Former U.S. Army 5-Star General and U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower said, “Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.”
Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels might not be aware that Eisenhower spoke of leadership this way. However, he is already leading the Commanders.
In the video “At the Top of the Pile,” Daniels speaks of his parents’ leadership. He understands he is not a self-made man; his parents led and sacrificed for his benefit.
“Without them, I wouldn’t be here; how hard they worked, what they instilled in me to be a great human being. Not just a football player, but a person who treats people with respect and gains the respect of others. Nothing’s given to you in this life; you got to go out and earn everything.”
Prior to the April NFL draft, we learned that Daniels would show up early in the morning and influenced other LSU Tigers to join him. Now, in his initial NFL offseason, Daniels has again been reporting very early to the Commanders’ facilities in Ashburn.
This week, during the Commanders’ mandatory mini-camp, Daniels was asked about his current routine as an NFL rookie quarterback. The second overall pick responded, “I get here around 5:45, like walking through the bubble, watching film, stuff like that.”
“It was a routine I had in college, but now I’m in there actually walking through because I’m still learning the playbook and trying to grasp everything. So, just being comfortable for the day, being ready to go out there and compete and practice.”
Daniels was then asked, “Are you by yourself when you are doing that?” His response was, “Me and Luke McCaffrey.”
Plain and simple, the rookie quarterback is leading, and he already has another rookie (McCaffrey) coming in early to work with Daniels as well.
The two rookies now instinctively realize the other guy is coming in early, so both need to be there, too. In that sense, they are both influencing each other to get to bed early enough to get to work early enough to prepare for the day’s work. That’s how mutual accountability works.
It is also true that Daniels’ leadership is getting McCaffrey to do something, Daniels wants done because McCaffrey wants to do it.
