David Novak 0:04 

Welcome to How leaders lead where every week you get to listen in while I interview some of the very best leaders in the world, I break down the key learning so that by the end of the episode, you'll have something simple you can apply as you develop into a better leader. That's what this podcast is all about. Well, the Stanley Cup Finals just wrapped up, which makes us the perfect time to talk to Brad Richards. He's a two time winner of the Stanley Cup and the MVP of the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals. And I gotta tell you, in the world of hockey, he is Mr. Clutch. He has a perfect eight no record in game seven play, which is something no other hockey player has ever done in the history of the game. And get this he set a record for the most game winning goals in a single playoff season, scoring seven of them. Brad consistently knows how to perform in clutch situations, which is the quality every leader needs, whether you're on the ice or in the office. And when you listen to this conversation, you're going to see why Brad's an even keeled guy, and he knows how to put his head down and work hard. And all that effort and preparation gives him the confidence that he's ready to step up and deliver in the big moments. Now, look, you may not be skating out on the ice with the Stanley Cup on the line. But I can guarantee you, if you lead, you're going to face high pressure situations where you got to come to the game and give it your best. Listen to this conversation and learn how to walk into situations like this with confidence, because you know how to trust the hard work that you've put in. So here's my conversation with my good friend, and soon to be yours, Brad Richards.

Brad, it's great to have you on the show. Oh, it's

Brad Richards 1:53 

a pleasure being here.

David Novak 1:54 

Tell us something about playing in the Stanley Cup, you would only know if you played in it.

Brad Richards 2:00 

Obviously, it's a dream when you get there. You don't realize I think the first time you don't realize how big it is for the media, the media day. All the other stuff you have to do for the national TV, all the little photo shoots, you just want to play hockey. But obviously you're at the mercy of the league and TV and there's like a day and a half. Somewhere like the Super Bowl. Obviously ours isn't as big as the Superbowl, the media day and all that stuff, which I never dreamed of as a kid I thought, Okay, we're here, when do we get the play, but you have to wait two or three days to do all that stuff. And by the end of it, you're, you know, you're you're like a caged dog trying to get out there and just want to play the game. I think that was the biggest eye opener, you know, it's bigger than just you wanting to go out and, and skate. So as a lot of fun to adjust to that. And as you I got to go to three of them. And as you get older, you kind of just learn to deal with it and you're eight rolls off the back. So you say

David Novak 2:55 

you're like a caged animal when you're ready to get into those finals. And I could see you being that way. Tell us a story from your first experience in the NHL finals in 2004 that you love to tell

Brad Richards 3:08 

our final that year we lost the first game, it's the best of seven and we just kept sharing games. So eventually we knew we had to win two in a row or we weren't going to win. And we lost on home ice and overtime in game five and our coach had a great you come in and it was really a tough loss because we had to fly six hours to Calgary and play them two nights later. And they're gonna have all of Canada waiting for them to win the cup and backs against the wall and we were kind of we were pretty down after that game and he had a great speech he basically said we're going out there we're gonna have our family's gonna come we're coming back here we're gonna get everybody's set up we're gonna have hotels we're family back here and game seven he just started talking like we are coming back for game seven and there was no what ifs and by the end of the meeting, we're all like okay, we better call our families and get them booked for game seven. But we haven't even played game six yet. It was a great speech. Kind of get our minds off the tough loss and and looking at what a great opportunity we have to win game six and come back and home is and we ended up doing that and and in double overtime and came back and home ice and worn it in front of our family and friends.

David Novak 4:12 

I love that gets your family's friends ready. We're coming back booked the tickets. I love that. You know, Brad, you know in my research I've learned and I knew a lot about you before but you know I didn't know this stat but you may be the the greatest clutch player in the playoffs going and incredible eight no in game sevens. Nobody has ever done that in the history of hockey. How did you get up for the big games? I mean, I know it's a team sport, but you are a part of all of them. And you were you know you're a leader on the team.

Brad Richards 4:43 

Well, the first two are very nerve racking. I was just turned 24 And at that point, you think you'll be in 1000 of them and no big deal. You're not really you know, you want to win them but you're young and dumb and too stupid to realize the gravity of of everything that's going on that day. And as you got older the record can have been mentioned in the media. So there was more pressure to keep that undefeated record, but you got older, and you knew that there's not many of these opportunities anymore. So those were a lot harder to get your rest and stuff to sleep the night before really tough to sleep during the day, you always have a nap during the day at eight o'clock games in the playoffs and try to have a little nap. But you couldn't do that you'd be tossing and turning. And I think the biggest thing was trying to get a routine. And eventually I found a routine that kept me going a little bit, I'd read a little bit, I'd watch blue, and I watched this comedy show called the office the British version, back then it kind of make me laugh Ricky Gervais and kind of get my mind off of it. And I kind of kept the same, I'd even keep the same episodes if we want. But that was that kept me kind of in a routine. And it kept me from thinking too far ahead. And about all the the failures or bad things that could happen. And it kept me in a good frame of mind. And I just kind of learned to get a routine like that,

David Novak 5:54 

you know, whether you're on the ice or in the boardroom, Brad, you know, we all have to show up and perform when the pressure really is on? What advice do you have for leaders on how they can better prepare for those big moments? You mentioned routine is one of the things you did but is there any other advice you'd give to somebody to say, Okay, you got the big game, big event, the big presentation. Okay, here's how you get ready for it.

Brad Richards 6:17 

Yeah, I think obviously, if you're in those situation, you've probably put in the work, I would imagine, I would hope so you've put in the work and, and that's one good thing to lean on. If you've done your, you know, boardroom, whatever you would call it, your practices or your training, and you do all that. And once once that is done, you gotta try to, it's hard to say or hard to do, but you just got to try to relax and believe that you've put in the work in preparation. You know, in the locker room you trust your teammates are there, they're doing the same thing. And you can help if you if you are a leader or you're one of the captains of the team, you can help if you're seeing some guys that aren't quite what you think, doing the right things to be ready for the big game. And then you got to go out and it's execution in the end. You know, it's again, it's hard to do, but your your mind has to shut off and you just got to get in the zone and execute. And there's all different techniques of that some people like to meditate and game days, like I said, I like to try to get my mind into something, some comedy or something that loosen me up. And so I'm not uptight, but finding little little ways that you're not just focused on it. 24/7 Because that can you know, sometimes too much is is a detriment. So that's basically what we would do and try to help help the young guys in the team. Try to get them to relax.

David Novak 7:31 

You were MVP in 2004 of the of the Stanley Cup Finals, and then you're you're you're in the likes, you know other people who've done it or Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messi, a Sidney Crosby, Mario Lemieux, Bobby Orr, I mean, describe what it's like to be in a fraternity like that. I mean, that's, that's an amazing group of players. And there you are, you're right there with him.

Brad Richards 7:55 

When you say it like that. It's very flattering. Now that my career is over, it's something I look back on. And it's pretty crazy. When I when I first get the trophy, you win as a team. And you don't really think much of the MVP. It's great. But you're, you can't wait to get with your team and celebrate the Stanley Cup. It's like the day or two later, I was sitting with my family, we had breakfast next morning with the continent, they let you bring the consummate home with you or whatever trophy win. So it was home with us next morning and all my family was there and we're looking at the names. And just so happens that the way the names go on the trophy, the way mine worked out is under it went Bobby Orr, Gretzky, and then me all in a row coming down. And my dad was, you know, he couldn't, you couldn't fathom it either. He was he was out of his mind. And that's when it kind of hit me. But when you're playing, you know, you never, no one thinks of trying to win an MVP. You're trying to win the Stanley Cup. So it took a few days to kind of really grasp and as I get older when people see you and they say you win the consummate, and like Well, yeah, I guess you know, I guess that was a pretty big thing.

David Novak 8:57 

I would say so. And you were born and raised in Canada, and I understand your father was a third generation lobstermen. Did you ever think you'd follow in his footsteps and go into that line of business?

Brad Richards 9:08 

early on he I had to help out. You know, when, when I was young, and especially on weekends, when there's no school, like getting the 3:45am Wake up call and the North Atlantic and early May. Sometimes there's snow flurries, big, big waves. It just never was for me. And to be honest, my dad was very, very helpful and trying to get me out of that. He knew that sports or hockey was maybe an opportunity to go get some schooling or get some college paid for and he really helped me and sacrificed a lot financially to get me out of there. And I was able to go to Western Canada and kind of go to a private school that gave me an opportunity to further my education because of hockey. But it was never, never something I loved if something I had to do and I knew I would do it if if that's what the family needed, but I was lucky enough I have a father that really supported me doing something else.

David Novak 10:03 

You know, I don't think people in the United States fully understand what hockey means to Canadians. So paint the picture for me. What does hockey mean to a Canadian?

Brad Richards 10:13 

Well, you know, as long winters and you know, there'll be people in northern Minnesota and northern Michigan, places like that would would understand that, but there's not a lot of other activities. And hockey was a community thing. Every little town has a rink. So families get together, it's dark at four o'clock. They get their hot chocolate, the kids are all playing the moms and dads get to meet for the evening. You get to go on weekends, you get to go on road trips to tournaments, and the families are together. It really gets you through these long winters, frozen ponds on Saturdays and Sundays, we'd wake up and if it got dark father would pull the car up and put the lights on the on the pond so we could play longer. It's just the fabric of how we grew up. And when when you have those long winters, Scandinavia, there's lots of great players in there, Russia, it's it's kind of it's an eight month thing, and it brings the community together. And we we always, you know, all your best buddies are doing that all day long.

David Novak 11:09 

Yeah, the long winters. That's a great rationale for it. I never really thought about it that way. And you left home when you were 14 years old for a boarding school in Saskatchewan, that had a renowned hockey program. Walk us through that decision. That had to be a big decision to leave that close knit family and go to this boarding school.

Brad Richards 11:28 

It was a crazy, crazy time. It was August school started in September. And we got a call from a gentleman that kind of ran hockey schools in our our home area. And he said I got a call from the coach at Notre Dame and that they'd be wondering if you'd be interested in going out there. We had four weeks to decide. And I think that helped me because it's so quick. I didn't get time to think. And my dad, my dad said, if you want to come home, I'll fly home at any time if it's not going to be for you. So off I went, I had $40 Canadian never been on a plane before. No cell phones. This is 1994 and I landed in southern Saskatchewan I got a taxi and told them where I'm going. And I ended up at the school I had no idea and met my my best friend and a teammate for 14 years Vincent McAfee there. We won a Stanley Cup together, played in the Olympics together did everything together, we happen to be bunkmates and played in the same team for 14 straight years after that. I don't know why we met so quick and so early. But we did and we kind of latched on and next thing you know, hockey started and once hockey started, both of us were were only 14 We made the the team with older older players. And we both kind of just felt at home. Once we got on the ice, we were comfortable and we weren't homesick anymore. We just this is where we belong. And we were able to make the team and do well on the team. So it kind of I'm not sure how it would have went if we if we didn't make the team weren't a key key part of the team. But it just seemed like everything felt normal after that. And hockey was our happy place. And that place really made us grow up and mature. And like I said, my whole goal is to try to get a US NCAA scholarship, that would have been a dream and things just kind of happened from there.

David Novak 13:13 

You know, your boarding school was pretty intense, as I understand it from, you know, from what I've heard, you know, no janitors or kitchen staff, the students did it all. What kind of impact did that have on you in your formative years.

Brad Richards 13:26 

It's amazing when I look back, you know, as any 1415 year old would be, you're miserable when you're doing it. So when we're here on garbage duty, which is 6am tractor that goes around the school getting all the garbage, when we're on kitchen duty when we're in janitor duty, and the foreigner students share the jobs. And like I said, You're in it together, everybody's miserable. But you do it your buddies or your classmates or your roommates. And all of a sudden the year goes by and you just want to get back and be with everybody and you go through those things together. It really makes you grow and you create relationships that still last. I just think it's where your determination, hard work, perseverance, it all. It all starts at young age and to go through those experiences were pretty unique and really helped me in the future.

David Novak 14:16 

When was it Brad, when you knew that you had the talent to be a professional hockey player? When did you actually say to yourself, you know what? I think maybe I can do this.

Brad Richards 14:26 

When I was 17 I was picked for the under 18 national team for Team Canada, which is a big deal obviously in Canada when you pick for any national team that was going into my draft year and that kind of like perked me up and said okay, if I'm if they're watching me for this team, I must be doing something. Okay, I must be in the mix. And we went over to Europe and we won the UN under 18 championships over there. And it was a great experience to realize I can play with, you know, anybody around the world that it kind of gives you a little bit of a confidence obviously leaving there and then the next year is a draft year. got drafted, I didn't get drafted as high as I would have liked. I was still pretty, pretty small at that time, kind of started growing a little bit around there. But, but it was still an unbelievable feeling to get drafted. But you knew there's still more work, but at least you knew you had a chance you still had to put in the work and show them that you need to be signed and sign a contract make the team but yeah, I think that first national team for Team Canada really gave me the belief that I could I could play with these guys. You know,

David Novak 15:27 

you turn pro then when you were 18 years old? And what advice can you give to other leaders who are thrown on onto the eyes or whatever it looks like in their profession, with people who have a lot more experience and skill than they do? I mean, you're 18 years old, and you're gone into this world where there's all kinds of wildly veterans, I mean, how do you survive and thrive in a in a new situation like that,

Brad Richards 15:53 

you got to realize there's going to be a lot of bumps a lot of bad days, and they're not bad, I was still living a dream, but not everything is gonna go right. And you got to get up the next day. And I think, you know, for, especially in sports, being, you know, try to be the first guy at the rink, try to be the last guy off the ice. First guy in the gym. You got to show your veterans that you're willing to put in the work that they've put in their whole career. And then they take you under their wing. I was so lucky when I was 1920. Our captain was 40 years old. He's a Hall of Famer, he had been through everything. He had never been to a Stanley Cup final. And he finally won with us. But I watched him and he was 40 years old. He was at the rink an hour before everybody even thought about being there. He was on the ice ahead of everybody is coming off the ice after and I'm looking at him like, Okay, I'm 1920 I better be doing this too. He's 40 I got way more energy than him. So I gotta get out here and show him and he ended up being a great mentor to me. He take me golfing all the time, me over to the house for dinners. And without his leadership and mentorship, there's no no way I would have felt comfortable in those situations in a locker room. If something did go bad. He was like a big brother, I'd look at him and he'd grabbed me and maybe go for a beer after and say, Hey, listen, come down. You got a whole career ahead of you. And he'd really put things into perspective for me and given give me some of his experiences. And without him, you know, who knows where the path would have went?

David Novak 17:19 

Yeah, we all need somebody to take us under our wing under their wings and help us you know, learn how to get things done. And in any industry. What was his name, by the way, Brad?

Brad Richards 17:29 

Dave Andrew checks his name. He had over 600 goals and over 1600 games played in the league played for 22 years, we finally won a Stanley Cup for him when he was 42 years old. So that was an amazing time.

David Novak 17:41 

What was that, like when you two got together? Right after winning that cup. I mean, here's this guy, he's been your mentor, and you obviously helped him get to where he wanted to go.

Brad Richards 17:51 

We looked at him during that whole finals. And we kept thinking he had never been to a Stanley Cup Final 22 years and, and there's a bunch of us there at 2324 years old, we were young team and we're looking each other like, God, this must be a lot harder than we're making it look because this guy is like, like, he can hardly breathe over there. He's so nervous. He knows this is probably at he's never been in the final. So to win it, see him lift the cap. And then, you know, in the locker room, we kicked everybody out. At one point I was just the coaches and the players and and we all kind of tackled him and jumped on him. And it was the first time we he acted like a little kid. And he could let his guard down and not be that leader. And it was so cool to see.

David Novak 18:33 

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Brad, I have to tell you, you know you without a doubt are one of the most competitive persons I've ever met in my life. You know, we've had the great privilege to to play golf against each other with each other but you're Are you are competitive, you know? Has there ever been a time when you had to tone it down to play your best?

Brad Richards 19:46 

Definitely when you want to get out and play your best even keel even kills. So much. A better way to go and the ups and downs sometimes when I was younger, could get to U turn a a two To game, the streak of losing or something going bad, you turn it into a five, six game because you just couldn't control your emotions. Same thing the other way, you can't get too high, you turn to a great five game winning streak, and it would end because you get cocky or you lose focus. So I think you know, and learning how to Yeah, calm that, I think in the biggest part hockey, you could go out and throw some emotion around with a hit or some people fight or you could kind of get that out. But learning to do that in golf. So the hardest thing is how to how to calm down and, and not take everything so serious, because it can it can ruin around. But for sure in hockey that that was something you had to learn at a young age that you can't do everything in one night. It's a long season. There's a process to things,

David Novak 20:43 

you know, you've represented your country on five different occasions, not only at the World Cup, but also at the Olympics, playing for Team Canada. What do you learn playing on the international scene?

Brad Richards 20:55 

The Olympics was such a cool experience, not just for hockey, but to see all the other athletes, you know, you watch the Olympics like a fan like you would, and you see these people from all over the world. I had no, I just didn't study it. But I had no idea when I got to the Olympic Village, how young some of these kids are. There's 14 year olds, 15 year olds or ski jumpers, figure skaters people all over the world. And that's their, that's their pinnacle. And to see them and see the looks on their faces. And you know us as pro athletes, it's a different thing. It's two weeks, it's a great feeling. But it's two weeks, you're getting pulled from kind of a brotherhood where you're growing a team for maybe six, seven years, and your and your team's back here and you get thrown in for two weeks. And you want to win. And of course it's big, but to see the looks on these athletes faces where they've put in their whole life for one event, and it could be just one jump. And that makes their whole, you know, their whole career to sit and talk with some of those, those athletes from around the world in a village was that was the coolest thing for me to see all those different athletes.

David Novak 21:56 

Do you recall a story that really stands out? When you think about, you know, being in the Olympics,

Brad Richards 22:02 

the biggest thing in Canada was I'll give you like, which was shocking. We played Italy was the host, so we had to play Italy first and they get a team. But most of Italy were Canadian kids with dual passports that never could make it an NHL. And you know, it wasn't much of a game, changing the game all the parents of the Italian kids or basic Canadian kids were we're sitting with our parents asking if we'd all take pictures with them and maybe get one of our hockey sticks after the game and stuff like that. So to kind of go there as a pro athlete and play against a team that they were just happy to be on the same ice and play against Canada, but they're they're basic Canadians, but they were more excited. Can we hang out with you guys after it? Can we go in your locker room, get some pictures, stuff like that. So that's where the professional athlete part of the Olympics gets, you know, it's a little different than the amateur side. But the like I said, talking to some of those athletes. There was a figure skater that was like 14 years old from I forget which country but I mean, she looked like she looked like she was eight. And she won a medal. And she was just as proud as you could be. And to realize that, like, that's probably the end of her career, almost you probably do it two or three more times. And that was it. It was pretty amazing to see.

David Novak 23:12 

Yeah. And you get to keep on going. You know, that's funny. There was no Miracle on Ice when Italy played Ghana. You know, Brad, at what point in your career did you transition from being an individual contributor and a heck of a good one, by the way, obviously, you know, to, to being identified as a leader on your team.

Brad Richards 23:33 

Early on when we won in Tampa, you know, I kind of thought I'd be back and I'll get 567 More chances at this. And 10 Years went by before I got to another final. And that's when I was in New York and we had traded our captain that year. Ryan Callahan went to Tampa and we brought in Marty St. Louis was a good friend of mine, a teammate of mine when we weren't in Tampa, so it was cool to get an old friend back in, in the in the lineup, but we lost her captain I was one of the assistant captain. So that year I kind of was the de facto captain in Iran and, and it was a whole different feeling than being the 24 year old with looking up to a leader. I tried to remember what Dave and recheck was doing for us, and what he was helping us with and teaching us in that run with the young guys. And we faced some crazy adversity. We were down three one to Pittsburgh and Marty had lost his mom to a heart attack right before a game. And we came back and won that series. Marty had the winning goal really galvanized our locker room and we went to the final. And we had a lot of young kids that gained a lot of experience New York was magical. Trying to try to win a Stanley Cup in New York was just amazing. We ran into a really good team and we lost but that's the first time I really had to take leadership on my on my own shoulders and I'll be honest, is a lot tougher than just going out and playing because you had to play but you had to kind of monitor the room all the time. And make sure there's a lot of different personalities 23 different personalities with a lot of little things. To go into it. So it was an eye opener for me to realize how hard and I have a lot of respect for people that did it over a whole career, to be able to do both play your individual game and also take care of that locker room.

David Novak 25:10 

Do you recall your biggest leadership challenge?

Brad Richards 25:14 

I think any challenge the first time you do it is getting up and trying to talk to the room in a in a in a different way. Not your Hey, guys, let's get a dinner tonight. It's kind of a stern way or we got to wake up kind of way or after a really tough loss. Like in the playoffs, we're down three, one we lost, we got booed off always getting up and trying to find what to say in the moment that, that, you know, your teammates are going to feel as real, not just someone talking for the sake of talking. I think that's the biggest challenge. And that was the hardest thing is I gotta make this sound genuine. I got to try to galvanize these guys. And we got to go to Pittsburgh and regroup and how do you make this sound genuine and get these guys to buy in? And that's that's probably the biggest challenge. You know, I you know that that's a confidence thing also, but you have to get over that hurdle.

David Novak 26:04 

You know, what gave you the most satisfaction making the assist or scoring the goal.

Brad Richards 26:08 

I was always more of a assists guy I love I love setting up my teammates. I mean, goals are great to go. Don't get me wrong. But I think if anybody that knew me and played with me that always said probably last second rather pass it and put it in the net. And sometimes my coaches drove them nuts doing that. But it was just an instinct that I loved to do. And it worked out more than it. It didn't. But yeah, I mean, it's anytime you can help a teammate. I just think it's a it's a great feeling to see they're looking at their face when they point at you after you've set them up is a great feeling. So one

David Novak 26:41 

of the challenges you had was getting monitoring your desire to pass the ball, you kind of drove the coaches crazy like

Brad Richards 26:48 

me, yeah, I was, I always had my first coach always, like, you gotta be more selfish, you got to take the puck yourself. And you know, and it just was never in me. But I did learn to do a better job of that. It also helped you be a better passer. Because if you're always passing the defense knew that. So, you know, it took a while to get that in my head. You know,

David Novak 27:05 

I remember talking to Magic Johnson. And he loved making the assists, too. But he was still the same guy that could take over a playoff game and score 48 points and play center if if Jabbar was out of the out of the game, you know, but you were a great score as well, you know. And speaking of scoring goals, almost 20 years ago, you set a record for the most game winning goals in a single playoff season was seven goals. Tell us about that experience? And what's it like to make that game winning shot?

Brad Richards 27:35 

Yeah, I mean, that that was the same year, the Stanley, the Stanley Cup and the MVP. So if you want to talk about being in the zone, it was just two months, I was in a zone. And it seemed like for a while, every time I scored a goal, it happened to be a game winner. Again, great teammates, great linemates and timely goals. There's sometimes you don't know why. But the puck comes due and and then when you're in a slump the puck, you know, bumps over your stick and goes the other way. And if you're if your mindset is not right, and you're not feeling positive, other things will happen. And that run everything just fell into place. But again, you're just trying to help the team after the game, you know, the media is telling you you just broke a record and all that. But that's a I guess if there's records you want to break, you want to break them for game winning goals, because you're you're winning and and doing something individual at the same time. So it feels good.

David Novak 28:27 

Absolutely. You know, in my research, I've heard you talk a lot about playing for John Tortorella. Describe what the team culture was like before and after he showed up at Tampa Bay and his impact as a leader.

Brad Richards 28:40 

He was the best coach I had, by far with with getting a young team that was kind of a country club atmosphere down there in Tampa. I think a lot of players would come down and kind of play with their career, play some golf, go to the beach, and he knew right away he had to change that and the details he instilled in us from day one when he took over and I was only 20 years old when he took over but you know your meetings you were there 15 minutes ahead of time. You were there for breakfast way before anything had to be done in the locker room, your meetings, your your video, your workouts, everything was done. And it was at a whole different level our training camps. We come into training camp and it was I don't want to say military because I don't want to disrespect the military but he wanted it that mentality. We were thinking about it a month before. We were scared of it. So we overtrained we were so ready for every training camp, and he had a method all this and and our culture changed immediately. And when our culture change, he always said I want to make this where I can let you guys take over the room and let you guys I can back off and let you guys be the guys that are going to do this so I don't have to be barking at you all the time and on you all the time and it was the best, best experience of Siena. Really Bad team, I think we had 18 wins. And then all of a sudden three years later when the fire in this playoffs, and then four years later, we win the Stanley Cup. And we were, we were a well oiled machine on, on on details, and how to how to be professionals. And it changed really quickly.

David Novak 30:16 

Was he the coach you enjoyed playing with the most? Or was there somebody else,

Brad Richards 30:21 

probably not the most enjoyable coach all the time, but because he was hard. But you know, if you're comfortable, you're probably usually if you're comfortable with time, you're probably not winning, or playing your best. He wanted you a little uncomfortable at all times. And sometimes it's very uncomfortable. But, you know, that was his his way of doing it. But when you look back at the end of the season, and you win, or you had a good chance to win, you always say like, I'd rather have a chance to win and be in the fight than then than not, and he always had you in the fight.

David Novak 30:55 

Yeah, you seems like the best leaders always create sort of a healthy dissatisfaction with the status quo. I mean, you know, they're, they're always pushing you to take it to the next level, you know, and we all have to play on a team. What are the qualities of the teammates that you love playing with over the years? And what what did you really look for in a teammate? You know, you don't get to be leader all of a sudden, you know, you have to start out as a teammate.

Brad Richards 31:17 

Yeah, I think I love, obviously, the unselfishness. And any good team that I was on, you know, I got the win twice. They were great teams. And I had probably three or four other teams that I would say were really good teams had a chance to win. And they all had something in common, we all got along, everybody had a role. You know, the bad teams, there's always one or two guys that weren't involved weren't invited to the team dinners or weren't invited to the golf events, or, you know, it just seems like there was two or three people missing all the time. And that never worked. The teams we won, if we had a team dinner, everybody showed up, you didn't have to stay for three hours. But everybody showed up to it. The captain treated the fourth line player, the same as he treated the first line player or the superstar, the goalie got treated the same as the third line, everybody was equal and invited to the same things. We spent a lot of time in the road, you know, a lot of a lot of time together. And the best leaders had the wives involved in parties. You know, they want everybody to feel like you're this is one big family. And when not when that was clicking, those are always the best teams.

David Novak 32:24 

You played it at Tampa for several years, you're you became an icon there. And then you're sent to Dallas in a blockbuster trade right before the trade deadline. And you know, sports are are so unique, where you can wake up one day, and then have to pack up and move to play for another team. How did that play into your psyche? Tell us about that.

Brad Richards 32:49 

That was tough. That was a toughest day of my career. I had been in Tampa eight years drafted there and one there. So when when I woke up the next morning to go to the airport, it was it really hit me like, Okay, I'm done. I'm not not a lightning anymore. Go into this new locker room, which you know, is it's intimidating, because it's not your lock, you had all your your trainers knew your routines, I had my same seat on the bus and my I went out on the ice, same time, my warm up was the same I had all these things. And now you're going in this new locker room, you don't know what's going on. So it's a huge adjustment. It's also a huge adjustment not being around your your best friends and teammates. But hockey is a great sport and every sport be the same. You get in a locker room. And they're the same guys just different faces and they open open their arms to you and you start battling with them and you earn their respect and you show them that you're there to win and everything kind of starts falling in. But the the initial 24 or 48 hours is rough. It's not. Yeah, if I had one bad thing I can say about my career. I loved it. I was lucky. But that one first trade is a shock to the system for sure.

David Novak 33:56 

Would it be fair to say it's almost like getting fired? Or is that too strong?

Brad Richards 33:59 

Yeah, probably it probably is because you realize the team that you love and battle for their trading. Now there's other there's, there's contracts and salary caps involved in that too. But I had a no trade clause, so I got to control it. And my agents like we can wait to the summer. My attitude was they don't want me I don't if they don't if the ownership and general manager don't want me then I don't want I can't do this. And that was the way I looked at it. And luckily, I controlled it. So I got to go to a good team and a good organization. But you know, I just couldn't I just didn't want to be there anymore. If I knew they're trying to train me and wait until next year, it didn't feel right.

David Novak 34:37 

That's so similar to business because one of the major reasons why people leave and go to a different company and businesses they don't feel appreciated. You know, it's very, very similar. In both Tampa and Dallas. You experienced an ownership bankruptcy and you're out there to play hockey but how tuned into the business component were you as it related to the franchise you're playing for?

Brad Richards 34:59 

Well rarely really don't end. Because in Tampa, we won. And we want to keep our team together and started to fall apart because ownership was changing, that affects the type of players you can go out and get trade for free agents you can sign and when you're one of the leaders of the team, you know, exactly what's going on. And that when I went to Dallas theme scene started to happen. Which is a big reason why, when I came to free agency, I wanted to go to New York, because New York was not going to go bankrupt anytime soon. Very stable, stable organization. So, but you're very, you know, I think maybe if you're young as a rookie, and you're just happy to be there. But when you're one of the main parts of the team, or you're in a contract negotiation, you really realize what the stress of a bankruptcy or an ownership change is doing. Because you only have so many years to try to win. And, you know, I just thought, you know, I'm wasting a year two, three here waiting for ownership change, we can't get the best team on the ice, maybe it's time to look somewhere else.

David Novak 36:02 

We'll be back with the rest of my conversation with Brad Richards in just a moment. You know, I've gotten to talk to one other hockey legend here on how leaders lead the great Mark Messier A. And just like Brad Mark really understands team dynamics at a level that few others do. I absolutely love his insights on how great leaders stay attuned to their people.

Mark Messier 36:23 

The only way in a team sport to have success is to try to maximize the performance of each and every one of the people that are around you. And make them believe that their contributions are absolutely necessary for any team success. And I think that's one element. The other element for me would be that you got to establish relationships that go further than just the game itself. In order to lead someone, they have to give you their permission, and that permission has to be earned. And I think you earn it through developing relationships. So you can tell them the truth, and they don't take it personally. And so then you just start to foster those relationships. And the other thing, I guess, what I would say is that you got to be willing to be completely open, completely transparent, and who you are and what you stand for, and your consistency and your personality. You don't waver in good times and bad. I mean, you're completely exposed and vulnerable, and you got to be doing the right things consistently. But I think you when you do that, it gives everybody a sense of calm around you.

David Novak 37:22 

Make sure you listen to my entire conversation with Mark, Episode 13 here on how leaders lead.

You know, you win your first Stanley Cup with campus in 2004, in your second in 2015. When your Chicago Black Hawk, you know, that's a long time. That's 11 year drought of not winning a final and you know, you win very early on in your career, and you think this is probably going to happen all the time. How did you stay positive and optimistic when you kept falling short?

Brad Richards 37:59 

Yeah, like I said, I thought I thought I'd have six or seven tries at it. The 10th year drought in New York, we went to the final and when I when I signed in Chicago, they were one of the best teams, they had won two championships in four years before that. And that getting back to the final really, even though we lost it really reminded me of how fun it was. I had been to two conference finals before that in between. But the final just it just so big. And it got me back into those juices. And then I got lucky to sign in Chicago went right back to the final and we won. But sometimes I think if you're not getting there, you forget how great it is. You're trying but forgetting the final and and having only about six, seven weeks off. I was ready to get back to the final. I know it's a long road but it just about you're on the stage. You're on your sports biggest stage for two weeks, and there's nothing like it for us.

David Novak 38:57 

You know, there's this viral video as you probably have seen it because I know you're on top of what's going on in sports. But Yanis of the NBA is Milwaukee Bucks response to a question of his most recent season and the failure that they had when they didn't win the championship as basically the favorite. I mean, everybody thought the Bucs are going to get there this year. And he responded by saying there's no failure in sports, just steps to success. What's your take on that?

Brad Richards 39:27 

If you want to look at it as a failure, you could probably mope for the offseason. I had a really tough year in New York and one year and it was with my coach Tortorella and the season ended terribly but it was probably the hardest I've ever worked in the summer and I ate perfect kind of I learned a lot about eating even better than I thought I was eating I learned a lot of training even better than I thought I was training. It's amazing what you can learn and put back into what you're doing. If you if you do it the right way and I that's how I would take what he's saying right there. As it Another step to get better. And maybe he'll win two more championships because of this instead of one or you know, or whatever it goes. But there's so many things that you can always do better. And sometimes those things can can knock you back into that thought process.

David Novak 40:12 

You went to the mountaintop twice. You had two finals wins. But in 2014, you you lost to LA when you were on the Rangers. What do you think about most you think about the two victories or the loss.

Brad Richards 40:27 

The loss of bytes, that's for sure. I mean, winning in New York would have been would have been unbelievable, and we lost three, three of our four losses were in overtime, which is unheard of, you'd think one of the overtimes would go your way, and we'd still be playing. But if I didn't get back the next year in Chicago, that loss would have been a little harder, but to get back in Chicago next year, and then when it really, you know, depth to championships, and I think that kind of took a little heat off. But there's not a day goes by where I see a New York Ranger logo or, you know, where we hang out in the summer and play some golf. If someone's not talking with the Rangers, not a day goes by I'm like, wow, that just could have pulled that one off. But that's that's life. You know, you always want more. Yeah, you'd

David Novak 41:07 

like to add that ticker tape parade. Yeah, exactly. You know, I know Mark Messi, I love that way. You know, Oh, yeah. No, I understand that if you win the Stanley Cup, and you mentioned this a little bit earlier, every player on the team gets a day with the trophy. So you actually get to have the trophy for a day. You've experienced that twice. Now. What were those days like and what do you do with the trophy.

Brad Richards 41:31 

So I went back home to Murray harbor Prince showdown little town. And because it's so remote, the cup flies in and on commercial flights, and you just go the airport and meet the cup keeper. And you go, the flights are very scarce there. So I was lucky to have it for like 40 hours both times. So I had two days, basically. So I was able to do a public day with with all the town parades, and we prayed it through on my dad's fishing boat through the town. And a lot of people would show up from all over the island, and the cup would be there for pitchers and then we'd bring it to the hospital. We do some stuff like that. And then the other day would be all private day we grow in the boats and the rivers where we jump off and jetski we put a life jacket on a Stanley Cup, I take a jet skiing and I love it. There's Yeah, and then we'd have a band that night at the rink I grew up in and we'd invite kind of like a wedding type of atmosphere you invite like 150 of your best friend's live band, you know, the guy that wins, it always has to go up and take over the mic and and take over the show. So that's that's part of the part of the deal. But I wish we were just good

David Novak 42:34 

buddies. You know, playing some golf back then I would love to get invited to that party. That'd be Oh, yeah. You know, Brad, it's been so much fun. And I want to ask some more with my lightning round of questions. Are you ready for this? Yep. All right, what's one word others would use? To best describe you?

Brad Richards 42:51 

Probably quiet and reserved.

David Novak 42:54 

What would you say is the one word that best describes you? I think very loyal. If you could be one person for a day besides yourself, who would it be and why?

Brad Richards 43:04 

Maybe Jack Nicklaus in the seven years, winning all those all those golf tournaments?

David Novak 43:09 

Well, it's not the only Canadians know about Canada. Poutine maybe it will explain that to us.

Brad Richards 43:16 

Poutine is french fries, gravy and melted cheese curds. And sometimes a little bit of bacon bits. But it's It's a delicacy up there.

David Novak 43:26 

And that's not what you were eating when you learned how to eat. No, no. What do you enjoy most about Oslo speaking French?

Brad Richards 43:34 

Well, it was it was great to be able to learn two languages. I think the funniest thing is if you're on a plane in Canada, where everybody's bilingual and someone's talking about you, you can play dumb and and know everything they're saying. That's a hidden

David Novak 43:49 

Okay, now I want you to give me that same answer in French

Brad Richards 43:55 

Situ so Abby, all of Canada to cover your good note for Song powder to see if so,

David Novak 44:11 

that's great. I've never done that on the show. That's fantastic.

Brad Richards 44:15 

My French is a little broken now but you don't know that's pretty good.

David Novak 44:18 

Your wife is from Australia. What's your favorite part of this about visiting that country?

Brad Richards 44:25 

There's lots I love the country, the the beaches, the the people the attitude. And as you would know I love to golf down in the Sunbelt.

David Novak 44:33 

What's been the most nerve wracking moment of your playing career

Brad Richards 44:37 

as you enter game sevens game seven days where it's do or die. And one of them was to win a Stanley Cup and who am I so that was that was the most nerve wracking day.

David Novak 44:45 

Who's the best hockey player you ever played with? Or against

Brad Richards 44:50 

Marielle the best player ever played with?

David Novak 44:52 

If I turned on your radio in your car, what would what would I hear? Most likely Pearl Jam. I thought you might say drew Holcomb and we We'd be your attitude.

Brad Richards 45:02 

Well, now now now. Now that's coming.

David Novak 45:04 

What's something about you a few people would know.

Brad Richards 45:07 

Oh, I can't say I speak French. I'll say I got a double eagle before a hole in one.

David Novak 45:14 

That's the end of the lightning round. Okay. You're off the hook. Good. Yeah,

Brad Richards 45:18 

that's it. You

David Novak 45:19 

started a foundation called Ritchie's rascals for children's cancer patients in Tampa. Tell us about it.

Brad Richards 45:25 

Unfortunately, at a very young age, I had my first cousin and neighbor died of a brain tumor, he was five years old when he got diagnosed, died pretty quick after and I always, when I'd watch hockey night in Canada, you'd see players with with sick children or or cancer kids are different, all different types of things go to the games and and when I made it, I always thought back to that. And we created this foundation where we bought a suite. And we we got at it and turn it into like a playground at the rink. Because not every kid that you bring in is going to be a hockey fan. But they're going to be excited to be there and see the people and we put a gold horn in the middle of it. So when we score, they could push the button and the red light would go we had Playstations in there, we had arts and crafts and they could put pictures of the night all over the walls and we made it kind of like a really safe haven for them when they went to the games and we call it Ritchie's rascals. And we worked with the Children's Cancer Center in Tampa, and they would help us bring families that needed needed a break. And sometimes it'd be the siblings and parents of, of the sick children because the siblings weren't getting much time with their parents, and we'd bring them in and, and I'd meet them after the games and and it meant a lot to me, I'm getting goosebumps talking about because I've met so many great kids. And unfortunately, you know, not all the kids have made it but some have. And years later, when I was playing another teams, and warm up, they'd be down in with their sign. I'm a Ritchie's rascal, and we're at recognize them. And it was very, very cool. And obviously, I'm not playing anymore. And now we've got we've got a whole center back home and my hospital named after my cousin. Back in Prince Edward Island. Same idea. We make them comfortable when they're getting the treatments and hockey themes, and all that stuff. So they can not feel as intimidated when they have to go do those things.

David Novak 47:18 

That's great. That's great. You know, we talked about your dad earlier. And I know he recently passed away from ALS. What did that experience teach you, Brad?

Brad Richards 47:29 

Well, we all hear about ALS, but until it till it hits you. I had no idea how how nasty of a disease it is. I also had no idea how unselfish my my dad was until he went through that because he never complained once you never, never wanted to be anything about him. He kept everything. Everything very close to the to his chest. He didn't he didn't want his children or grandchildren knowing what he was going through. But I can only imagine what he was going through. And, you know, every day you're learning from your your parents, and I kept learning till the end, that's for sure.

David Novak 48:06 

You know, what a great role model for sure. And what a treat it had to be for him to see you play hockey for your entire career. And Brad, you retired from the NHL in 2016? How are you staying involved in the game? And what are your future aspirations, if any, it's coaching or becoming a GM on the on the horizon.

Brad Richards 48:27 

I tried a little bit when I was living in New York still, I worked with the Rangers for four years. In an advisory role, what I learned I think is if you're going to get into that you got to you got to really go all in. We moved down to Florida, I have young kids, my son's and travel hockey now. And I just thought at this time, it's it's I'm going to have more fun being around him and my girls for a little bit. But at the same time, I just turned 43 I gotta keep my mind moving a little bit. And I'm always open to, to getting back into it in a certain capacity. But I think like I said, I think if you want to do it and want to get fulfilled with it, you got to really put the time in and I just wasn't prepared to go all in at that point.

David Novak 49:08 

How are you moving into the business world? I know you're focused on your family and what's been the biggest challenges you've as you've had to navigate this transition because we all go through transitions.

Brad Richards 49:20 

Yeah, I think the biggest thing for me is the structure. There's no routine anymore. There's no schedule, I was told what to do since I was 14 years old. Wake up, go to school, go to practice, whatever it was NHL, you had to be here the bus the plane, everything's leaving and and you're on autopilot and you just kind of woke up and you knew your day all the time. Now, you're waking up and you know there's some days you don't have anything on the books I try to keep as busy as possible. But that's been the biggest transition. I think I'm learning how to handle that more. And I'm also I think, as you know, through golf and through meeting people in retirement, I am starting to see different pathways maybe in business or opportunities to go into different things other wasn't hockey, meeting great people, like yourself or mutual friends we have. I've had lots of conversations. And, you know, I'm not rushing anything. But it is interesting to tick brains of some of the great leaders of the world and business and see how they did things. So yeah, I'm, I'm excited what the future holds, I still want to, I still watch hockey every night and try to stay in touch with a lot of gems and scouts and keep that open. But I also love, love the opportunity maybe to do other things, too. Yeah, well,

David Novak 50:31 

you know, you're you're very young, and you've got that opportunity to pursue that career. But I think I envy the fact you can spend this time with your family and you're doing that I think it's good on is they would say in Australia, you know, I also know you're a minority owner and untuck it. Now I know why your shirts are always on tie. Just trying to be cool. What's your role on that team?

Brad Richards 50:53 

When I was in New York, I was their their spokesperson or whatever. And it was it wasn't doing that well. And Chris Rick urbano who who now is become very successful, we got another thing called greatness wins with Derek Jeter and Wayne Gretzky also, clothing line. And, you know, it was kind of a, we're in the need of a push here. We're not, I don't know, running out of money is the right way to put it. But it was kind of and I said, well, listen, don't bother pay me. Let's just run it into ownership in the company. And I'll keep trying to help and do stuff. And that was kind of the decision me my agent made back then. And now the company has grown. And it's been a lot of fun to learn and see what Chris has done with that. And now I've I've been involved in greatness, winds and trying to help them actually get into some of the golf shops, and they're making a golf clothing line. And so that's been fun. Also, learning a little bit of what he's like me in learning that business. But yeah, it's been a lot of fun. And I do have to wear the untucked shirts to try to try to sell the brand.

David Novak 51:59 

Now this greatness wins is creating an athletic wear for the modern athlete, and you've teamed up with Gretzky and Derek Jeter. What are these two guys like his business partners?

Brad Richards 52:11 

Derek, obviously, I don't know him that well, but you know, his, his leadership and his focus and what he's going to do, you know, he doesn't do anything just for the sake of doing it. And I think that's why Chris Riccobono chose him to be the face of it, because you know, he's gonna go all in. He just has that type of personality. And obviously, being a New York Yankee and multiple world championship winner, World Series winner doesn't hurt your brand, obviously. And, and when, when Gretzky The Great One speaks for himself, when you have a name, greatness wins, and you can add the great one. They're great ambassadors, and they have great stories to tell. And I'm just happy they let me tag along.

David Novak 52:53 

Well, you had a heck of a lot, I'm sure. And last question for you, Brad. What's one piece of advice you've given to someone who wants to be a better leader? What's the most important bit of advice,

Brad Richards 53:04 

I would always say that you have to take truth and honesty. You need it. And you have to take it the best way possible. A lot of truth and honesty was told to me over the years and I wish when I was younger, I would have handled it better. As I get older, I realize, if you can't handle the truth or can't accept the truth, and what you're doing and how you're performing, you're just not going to get better. Because you'll find excuses, you'll find ways to ignore it, or, Oh, it's not me, it's someone else. Or once you look yourself in the mirror and accept being told the truth all the time, you'll you'll get better all the time.

David Novak 53:37 

You know, I've done probably 150 podcasts, nobody's ever provided that answer. But that's that's a great insight for everybody to listen to. You know, it's been a lot of fun having this conversation with you, Brad, I've always admired you in the way you attack everything. And there's a reason why you you are a champion

you know, I know Brad pretty well. And Brad's never going to be the loudest guy in the room. But you know what his strength and resilience as a leader comes through loud and clear. And he walks the talk. I just love how he isn't afraid to do the hard work and face the hard truths. And then trust that effort and draw on it as a source of confidence in tough moments. Now, listen, you don't have to be a hockey player to apply that lesson to your life. This week, ask yourself, Where do I dig in and do the hard work? Where do I need to accept the hard truth so that I can improve? Put in that effort today? That way down the road, whenever you face a difficult situation, or you're under lots of pressure, or you just need to flat out execute? You're going to have so much more confidence because you can trust you've done the hard work and you prepared for the pressure. So do you want to know how leaders lead? Well, we learned today is that great leaders trust the hard work they put in. Coming up next on how leaders lead is our best quarter to episode where we pull out some of the greatest wisdom from the last three months and highlight the best takeaways for you. Like this one from any young Scribner, the CEO of Wella.

Speaker 1 55:24 

I think my first lesson was to really appreciate people's work, and to understand that I wasn't going to be the smartest person in the room. But what I could do is to learn best practices from each of them. Also find out what was important for them, and then galvanize the learning so that together the team could achieve because they were each acting is individual versus his team. We had a ton of fun, we won every single district contests. And those early lessons have imprinted me forever.

David Novak 56:01 

I'm telling you, it's a lot of fun, and it's chock full of great insights. So be sure to come back again next week. Thanks again for tuning in to another episode of how leaders lead where every Thursday you get to listen in while I interview some of the very best leaders in the world. I make it a point to give you something simple on each episode that you can apply to your business so that you will become the best leader that you can be