12

  And just as what they did with the picks was changing, who they’d be looking for with them was, too. So the aforementioned number—nine of 10 draft picks played in both the Chiefs’ playoff games—isn’t something the team, any team, could have planned for in March. But by summer, they saw signs that  it was coming. And that it was resulting from an effort to emphasize high-character players after hitting on such prospects, guys like Creed Humphrey and Nick Bolton in 2021. Also, as Veach saw it, it was another example of the team shifting its aggression, in this case from being aggressive with risks when Mahomes’s rookie deal gave them margin for error roster-wise, to being aggressive in character evaluations with that margin mostly gone, and the team needing more often for rookies to play sooner.

   Establish Your Core Values As we reflect on the past year and look forward to the one ahead, it's important to think about what core values and words define us and our goals. Core values are the beliefs that guide our decisions and shape our lives. Our core values can provide us with a framework — if not THE framework — for making decisions, including those related to our careers. We often take our values and beliefs for granted because we just act on them without thinking about it. But they are a powerful force in our day-to-day lives. Actively using them to choose how we spend our time and energy is how we can find personal and professional success. Reflecting on your core values is a great first step in finding your word of the year. Meditate on your values and beliefs, and consider what drives and motivates you to work toward your career goals. By understanding which values are most important to your aspirations, you can use them as a guidepost for finding the right wo...