With seven Super Bowl rings to his name, NFL legend Tom Brady is universally regarded as one of the greatest—if not the greatest—football players of all time. Yet, as the quarterback for both the New England Patriots and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Brady emphasizes that his success as a leader on the field hinged on identifying the right levers to inspire and motivate his teammates.
Brady credits his drive to an intrinsic motivation. “You wake up and do something you love, and you don’t want to look at the person in the mirror and fail them,” he explained at the Fortune Global Forum. His relentless commitment to personal excellence fueled his performance and inspired those around him. However, he recognized that not everyone shared his self-driven mindset. “A lot of other guys aren’t motivated like that,” he said, acknowledging that some needed external encouragement to unlock their full potential. To foster this, Brady set the tone for a culture of relentless effort and accountability by trying to exemplify what a culture of 100% effort looked like.
At 6:30 a.m., he’d arrive in the weight room. His teammates would trickle in around 6:45 a.m., thinking they were early because the team’s first meeting was at 8 a.m. “I’d be like, ‘Man, good afternoon,’” Brady said to laughter. The next day, they’d arrive at 6:30 a.m. “But I’d be there at 6:15, and I’d be like, ‘Man, still showing up late,’” Brady said.
This discipline cultivated a team culture of high performance and unwavering standards, transcending the typical transactional mindset of clocking in and collecting a paycheck. ““We were there to push each other to succeed, and when you succeed, there’s enough credit to go around for everybody,” said Brady.
The result was more than just championships; it was a bond built on camaraderie, mutual respect, and a collective commitment to a shared mission. “I bled with them. We played in the heat. We played in the cold. We lost, cried, and celebrated together,” Brady continued, reflecting on the deep connections forged within the team. And despite their diverse socioeconomic backgrounds, races, educational attainment levels, and the like, he noted, their love for the game and their shared goal united them. “It didn’t matter. We all loved each other. We all loved what we were trying to accomplish,” Brady concluded.
Ruth Umoh
ruth.umoh@fortune.com
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