HR lessons from Super Bowl LI

1. Overcome, and learn from, negative publicity

Two years ago, Tom Brady and the New England Patriots were involved in ‘deflategate’ - an incident whereby the star quarterback was suspended from play for his involvement in using deliberately underinflated footballs to increase throwing and catching purchase.

Obviously, a nadir for the much-celebrated player, both man and team have bounced back, winning last night’s championship in overtime.

 Keeping staff happy is key for any company. Whilst it is impossible to know the exact internal fallout from the ‘deflategate’ incident – who was blamed, what accusations were bandied around – the Patriots have comeback together as a strong unit.