How Would Nick Saban Coach Your Company? Exactly Like This...

Let’s get this out of the way first: I live in Alabama (and yes, I am wearing shoes!). We take college football seriously, in a “I’d trade a lung for a ticket to the LSU game” kind of serious. I mean heck, we all have two lungs.

I went to The University of Alabama, as did my brother, sister and wife. The entire family bleeds Crimson. Can’t help it. It’s what we do.

Along comes Nick Saban. Okay, so we pay him a rather handsome $5.985M a year to coach. But he’s helped pack stadiums, build exposure (some estimate that value negates his salary) and advance the methodology of “winning” in a very clear and decisive way.

It doesn’t hurt that he’s won 2 of the last 4 National titles, and a 3rd one in 2003. His coaching philosophy goes far beyond the football field – as it should – to create “whole people,” not just football players.

There is ONE WORD that Summarizes How Nick Saban Wins.

First, be comforted to know that Nick ignores fads. He doesn’t do the latest whiz-bang offense. He doesn’t chase showboat players, nor put any value in “star power.” (Keep this in mind for your business.)

Instead, Nick Saban’s single word about coaching is: “Process.”

• External Score
• Internal Score
• Score

He “scores” players using very specific criteria in weight training, practicing, preparation versus opponent and academics.

Score well and advance (or keep your job); score poorly and get the attention to do better. There are generally 3-5 numbers that will give you the vital signs of any position, any team member, at any time. Ignoring these welcomes failure.

Do you score your players? What are your “3-5 numbers per position?” Is your CSR scored on politeness? Number of rings it takes to answer the phone? Score from the ‘Secret Shopper’? Are Techs scored on the number of Positive Reviews? How many Agreements sold per number of calls? Are your ads and media “scored” on lead generation?

Nick knows he and his staff don’t have all of the answers. He feels his role is to extract leadership out of every player. Every person must at times rely on themselves to be their own leader. Nick hires top trainers in leadership, accountability and ethics to solidify his mission.

Do you invite training from outside your company? Do you hire speakers or trainers on soft and hard skills? Is it regular or sporadic? Make it part of the system.

At Hudson, Ink, I long ago instituted a “Training Budget” for the company and the individual. This includes offsite seminars, webinars, books, and even the very rare “Self Study” (alone time) that I’ve encouraged only twice. (It was accepted once.)

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Nick holds players and assistants Accountable to the Process. “Everybody says, ‘Be accountable,’ but sometimes nobody ever tells you exactly what the expectation is,” says Saban. He has written goals and measurements for each. The players review, agree and sign. If/when they fall short, they can’t say they didn’t know. People appreciate guidelines instead of not knowing where they stand until you blow up.

Do you have written expectations for your team? Do they review, agree and sign? Just imagine the reduced stress and babysitting time while getting an increase in goal achievement!

Nick believes the “Process” brings him the best coaches, players, training and results. It is automated, not left to be forgotten. It is part of the system, not a separate event. It is expected to be followed and revered. And it grows champions. Hard to argue with that.

Sports Illustrated recently wrote an article that summarizes Saban’s philosophy: “You have to pay the price for success up front. Everybody wants to do it. Not everybody is willing to do what they have to do to do it.”

Where could you MOST benefit from a Process? Is it in sales, recruiting, lead generation? What is YOUR biggest challenge? Check out our Panel of Experts for help with any weakness in your organization.

Build your process. Build your business and your people into champions.

Adams Hudson

P.S. Here is the link to the recent Sports Illustrated article on Nick Saban: http://bit.ly/Sabanization.