Perfection: Chasing the Impossible with Chelsea Zahn of the Pittsburgh Steelers

by: Dakota Zientek 

“Nothing is lucky.”

This quote from Chelsea Zahn, the partnership activation manager with the Pittsburgh Steelers, is short, yet incredibly powerful. While people think luck has to do with how or where they end up in life, that isn't how Ms. Zahn sees things. 

Follow your own Path

“Everyone’s path is different,” said Zahn. “You never know what kind of impact you are going to make on people. You never know who is going to go out there and say, ‘Hey, who do you recommend applying for our internship?’ And for you to be one of the top people they remember based on your interactions, work that you did for them, or relationships that you build, that’s the position you want to get yourself into.”

This is an important piece of advice, as it is never known who is going to be your next boss, your next colleague, or the person that is the reason you get your next job. The world of networking is an important part of obtaining a job in sports, as once your application is sent into the team of your choice, your resume is in a pool of potentially thousands of other applicants. 

Stand Out in a Sea of Applicants 

While some people focus on standing out in the application process, Chelsea Zahn spent more of her time and effort finding ways to stand out among the crowd for the actual interview itself.

“When I was thinking back to when I was interviewing originally, I was so passionate when talking about being an athlete and understanding what it’s like to work with a team, what it’s like to set goals and achieve those goals constantly, and also to welcome criticism and feedback,” said Zahn.

Be Coach-able

In her mind, that’s one characteristic that set her apart while interviewing. Although others could have been as qualified as her, the fact that she welcomes feedback and criticism is huge, especially within the NFL: a league with hundreds of thousands of eyes on each move a team makes. One slip-up could cost the team a lot in brand equity, or physical dollars, so being coach-able and welcoming feedback is something Zahn sees as an important quality within the sports industry.  

“My biggest piece of advice to students is to be coachable,” said Zahn. “If you can take criticism, welcome feedback, and not get defensive about it, that goes so far.”
That brings up a point that Ms. Zahn is very passionate about, and that’s understanding that perfection is an impossible quality to achieve, however, getting as close to that line of perfection as possible is what people should attempt within their work. 

Perfection is not Perfect

“We all make mistakes and we need to recognize that because if anybody is saying they are trying to be as perfect as possible, it is me. However, I am not perfect, nobody is,” said Ms. Zahn.

While perfection is something that many people say they try to achieve, allowing criticism from others is what will allow one to become the perfection they strive for. No one is perfect, and while many people might think they are, that is a damaging mindset. If someone believes that they’re perfect, that means they’re completely shutting out the possibility of allowing individual growth or improvement. 

Closing Words
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If there could be only one takeaway from what Ms. Chelsea Zahn believes, it would be this: “You leave an impression on everybody that you meet every day and it’s important to have an awareness for what you represent. It’s not about Chelsea Zahn, it’s about the Pittsburgh Steelers and the experience that we give to our fans and our sponsors.” 

If you would like to connect with Ms. Zahn via LinkedIn, she invites everyone that has an interest in working with an NFL team, learning about sponsorship, or just gaining advice from someone that has been in similar shoes, to please connect with her. When inviting to connect with her, please make sure to leave a note saying this is where you found her! 

And with that, Ms. Zahn leaves you with one final piece of advice, and that is: “Be a solution person, be encouraging, and be coach-able at the end of the day.”