Inspire Your Team with the Middle of the Story Mindset

Let’s talk about optimism for a moment. It's an essential ingredient for success in business and yet, not always an easy one to procure. That is, unless you know this one phrase — a “leadership hack” known only to those who fully embrace the power of the story: "This is the MIDDLE of a story."

When times are tough and the odds are against you, the best leaders fight the urge to call the story over and instead see themselves where they really are — the middle.

Take, for example, the players in the locker room at halftime of the NFC North championship game in December of 2022. The Minnesota Vikings were down by a lot — 33 to zero. An amount so great, the story seemed all but over. No team in the history of football had ever come back from a 33-0 deficit at halftime.

Now, I’ll spare you the play-by-plays of the first half, but what happened next is a master class in the impact of a leader knowing that you're always in the middle of the story. That leader was Patrick Peterson, cornerback, who said, once the team had gathered, “All we needed was five touchdowns.” At first, the coaches and other players thought he was being sarcastic, but Peterson continued, telling his offensive teammates, “We're going to get stops. You just need five touchdowns. That's nothing.”

Halftime concluded and both teams returned to the field. Two quarters and an overtime later, the Vikings had pulled off the greatest comeback in NFL history. While yes, part of what made that turnaround possible is simply in the essence of being an elite athlete, a big part of that win was a result of a leader who understood that a story isn’t over when it gets hard — the hard part is just the middle.

Whether on the field or in a boardroom, regardless if your success is measured in touchdowns or market share, one thing is certain: things aren’t always going to go your way. In those moments when you’re down and in need of optimism to drive a comeback, remember this phrase and share it with your team: You are in the middle of the story, one that is still being written, one that you will tell someday as the greatest comeback in your own history.