ST. LOUIS—Nick Saban recalled the time when he passed along some tough coaching to a young, talented freshman football player who had made a bad life decision.
Saban, the head coach at the University of Alabama, which just won another NCAA football national championship, spoke at PSCU’s 2018 Member Forum here and shared a story he said offers a lesson for credit union leaders.
Saban related how a young African-American player decided to confront a group of intoxicated fraternity members who made racist remarks to the player as he walked by the fraternity house on a Friday evening.
The player got into an altercation, and the police were called, Saban explained. Fortunately for the freshman, the police took the player straight to Saban instead of arresting him.
“I told this young man, who is a fine person, that he is very fortunate that the police chose not to arrest him,” said Saban. “I told him he should not have gotten into that altercation.”
But the freshman told Saban that he was always taught that when someone makes those kinds of remarks that the right thing to do is not just let it go.
That’s when Saban made his point clear with the player–reacting in that way would not be smart for his personal future.
“I said, ‘You are on your way to becoming a first-round draft pick. You get arrested from that incident and now you become a third-round pick, and your payday drops by $27 million,” recounted Saban. “So is it worth $27 million to you to be right?”
He said the player then understood his coaching. Saban shared that example to illustrate his point that to effectively lead—whether it be a football team or credit union—the leader must deliver coaching in a way that the teammate, coworker or staff member can personally relate to.
Making it About ‘Them’
“You have to make coaching about them, and they have to know that you care,” said Saban. “Those are two important aspects of being a good leader.”
Saban outlined a number of key traits and practices of leadership that have helped him in his career. Saban, led the LSU Tigers to a national championship in 2003 and the Alabama Crimson Tide to national championships in 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2017.
While it’s no secret successful organizations require winning cultures, what is less well known is what contributes to that culture, he said, listing knowing what the vision is, what the goals are, and what needs to be done to accomplish those goals as the keys.
But knowing that isn’t enough, Saban said, adding that what typically gets in the way of people effectively executing on those keys is a lack of discipline, he said.
“This I where most people struggle every day,” said Saban. “What is discipline? I define discipline as something I know I am supposed to do but don’t want to do.”
‘The Bridge You Have to Cross’
Saban said execution requires an individual to follow a vision and not just how they feel at the time they need to take action.
“To me, this is a bridge you have to cross—it’s feeling versus choice,” he said. “I may not feel like studying or going to school or going to work, but you have to choose to do the things you need to do to succeed. We can all come up with reasons for not doing the right thing. But are you going to focus on your circumstances at the time or your visions?”
Saban turned to an example of a former NFL coach who was diagnosed with cancer. Saban said that despite his condition, he still focused on his goals.
“This person told me that he was focused on making it to his daughters’ weddings and dancing with them,” Saban said.
Once goals are defined within an organization, teammates and coworkers must take ownership of their individual jobs. Saban said that requires people being personally accountable and understanding how their actions affect the entire organization.
“People can’t be thinking about how what they do every day affects themselves; they have to understand how what they do impacts the team,” said Saban.
One Strategy That Works
The football coach said one effective way to encourage people to work toward a common goal is to have them partner with someone else. Saban said he often assigns two football players to work with each other.
“I tell them that they are not competing against each other, they are challenging each other to be their very best, in school and on the field,” said Saban. “It comes down to people taking ownership of their jobs and everyone seeing the big picture and pulling together.”
Saban closed by addressing why “the mighty fall,” in sports and in business.
“Complacency is the reason,” he said. “Complacency paves the way for doing the wrong thing. You stop doing the things you did to become successful. You no longer hold to the same standards and principles, and you don’t continue to have success. What drives me? I hate to lose. I don’t care how many games we have won, I know we can lose that next game, so I am always thinking about that.”