#145 Les Snead: Building a Super Bowl Champion

The Knowledge Project with Shane Parrish

Shane Parrish

Business, Investing, Entrepreneurship

4.7 • 2.9K Ratings

🗓️ 23 August 2022

⏱️ 79 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

LA Rams General Manager Les Snead dives deep into some of the strategies that made the Rams a Super Bowl Champion, including assessing character, how to draft the right player, the complicated nature of trading players, how to build a team, hiring the right coach, hidden performance, why it’s so important to be relentlessly curious, and so much more.

A native of football-crazed Eufaula, Alabama, Snead served as a graduate assistant at Auburn University before he spent 14 years as an NFL scout for the Jacksonville Jaguars and Atlanta Falcons. He became the Rams’ GM in 2012 and over time built a reputation as an executive willing to make insightful draft picks as well as blockbuster trades, including his move to draft future Hall of Famer Aaron Donald in 2014 and to trade for superstars Von Miller and Matthew Stafford on the way to winning the Super Bowl in February.

Want even more? Members get early access, hand-edited transcripts, member-only episodes, and so much more. Learn more here: https://fs.blog/membership/

Every Sunday our Brain Food newsletter shares timeless insights and ideas that you can use at work and home. Add it to your inbox: https://fs.blog/newsletter/

Follow Shane on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/ShaneAParrish

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	There was this element right as we were getting closer to the playoffs and you know he brought one of his
0:06.5	his replica Super Bowl trophy and
0:09.5	put it in our locker room. Right there when everybody went to get their new clean clothes, pick up
0:15.5	their laundry for the day, right that trophy stared at you and he would hand ride a message.
0:21.6	What we needed to do that day, each day before each of our playoff games. We didn't know if he was
0:28.8	going to be a leader or not. We didn't know he would affect the passer but then you see that,
0:34.0	hey I've got one of these. I know everyone else in life. You really won't one of these. Let's go get one of these.
0:40.4	Welcome to the Knowledge Project podcast. I'm your host Shane Parish. The goal of this show is to
1:02.4	master the best of what other people have already figured out. To that end, I sit down with people
1:08.0	at the top of their game to uncover what they've learned along the way. Every episode is packed
1:13.1	with timeless ideas and insights that you can use in life and business. If you're listening to this,
1:20.3	you're missing out. If you'd like special member only episodes, access before anyone else,
1:25.6	transcripts and other member only content, you can join us at fs.blog slash membership. Check out
1:32.5	the show notes for a link. Today I'm speaking with less need. Less is in his 10th season as the
1:39.6	general manager for the Super Bowl winning Los Angeles Rams. His tenure is marked by strategic
1:45.2	aggressive moves. If you like American football, you'll love this episode. We even geek out a little
1:50.5	bit. And even if you don't like American football, there's a lot that can be applied to business.
1:56.5	We talk about assessing character, dealing with issues such as violence and sexual assault, drafting,
2:02.9	free agents, trades, the role of data and analytics, developing drafted players,
2:08.6	team makeup, hiring a coach, leading the team, and why he's relentlessly curious. It's time
2:16.4	to listen and learn.
2:18.0	The Knowledge Project is sponsored by Metalab. For a decade, Metalab has helped some of the world's
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Shane Parrish, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Shane Parrish and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.