NFL superstar and Amazon’s Thursday Night Football analyst, Andrew “Big Whit” Whitworth, joins Jason Barger in an inspiring conversation about leadership in the world today and articulating culture for the temperature you aim to set in life and work.
SHOW NOTES
Jason introduces Season 9 episode 40 of the podcast, Articulating Culture with Andrew Whitworth. Welcome back to the podcast on corporate culture and leadership and thank you for listening. We engage thought leaders like CEOs, CFOs, managers, VPs, directors, and more for this podcast. We wish to create content that engages your mind and heart and allows you to step back and think and add some positivity to your life. We deep dive into today’s topic.
We can’t control everything but what we can control is our response. Still a lot of work to do but wanted to remind the audience what is within our control is the temperature we create in the organizations and teams we work with.
Please leave a review for the podcast It really helps the podcast to spread these messages out into the world. Please share this podcast with your organization, on your team, or in your life to help spread these messages. Thank you!
If any of these topics are interesting to you please or you want a deep dive on any specific topics, please reach out to us at info@jasonvbarger.com
Season 9 Episode 40: Articulating Culture with Andrew Whitworth
In a compelling conversation on The Thermostat Podcast, host Jason V. Barger is joined by NFL legend Andrew “Big Whit” Whitworth for a powerful discussion on leadership, team dynamics, and the true meaning of culture. Whitworth, a Super Bowl champion and the 2021 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year, offers profound insights from his 16-season career and his current role as an analyst for Amazon’s Thursday Night Football. The episode moves past surface-level sports talk to explore the foundational elements that create exceptional teams, whether in a locker room, a corporate office, or a family. Whitworth shares personal stories about setting standards, leading with presence, and why the most crucial measure of success has nothing to do with a championship ring.
Redefining Success Beyond the Scoreboard 🏆
What truly matters at the end of the day? For Andrew Whitworth, this question became crystal clear after a tough Super Bowl loss in 2018. Instead of focusing on the game, he framed his life’s mission around his family and the values he hopes to instill in his children. This perspective is a powerful lesson in leadership: your ultimate impact isn’t defined by wins and losses, but by the positive presence you are for others.
Whitworth explains that a leader’s real legacy is built on love, appreciation, and treating people with respect, regardless of their background. This mindset is the “thermostat” that sets the temperature for any environment. It’s about being an intentional, positive force—not just when things are good, but especially when they’re not. It’s about showing up, being present, and sometimes, just bringing blankets when the room is cold or ice when it’s hot.
The Power of Acknowledgment in Building Culture
Culture is a word that’s often overused and under-practiced. Whitworth argues that you can identify a great culture not by its success, but by how its members acknowledge each other. He shares a powerful story about his Amazon Thursday Night Football colleagues, where every single person who entered a room—from on-air talent to researchers—was greeted with a standing ovation and genuine enthusiasm.
This simple act of acknowledgment sends a clear message: you are important, and we are glad you are here. When people feel valued and seen, they naturally give more of themselves to the team’s mission. This applies to a marriage, a friendship, or a corporate team. As Plato said, “What is honored will be cultivated.” By honoring each individual, you cultivate a culture of trust, connection, and collective buy-in. It transforms a group of individuals into a truly cohesive unit.
Leading the Modern Team: From Authority to Alliance
How do you lead a generation that can find any answer they need on YouTube? Whitworth points out that today’s younger generation doesn’t need leaders in the same way previous generations did. They aren’t reliant on elders for information. Therefore, a leader must prove their value not by having all the answers, but by being a committed partner on the journey.
This requires a shift from top-down, authoritative leadership to a more collaborative, servant-leadership model. It’s about being an “all-time” leader, not just a “good-time” one. This means showing up during failures and struggles, not just for the victory parade. Effective leadership today is about building relationships, listening, and guiding with empathy. It’s about being in it with your team, ready to help them up after they inevitably hit a wall, and then showing them a better path forward.
Reciprocal Accountability and Setting the Standard
Accountability is often misunderstood as a negative, one-way street where a boss holds an employee’s feet to the fire. Whitworth and Barger reframe this concept as reciprocal accountability. It’s not about “me” holding “you” accountable; it’s about “us” committing to a shared standard.
In a strong culture, the team collectively defines its standards of behavior, communication, and performance. The focus shifts from blame to a shared responsibility for upholding those standards. As Whitworth says, it’s about the “we.” A team’s identity is defined by how we work every single day, regardless of a win or loss. This consistency creates a foundation of trust and reliability that allows a team to weather any storm and consistently perform at its best.
Notable Quotes
“The most important thing to me in life will not be a championship ring. It will be if [my children] learn to love, appreciate people for who they are and not where they come from… If they live a life led that way, then I’ll be the happiest dude on the world.”
“[Words like culture, intentionality, authenticity] are oversaid, underdone, and used… Culture, to me… is actually not really seen in the win-loss column. It’s seen in really how they handle adversity.”
“If you can live in a work environment, a home environment where you feel important to the people you’re with, you are naturally going to give more of yourself to those people… If you want to positively infect your environment, man, acknowledge people.”
“I want to be an all-time friend. I want to be an all-time leader… I’m not here for your successes… I want to be an all-time type person to you. So I will be with you right along your journey.”
“We have to set standards and we have to maintain standards… that’s us. That’s not me, he, I… it’s we.”
Question to Ponder
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What is one standard your team lives by, and how do “we” collectively maintain it, especially during challenging times?
Links and References
Follow Big Whit on Social Media – @andrewwhitworth77
Follow @JasonVBarger on social media for even more insights and new video content.
For more insights and practical tips, be sure to check out Jason V Barger’s book Breathing Oxygen. This book dives deeper into the concepts discussed in this episode and provides additional strategies for fostering a positive mindset and effective leadership.
Please leave a review for the podcast It really helps the podcast to spread these messages out into the world. Please share this podcast with your organization, on your team, or in your life to help spread these messages. Thank you!
If any of these topics are interesting to you please or you want a deep dive on any specific topics, please reach out to us at info@jasonvbarger.com
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ABOUT THE THERMOSTAT
Conversations and micro-thoughts to engage your mind and heart.
A thermostat is proactive. It sets the temperature in a room. Controls the temperature. Regulates the temperature. But in today’s distracted, fast-paced and digital world, it’s easy for individuals and organizations to act more like thermometers, slipping into reactionary thinking, becoming scattered and inconsistent. The most compelling leaders, teams, organizations, families, or collection of humans of any kind operate in thermostat mode. They calibrate their mind and heart to set the temperature for the vision and culture they want to create. Jason Barger, globally celebrated author, keynote speaker, and founder of Step Back Leadership Consulting, is the host of The Thermostat, a podcast journey to discover authentic leadership, create compelling cultures and find clarity of mission, vision, and values.