Lessons for all businesses taken from football team

I have been pretty vocal about my disdain for the way the Green Bay Packers have handled their relationship with future Hall of Fame quarterback, Brett Favre.

I thought that both sides did themselves a disservice by the way they aired their dirty laundry in the media. This was an issue that began percolating at least three-years-ago when Ted Thompson joined the Packers as general manager.

You can fault Favre for a lot of things, but changing his mind about wanting to play ball is not one of them. He excited people worldwide and brought them into the Packers' fan fold for 16 years. In a matter of months, Thompson made moves sans honest communication with his players, and whether it was in the interest of the team or just to put his stamp on it, he managed to alienate the only three-time MVP in the National Football League.

These things just don't pop up. They evolve. A business' leader, in this case, Thompson, who is supposed to be an organizational head, is responsible for keeping the lines of communications open between the organization and its employees. In this case, hostility set in on between Thompson and Favre. Things festered, and because they weren't tended to immediately, tempers and emotion took over. It became a media debacle with reporters capitalizing on every word, which until this past week, were exchanged via reporters.

There should not have been a buyout offer which was essentially made to keep Favre retired and before that, there shouldn't have been an interview with Favre and FOXNews' Greta Van Susteren to speak his side. The animosity between the two should have been diffused early-on within the family/team confines of the Green Bay Packers. They may have ended up as they did today -- apart and at odds. At least there would have been respect in that parting, and as an outsider looking in, I don't see that.

As Favre returns home to Hattiesburg, Miss., and possibly another team, a relationship that should have endeared fans and been a part of Packers lore for generations is torn with little chance of being sewn together, at least until there is new management in place. The Favre family, which gave so much of itself to people in the communities in and around Green Bay may be irrevocably damaged. There is division among Packers fans who help sustain the "company," and it could affect how the 2008 season is played out.

An ugly business divorce didn't have to occur between Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers, and it doesn't have to happen to your organization, either. Even if you're not a football fan, take the following lessons to heart in your own business: ALWAYS be honest and forthright; air out your differences; engage a mediator if necessary; do what it takes to snuff fires when they start to smolder. As a result your brand is likely to remain unscathed, and while you may continue to agree to disagree, respect will overrule bad blood. Everybody will be better for it.