing she does is write a three-page memo to her team on exactly what “owning a client relationship” means.

She modeled exactly what you showed her.

She did her job.

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