Dream big. Work hard.

J.J. Watt’s motto drives his play on the field and his charitable work off it. During a recent visit to my company, the two-time NFL defensive player of the year shared a glimpse into where this mantra started.

It got me thinking about leadership and the defining moments we all face in our lives.

Underneath the “dream big, work hard” motto are lessons for us all. While sports clichés get overused, it’s absolutely true – building a winning organization is a team effort, not an individual one.

This was underscored by another foundational idea J.J. shared during his visit: Winning requires hard work and a common goal.

This is an NFL version of do it anyway – where everyone brings their best to work each day. And, each day is an opportunity to work hard and make an individual contribution to help your organization succeed.

Leaders must be ready and willing to take a risk to reach their goals – and their dreams. J.J. Watt was not satisfied with just being another college football player at Central Michigan. So he took a gamble, gave up a scholarship, and transferred to UW-Madison – where he and his parents paying his tuition – to play for the Badgers.

What I didn’t know was J.J.’s parents could afford to pay just one year of tuition, so the pressure was on to pursue that common goal of going from walk-on to scholarship player in one season – to do it anyway – even if no one had done it before. And has a transfer, this meant earning a scholarship from the scout team.

“Treat every single day like it’s your Super Bowl,” J.J.’s parents told him. This common goal was his guide, or North Star, as some may call it. It was fueled by motivation to be great and respect for his parents.

Of course, the rest is history. J.J. is a star athlete in the midst of his dream, and he became the first player to earn a UW scholarship from the scout team. J.J. uses every opportunity to share his story as motivation for others to achieve their dreams – including his teammates and kids who didn’t have the opportunities he did.

At 25, J.J. Watt is a true leader. And we can all learn from his story. It’s pretty simple, actually. Help others in your organization discover their common goals. And, don’t fear the hard work it takes to get there … to do it anyway.

“If you’re taking off and doing your own thing, you’re taking away from the common goal,” he told us. “Get people to believe in something bigger than you or me.”

What are you doing to help others dream big and work hard toward a common goal?