No matter what you do for a living, chances are you are engaged in providing a product or service that ultimately needs to please the customer. At JMG, we serve many different clients in multiple industries, so we get the chance to help companies that operate across lots of different markets. One observation is becoming more and more apparent, both in our line of work and that of our clients: When times get tough, competition really heats up.

I've watched a lot of football in my life, and the one parallel between football and business keeps coming back to my mind – the importance of a strong team. Regardless of the franchise tags and celebrity labels our society places on some players, the truth is even the greatest quarterback must have line to protect them, running backs to loosen up the defense and receivers who can run the routes and catch the football.