Bill Walsh

Jan

2023

Learning From Legendary 49ers Coach Bill Walsh

Although I am a Los Angeles Rams fan, I have to admit that Bill Walsh, coach of the San Francisco 49ers from 1979 – 1989, was a legendary leader. I read his book The Score Takes Care of Itself a while back, and below are a few principles we can learn from his leadership.

Have a Philosophy

“Your philosophy is the single most important navigational point on your leadership compass.”

I have read books by many successful coaches, and they all have this idea in common. John Wooden had his “Pyramid of Success.” Pete Carroll has his “Win Forever” philosophy and if we look at other sectors of leadership, leaders have a philosophy.

In a resource I created called Leadership Theory 101, I explain eleven theories of leadership which I won’t go into here. I see in Coach Walsh’s statement that effective leaders have a philosophy. This is our guide on why, what, when, and even how we do what we do. This will be at the center of our decision-making process. Our philosophy will be our compass.

Growth not Goal

“I directed our focus less to the prize of victory than to the process of improving . . . about the quality of our execution and the content of our thinking; that is, our actions and attitude.”

As Walsh developed his philosophy he, like other great coaches, chose not to focus on winning but the process that would help them get to that outcome. When we get too focused on the result, we lose our drive if we have a loss that seems to prevent us from accomplishing the goal.

When leading our teams, we must have a goal or vision. That provides the why behind what is done each day, but as McChesney, et al. discuss in The 4 Disciplines of Execution, the lead measures are the daily actions that will help us achieve the goals we seek. As we keep our team focused on the habits that will bring results, the results will come.

Culture is Critical

“Champions behave like champions before they’re champions; they have a winning standard of performance before they are winners.”

Maybe you’ve heard the idea that culture eats leadership for lunch. As a leader, Walsh had a philosophy that helped create a culture. If the standard we expect as leaders is only held up when we are present, then we don’t have the culture we seek yet.

When the leader is not present, but the performance standard remains, you have created a culture. If people are not meeting expectations and others on your team hold one another to the expected standard . . . you have the culture you desire. This culture tied to your philosophy and expectations will reinforce and continue to help you accomplish your goals.

Reflect on these three areas for a moment today and evaluate how you are doing in these areas. Do you have a culture of followers who do what you want when you are there? Or are you developing leaders who are excited about the vision and help others work to accomplish the shared vision? Need help developing the leaders around you? Contact me and let’s explore ways I can help you and the leaders around you grow to create a culture that builds champions. Lead Well.

Feb

2020

Leadership Lessons from Super Bowl Winners

This was the weekend many around America sat around the television and watched football. Whether they like the sport, watched a game all season, or even care about the results they watch the Super Bowl. Maybe they want to see the commercials and eat junk food with friends, and this is a great way to do it.

This Super Sunday I went to my bookshelf and the leadership lessons from five Super Bowl winning coaches over the past five decades. (The books are listed at the end of this post if you are curious.) While I revisited my notes, three guiding leadership concepts were consistent among each of these coaches that can help all leaders.

Clear Philosophy

The late Bill Walsh of the San Francisco 49ers called it his “standard of performance” and Pete Carroll describes it as his “win forever” philosophy. Each of the other coaches may not have a formal structure, but they all were crystal clear of what they expected of themselves and those they led.

“You won’t be a successful leader if you don’t have a clear of what you believe, where you’re headed, and what you are willing to go to the mat for.” Don Shula

As the leader we must be crystal clear on what we expect. The hardest person to lead is ourselves therefore we must know what we expect of ourselves? Are we clear on that? As our values and vision are clear we can more clearly articulate them to those we lead.

Culture

“The culture you create permeates everything you touch.”

Tony Dungy

Leadership and culture. This is kind of a chicken and egg question. The leader influences culture, but the culture can eat the leader for lunch. Both Bill Walsh and Tony Dungy spoke to this idea of culture. As the leader of a team each knew the culture they created would impact every result and their players had both on and off the field.

When the philosophy and expectations are clear this establishes the groundwork for creating a specific culture. When these are unclear a potentially chaotic or toxic culture may be created. As leaders we either intentionally create a culture or it develops naturally out of how we lead.

“The culture precedes positive results . . . Champions behave like champions before their champions; they have a winning standard of performance before they are winners.”

Bill Walsh

Be A Teacher

Former Super Bowl champion coach of the New York Giants Bill Parcells said “be a teacher, not a drill sergeant,” but what does it mean? The same as all five of these coaches have said . . . teach. The legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden saw himself as a teacher above all else. As leaders we may see where we want to go and what we want done clearly. We may even see how to do it, but we must slow down, come alongside those we lead, and teach them.

“Be a teacher, not a drill sergeant.”

Bill Parcells

Ken Blanchard in his book Everyone’s A Coach with Don Shula provides some practical steps on how to be a teacher as a leader.

Tell people what you want them to do.
Show them what good performance looks like.
Let them do it.
Observe their performance.
Praise progress and/or redirect.

These are easy to read, but in order to implement them we must slow down, connect with those we lead and patiently walk the path with them. Eventually we end up multiplying our leadership and instead of developing followers we multiply leaders.

Winning a Super Bowl is not easy nor is leading any organization or team to top performance. As you look at these three areas, how can you improve in your leadership? Do you need a thinking partner to help you think into any of these areas? Contact me to explore a complimentary thinking partner session to help you raise your leadership level and improve your results. Lead Well.

Ken Blanchard & Don Shula Everyone’s A Coach

Bill Walsh The Score Takes Care of Itself

Pete Carroll Win Forever

Bill Parcells Finding a Way to Win

Tony Dungy The Mentor Leader

*Each of the above are affiliate links.