Do You Know Exactly What you Want in a New Hire?

One characteristic that separates great leaders is the ability to filter out all the white noise.  To avoid all the distractions and focus on the simple things that have proven true over time.  It is the discipline necessary to do this better than others that separates the elite leaders from others.

Tom Herman really honed this skill in his time with Urban.  If you run a business do you know exactly what 3 traits you want when you make a new higher?  Do you know what you are looking for in an interview?  If you don't know exactly what you are looking for there is a great chance you will find it.  That adds up to bad hires.  Bad hires lead to low moral.  Low moral causes the good people to leave your organization.

Check out this article and listen to this interview.  Business Leaders can learn a ton from Tom.


http://footballscoop.com/news/tom-herman-points-3-traits-assistant-coaches-possess-get-staff/

Never rush the passer as one man

Never rush the passer as one man

Good teams with units that function well together know their role and how they fit into the scheme.  It's true in football and true in business.  Elite teams, high functioning units understand their place, know the role of those around them and hold each other accountable.  True in football, true in business.

This year I took my son and friends on our now-annual pilgrimage back to Northwest Missouri for a football game.  We sat in on D-line meetings,  defensive pre-game pep talk, pregame warm-up, they kids played on the field, hung out in the coaches office and enjoyed the game from the sidelines.  The kids loved it!  For me, the day is spent reminiscing and absorbing every reminder of my former life and the leadership lessons I can take back to my current role in the "civilian world" outside of football.  A day spent listening and learning to world-class competitors is a great day for me!

There is a lot to be impressed with as this talented Northwest team has won 29 games in a row.  For those of you who don't follow college football it is really difficult to get (and keep) 18-22-year-old kids prepared, motivated, grounded and generally free from doing stupid stuff for 29 games in a row.  Damn near impossible no matter how talented you may be.  And this group is talented, but talent alone is not what makes them special. Not even close.   This group plays hard, really hard, with tremendous consistent effort!  This group is physical.  A punishing type of wear-your-ass-out, 4-quarter, strap-your-shit-up physical. A style coaches absolutely love.  But physicality is only a small part of what makes them special.

As I listened to the D-line meeting and defensive pre-game talk from Rich Wright I was impressed.  His pre-game talk was one of the absolute best I have ever heard.  His ability to prepare and motivate a defense is well documented.  Perhaps I should and will share more from that speech in a blog post some day.

But it was a very simple phrase from the D-line film session that most stuck with me from that day.  A rather simple coaching point.  "Never rush the passer as one man."  These kids had a great understanding of their assignment.  That is not uncommon in college football.  They also had a tremendous understanding of their teammates' assignment.  That is more uncommon, but not unusual.  What makes this group so special is their willingness to buy into the concept of playing their exact role.  Caring enough about each other to understand and execute their part flawlessly.  To resist the urge to be selfish.  To resist the urge to make a play that may leave a teammate in a tough spot. That is what makes them unique.  The level of detail and the absolute willingness to commit and submit to the plan.  I watched them do exactly as Rich had instructed.  They absolutely annihilated Pittsburgh State, one of the most-decorated D 2 programs in the country. 

 Simply put, Northwest does not rush the passer like other people.  They don't beat their man.  Their unit beats your unit.  They force your quarterback from the spot he is most likely to complete the highest percentage of his throws for a particular down, distance, hash and yard line.  The Bearcat defensive line forces the offensive lineman into the lap of the quarterback while eliminating the running seems they most want to protect while maximizing the seems they most want to entice opposing quarterbacks to select.

This may not make complete sense to some who are not college football fans.  So here it is in layman's terms.  They execute with surgeon-like precision while unleashing unrelenting controlled violence.

Forcing your quarterback from the spot he is most likely to complete the highest percentage of his throws for a particular down, distance, hash and yard line may sound a lot less glamorous than blowing past your man for game-winning sack. For most college players that is true.  At Northwest it is different. 

Business leaders would be smart to spend the day with the Northwest Missouri defensive line and listen to Rich coach.  Listen to what the players understand about playing their role, executing their assignment, knowing their part in the big picture and coaching and teaching each other.

Business leaders ask these questions:

Does your leadership team rush the passer as a unit?  Or is each person out to sack the quarterback on their own?  Will your sales or operations team occupy two blockers to allow the other to come free for a path to the quarterback?  Does your team resist the urge to leave an open lane for the quarterback to step up in the pocket?  Will they play their role even though it may cost them an opportunity at a  sack?

Sacrifice for the greater good, a genuine belief that positive things will happen if they play their part, a palpable feeling of love and concern for the person next to them.  A disregard for anything other than a team win.  At Northwest, they believe in never rushing the passer as one man.  Can you say the same about your business? 

How does this happen? Why NDSU was able to beat Iowa

Yesterdays win by NDSU has many people across Iowa and the country shocked.  Not me.  Not for a second.  There are four major reasons. 

1. Expectations
2. Motivation
3. Nothing to lose
4. Behind the numbers

I will briefly discuss what leaders can take away from this game and then dive into the scholarship numbers. A quick behind the scenes look for the college football junkies. I am going to attempt to keep this brief because I could write about this all day and it is too nice outside to do that!

1. Expectations- NDSU expects to win.  They have a history of winning.  I have no behind the scenes knowledge of the program, but I would bet they have a player-driven-culture.  (for more on that see my blog post below on the Northwest Missouri State Bearcats) we often get what we expect in life.  What do your teams expect? 
2. Motivation-  Many of the FCS players have a chip on their shoulder from not having got an offer at the FBS level.  Hell hath no furry like a kid passed over by the schools of their dreams.  What motivates your team and how can you press those buttons?
3. NDSU has nothing to lose and they played that way.  They competed like kids in the back yard.  They have fun.  How can create an environment that promotes a culture of fun?
4. Ok. Here we go college football junkies. 

The FBS (big boys or 1A) teams have 85 full-ride scholarships.  If a student-athlete qualifies for financial aid he can even keep some money above and beyond for expenses.  It is all or none.  You can't break the scholarship up into partial scholarships. (for more on this see my previous post about recruiting walkons at Iowa State)

The FCS (smaller schools or 1AA) teams have 63 scholarships that may be divided into partial scholarships.  This is where it gets interesting.  Many of the FBS (big boys) are offering full ride scholarships to 16 and 17 year old kids.  This is an inexact science.  Ok, maybe it's not even science at all.  There are many multi-sport athletes at small schools who get much better once they get to college.  They focus on one sport and get the strength/speed/nutrition emphasis they did not in high school.

The FCS teams are able to hedge their bets a bit and spread out the scholarships over a larger number of kids with less investment.  It is similar to having a diverse investment portfolio as opposed to having most of your money in a few stocks.  If the FBS (Big boys) make a mistake in recruiting and offer a player that turns out to be a bust they are stuck between a rock and a hard place.  Well-meaning administrators(and needed) create rules to protect the student-athlete and  make it nearly impossible to send a player packing.  If too many players leave it the teams APR score (retention ratio) and graduation numbers.  This creates the rock/hard-place scenario.

I am not saying that FCS (smaller schools) teams have an advantage.  I am not saying Northern Iowa should beat Iowa State.  I am not saying NDSU should beat Iowa.  I am just explaining why these games are often closer than most think they should be.  These teams share a recruiting landscape that does not produce a lot of finished-product, sure-fire,  can’t-miss Division 1 prospects.  It does produce a lot of hard-working, late-developing, mentally-tough kids.  Unless you have a crystal ball this levels the playing field more than most know or care to understand. 

As you have seen already this season, there are plenty of talented players at UNI and NDSU. And now, you know a little more about the reasons why these games are often closer that the "experts" say they should be.

Creating a Culture of Accountablity

I saw this article on UNC Head Football Coach and thought I would share.  Fedora eliminates hiding places and forces a culture of accountability in the UNC program. This is yet another great example of what business leaders could learn from football.  I have worked with several who have instituted several similar (some almost exactly) programs to the ones mentioned in the article.  I have not been anywhere that placed the players commitment level on his locker for all to see, but I love the concept.  Some of these accountability plans may not fit exactly in your work place, but it certainly would make things interesting!  I am not sure most people in the business world could handle the plain-spoken-truth that comes in college and pro sports.  Some food for thought…

The link is below…

http://footballscoop.com/news/i-hate-hiding-places-how-larry-fedora-teaches-accountability-at-north-carolina/

Keeping Score in your Business

Keeping Score in your Business

The 2006 season may have been my favorite season coaching football. Our team struggled early in the season, but made a magical late season run that culminated with a Championship.  My best friend from my youth made the trip to the game and I still remember what he told me after the game.  "On the best of the best days at my work we have never poured Gatorade on each other to celebrate, never had confetti pour from the rafters.  I am jealous that you get to do this for a living"

In football, each and every week you get a very public grade.  There is a winner and a loser.  Someone else is working to defeat you, to embarrass you, to take something from you.  Even during the off-season people keep track and score recruiting efforts.  It's intense.

When you win it calls for intense celebration.  Why don't we celebrate victories the same way in business?  I'm not necessarily advocating walking through the halls showering each other with Gatorade, but would a high-five or two be so crazy? 

I believe it is because most businesses don't keep score effectively.  You may have piles of data and figures, but what exactly  is winning and what is losing?  How are you doing each week?  What happens when you win? What happens when you lose?  Does each team member have a metric that defines their part of the winning equation?  Do you clearly communicate what the expectations are for winning and losing?  Do your team members understand that actions have consequences?  That both winning and losing has repercussions?  Or is it all too gray?  What happens when you fall short?  What happens when you exceed expectations? 

In college and pro football every week half of the teams spend countless hours preparing…and still lose.  Someone else was better.  Half of the teams fail every week. It is a statistical fact.  That type of constant feedback sharpens your preparation and magnifies every detail in a way that is hard to explain unless you have lived it.  It forces you to examine every part of your program.  You lost, it says so on the scoreboard and the whole world knows it.

In your business, give some thought to clearly defining how you will keep score on a weekly basis.  Clearly define winning.  Clearly define losing.  Then, articulate expectations and celebrate victory!  Continue winning behavior.  Repeat winning performance.  Despise losing! Regroup, make changes, dig deeper, analyze, recommit and change the behavior. Find a way to get back to winning.

While 2016 is still young, find simple ways for your team members to know exactly what the score is.  Then, get your Gatorade coolers ready!