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?