Nick Saban: Leadership Standards

Nick Saban is one of the best coaches of all time, no matter the sport. He led LSU and Alabama to a combined 7 national championships.

He says there are three steps to creating a championship mindset:

1 - Vision: What are we trying to accomplish?

2 - Plan: What are the systems and processes that are required to accomplish it?

3 - Discipline: You have to have the discipline to execute it every day by doing what you know you are supposed to do, even when you don’t feel like it.

Then, you have to define the values, principles, and standards that will lead to success and hold people accountable to them.

• Values are what you believe and what you think is important (discipline, toughness, accountability, respect).

• Principles are how you live those values—the guidelines that drive daily decisions and behavior.

• Standards are the non-negotiable expectations for how things are done every day, regardless of circumstances.
  
  

Coach Saban says the key factors to getting everyone together and on the same page are respect and trust. Everyone has to respect and trust the values, principles, and standards you have defined, and they have to respect each other.

How do you keep people on the same page? How do you make sure everyone respects and trusts the standards, values, and principles? Coach Saban says you have to make it personal for them. You have to learn what their goals and dreams are, how their goals and dreams are aligned to the team’s, and a compelling plan that they can follow.

Then, hold them accountable to those goals, dreams, and plans. He says once he knows an athlete’s goals are to graduate and play in the NFL, he helps them create a plan that can help them do so and holds them accountable to that plan.

Every person has something they want to do. A leader’s job is to determine what the team is trying to accomplish, what each individual wants to accomplish, and try to align the two. and then create a plan and standards that will help the team and help the individual and keep everyone together.

Then, hold everyone accountable to the standard.