Last week I attended the Aspen Ideas Festival, and I’m still on a high (and not just from the altitude). One of the final sessions featured an interview with Charlotte Jones, Chief Brand Officer and Co-Owner of the Dallas Cowboys. She was interviewed by another NFL team owner, Emily Tisch Sussman of the NY Giants, and podcast host of She Pivots.
My girls and I (and even Jeff!) are currently watching Season 2 of America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders—so I was already a bit starstruck. But Jones’s insights were next level.
Jones spoke about growing a global brand, staying innovative while honoring tradition, and the importance of rituals. After buying the struggling team in the late 80s, the Jones family realized that the most valuable aspect of it was that fans felt part of something (which was the Cowboys brand). So Jones and her family worked to build up and elevate that brand over the last few decades through both tradition and innovation, always asking, “How do we build something that creates a shared experience?”
At the end of the session, I had the chance to ask her a question.
I asked how she attracts and retains top talent—not just the athletes, but the “team behind the team” (the Cowboys organization includes over 600 employees, not including players or cheerleaders). I couldn’t believe it when I heard her response (spoiler alert, little did I know that Jones was exactly the kind of Great Human Leader that I write about):
- Connect people to purpose: Jones shared that her goal is to make the person in accounting feel like they, too, won on Sunday. Every employee, no matter their role, is part of the Cowboys’ mission—and she strives to make sure they feel that.
- Connect people to each other: To help the staff feel connected, Jones has both the players and staff eat lunch together in a space called the Training Table. The Training Table turns the cafeteria into a culture builder. As Jones put it: when there’s a tough week on the field, these shared meals help people show up for each other.
- Connect people to themselves: Jones makes it a priority to support career advancement across departments and encourages employees to explore new paths within the organization. When people grow, the whole organization grows.
Charlotte Jones is a Great Human Leader—and a total rockstar. This isn’t rocket science, but with intention, you too can be a Great Human Leader and connect your people to purpose, to each other, and to themselves.
I highly recommend listening to the full conversation on the She Pivots podcast.
7/8/25
