Risk Managment

Everywhere I went I tried to learn, assimilating the positive qualities of various employers, even if I didn’t admire all their traits. I learned from Raiders owner Al Davis, the man who fired me four games into the 1989 season. When I was around him, I would ask myself, “why has he won three Super Bowls? Why?” I knew why when I left the Raiders.

Preparation. He left no stone unturned. He knew personnel so much better than anyone else in the league, it wasn’t even a contest…He was thinking football all the time. He could never let it go. He was always wondering what he could do to improve his organization. It worked for a very long time – up until some people realized what he was doing, caught him, and passed him…. Learning from experience – others and yours – is a vital lesson of life… And not only should you study their successes, but you also should study their failures. You should learn from their mistakes so you don’t wind up making those same mistakes yourself.
-Mike Shanahan