Sheila Hamp became the principal owner of the Detroit Lions in June of 2020.
Her mission at first was to begin to identify why the organization had not ever been a winner and to find solutions to turn around the fortunes of a losing NFL franchise.
Speaking to the Detroit Free Press for an in-depth, three-part feature series, Hamp shared who she called first when she decided to take over for her mother, Martha Firestone Ford.
Hamp revealed, “My very first call was to a really good friend of mine, who I went to college with. … Sandy Cutler. He ran Eaton Corp for a long time. We were great friends. I always admired his leadership style.”
Hamp and Cutler attended the Ivy League school Yale together. She asked him how he would wrap his mind around the overwhelming task she faced.
Cutler retired as the CEO of Eaton Corp., a $20.9 billion industrial manufacturer, and was a leader Hamp developed a significant amount of respect for.
Hamp explained, “He said, ‘Well, the first thing you need to do is to define your noble cause.'”
Cutler also told her, “Once you’ve done that, find a few key people that buy into it, and then the rest should fall into place.”
Hamp decided to make it her cause to give the fans of the Lions and the City of Detroit a football team they could finally be proud of.
Hamp used the advice learned from Cutler to turn all the early challenges she faced, including having Matthew Stafford declare he wanted to be traded, into opportunities and to work to change the mindset to come up with solutions, whenever something unforeseen or challenging popped up.
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