Saban Makes Decision and the Tide "Rolls"

Alabama Miracle Worker: Tua Tagovailoa

Sometimes we have to make decisions on the spot to save the situation.  The University of Alabama was in such a spot in the 2018 college football playoffs. The running game wasn't working and the only option for Saban was to play a freshman who was an untried passing phenomenon.  In this post, I'm not looking at the performance of the freshman quarterback, I'm looking at the decision making of the coach, Nick Saban.

There comes a time in the sales process when you may realize that you're going in the wrong direction--that you may lose the order if you don't change something.  And that change may involve changing your program completely.  In the case of Alabama, it meant changing from a running game to a passing game; it meant taking out a quarterback (Jalen Hurt) who brought the team to the finals with a 25-2 record, with a freshman (Tua Tagovailoa).

So, here's the situation: you're really close to getting the order, but you know in your gut that something's going wrong and that if you don't change something you may lose it.  The customer may be saying that you have the order and everything may point to your getting the order, but you know something is wrong.  Or you may be in a situation where you definitely see that the situation is not good.

When that happens, it's time to change the quarterback--it's time to change from a running game to a passing game.  It's time to re-think the whole game plan.  

I tell everyone I work with: "if you see something, say something".  You never know where the insight is going to come from and everyone needs to be empowered to speak up. 

I've been in situations where I knew that I rubbed the customer wrong and I needed to back out of the sales situation and let someone else be the lead.  Winning the game--getting the order--has to be the driving force, not your ego.  

If you think you may lose the order, don't be afraid to change the game plan or even change the quarterback.  

Everyday Lessons from Belichick Leadership Rules

New England Patriots' Coach Bill Belichick

Lesson 1:  There is no detail that is too small to pay attention to.  

Belichick's coaches analyze every movement of every player of their next opponent.  You often hear him, after a game, when the press wants to question him about the game, saying "I'm only interested in next week.  This week is over."  His only concern is how to beat the next team he plays.  And to that end, he has his coaches looking at the opponent's tapes and noting every detail of the opponent's play design.  His coaches look at everything--even watching how the opposing quarterback moves his hands or his head prior to a play or how the left guard pulls on a pass play, or how the free safety moves on an end run.  In our lives, we tend to ignore the little things.  In Belichick's world, it's all about the little things.
Lesson 2:  A "mediocre" player is a poorly coached player.
Belichick puts the blame for mediocrity right where it belongs: poor coaching.  He is often quoted as saying: "Give me someone who wants to work hard, and I'll turn him into a superior player."   We often tend to take the easy way and blame the student or the employee for failure, when the blame has to be put where it belongs--on poor leadership, bad coaching, unclear direction.  Belichick's lesson for us is "don't blame the player for a bad performance, blame the coach".
Lesson 3: Take responsibility for bad outcomes.
After a game that's been lost, or poorly played, Belichick never blames the players.  He blames himself for not preparing the players properly or for not giving proper instruction to the coaches.  It's very easy to blame everyone but yourself for a failure.  Failure on the bottom starts with poor leadership at the top.  When you fail, figure out what you did wrong and fix it.
Lesson 4: Never give up--never.
Belichick says this over and over again in interviews: never give up.  Winston Churchill was the originator of this phrase: "It's never over till it's over.  Never give up, never." In the 2017 Superbowl, the Falcons were winning 28 to 9 going into the 4th quarter.  The Patriots scored 19 unanswered points in 4th quarter to tie the game and cause the first overtime in Superbowl history.  
The Apollo 13 crew mission motto was "Failure is not an option". 
We can all take a lesson from this.  Hard work and commitment are the keys to winning in the long run.  And losses are only short term setbacks.