NICK SABAN ON THE ILLUSION OF CHOICE

COACH BILL SNYDER'S 16 GOALS FOR SUCCESS

The following is an excerpt written by Mark Jannsen for KStateSports.com.  It speaks to Kansas State's coach Bill Snyder and his philosophy of 16 goals for success -- which he got from his mother. You can read the entire article here.

Simplistic words like: commitment, unity, unselfishness, enthusiasm, responsibility, improve. Generic phrases like: great effort, never give up, expect to win, no self-limitations, and so on.

Lumped together, and bought into, Snyder summarizes, “If each player achieves each of these goals, we, as a team, will always be successful.”

Snyder declines to accept invention of his pet words/phrases, but instead says, “They come from my mother (Marionetta). The foundation comes from how she raised me, and what she meant to me. How you buy into those values is who you are.”

Growing up in a single-parent home in St. Joseph, Mo., Snyder said, “My mother was a stickler for having everything in its proper place and doing things right. Our apartment wasn’t much, but it was always clean. It was small enough that when my area was a mess, then her area was a mess. There wasn’t my space and her space. It was our space.”

He would add, “She worked hard. If my work ethic came from anyone, it came from my mother.”

THE WILDCAT 16 GOALS FOR SUCCESS

Commitment … to common goals and to being successful
Unselfishness … there is no ‘I’ in TEAM
Unity … come together as never before
Improve … every day as a player, person and student
Be Tough … mentally and physically
Self-Discipline ... do it right, don’t accept less
Great Effort
Enthusiasm
Eliminate Mistakes … don’t beat yourself
Never Give Up … never … never … never
Don’t Accept Losing … If you do so one time, it will be easy to do so for the rest of your life
No Self-Limitations … expect more of yourself
Expect To Win … and truly believe we will
Consistency … your very, very best every time
Leadership … everyone can set the example
Responsibility … You are responsible for your own performance

WHAT IS YOUR TEAM'S PRACTICE MINDSET? HOW AS COACHES CAN WE ASSIST

The following is a great passage from the book "Toughness" written by Jay Bilas which speaks to the mindset of a player in regard to practice.

How many players start practice with the intention or goal of simply “getting through” practice? Instead of “getting through” a workout, players need to “get from” a workout-to get the most from it, and the most from themselves. No player ever got better by just getting through something. True toughness is competing through the end of a practice or workout after having prepared yourself mentally to compete. That is a key mind-set of the toughest players.

A key question for us as coaches is how can we help our players with this process? There are several things that have served me well and here are a few.

NOTEBOOKS

We often begin the day in our film room or meeting room.  We might watch some video clips or go over things and I've found that notebooks are a tremendous way to get a point across to a team and have them hold on to it because they are writing it down.  We never have one of these sessions before practice that we don't outline a couple of objectives for practice.  Here is an older post about the topic of Notebooks.

PRE-PRACTICE

This is a short period at the beginning to do position work.  It's also quality time between a coach a small, select group of players.  As a coach, you can set the tone in terms of what needs to be accomplished as a player and a team for this particular day.  Here is an older post about the topic of Pre-Practice.

EMPHASIS OF THE DAY

We believe this is a great way of focusing a team's attention for a practice.  Picking a phase of basketball or an intangible and making that a special focus for that day.  We will have specific drills to highlight it as.  Here is an older post about the topic of Emphasis of the Day.

PRACTICE STATS

If its going to be important, find a way to measure it.  We keep practice stats everyday.  We might keep a special stat on a specific day to compliment a particular emphasis -- and we share it with our players...often in the middle of practice to let them know how they are doing.  Here is an older post about the topic of Practice Stats.

INDIVIDUAL PRACTICE GOALS

Something I started last here with our freshman post player Khaalia Hillsman was to have an individual practice goal.  I created some cards for her and placed them in her locker.  Each day she has to pick something that she wants to give extra concentrated effort on.  I let her pick it...she writes it down...she gives it to me when she first comes to practice.  I then make sure I am watching her to see how she is doing.  I compliment her when she is successful and remind her when she falls short about her goal.  After practice, I give her a grade on her goal and from time to time support that grade with video.

DANSBY SWANSON'S OPPONENT? LIFE

Big thanks to Lipscomb coach Greg Brown for forwarding me this article on Dansby Swanson that was written by Jason Quick for OrgeonLive.com.   I'm going to post a few big take aways from the article but I promise you'll want to click hear and read Quick's article in its entirety.  In fact, it will be an article that we will run and give to our team to read.

Here are some great parts of the article:

Quick talked about pushing Swanson with some tough questions but having no luck:

But through all my probing and pushing, and all his thoughtful answers, I couldn't find the hook to his story.

I sighed.

"You are tough,'' I told him.

He turned his head in confusion, then showed intrigue as I explained the basics of profile writing. The best profiles identify a protagonist and an antagonist, while developing the tug of war, or conflict, between the two. Sometimes, the story leads to a resolution, and other times it alludes to the clash ahead.

He nodded.

"You can't get the antagonist,'' Swanson surmised, before pausing. "Well ... I guess I feel life is too short to be negative.''

Then, it started to unfold. The protagonist, this great baseball player who has lived a charmed life, unknowingly started to reveal his antagonist.

His reveal wasn't what I expected from a 21-year-old, let alone a rising star who was hours from playing in his 11^th professional game.

That antagonist pitted against Swanson? Life, and how the trends of society are threatening the way we treat each other, the way we interact. The challenge before him? Leading by example to initiate change.

He admits his life includes little else besides baseball, and the pursuit of greatness in the sport.

However, he knows the better he becomes, the greater stage he has to lead his charge for change.

"This is how I look at this,'' Swanson says. "Obviously, I've been blessed with a great platform. What I do with it is my gift back.''

Quick asked him about his what he wanted his platform to be about:

"Make this world a better place,'' Swanson said. "I've always thought about that question. Does what I'm involved in make everything better? Does me being on this team make the team better? Does me being here make this park better? Because I've lived in this world, is it better? I think that's important because it doesn't happen enough with people.''

He leans in and re-establishes eye contact, his deeper point about to arrive.

"Because, you see, people are so consumed with things that don't matter. In the grand scheme, what matters is how happy you are and how happy you make others. That's so lost these days. Everyone is so driven and they have their blinders on. So we end up living in a society where everything is me, me, me, me, me, me ... they don't worry about anything else around them. (Life) is more than a just-about- yourself type deal.''

And then he spoke about his love for his school:

Swanson says Vanderbilt is a life-shaping program, which is why he cried after the final out this season.

"I didn't cry because we had just lost,'' Swanson said. "I cried because I didn't want to leave. What has been built there is soooo incredible. You are surrounded with the best people you can imagine, and you know as well as I do that when you surround yourself with good people, it makes you better. And that's what we take pride in: making each other better. Not just baseball wise. In school, as a person, you name it. That's why I want to back to live in Nashville, so I can be around everyone.''

It was at Vanderbilt where the roots of his leadership skills took hold. When he was injured his freshman year, he observed the different types of leadership exhibited by various seniors. He found he gravitated toward the exuberant leadership of Tony Kemp.

"I found that the best leaders are the ones who are servant based first,'' Swanson said. "There is a difference between leadership and authority. Authority is more of a title, whereas a leader is the one who is always helping someone first. I think that gets lost in translation these days. Just because you have power doesn't make you a leader.''

LIN DUNN: 3 KEYS TO SUCCESS

This past spring at the A Step Up Assistant Coaching Symposium, the "Legends Speaker" was Lin Dunn.  She gave an outstanding keynote address which included three things she thought necessary for success:

1. Strive everyday to be the best you can be
Make sure that you are all in in all you do.
She loves coaches that our gym rats.
Goals: Have short, medium and long range -- write 'em down

2. Expect failure
Know it is a wonderful opportunity to improve
Be better, not bitter
Hold yourself accountable...No excuses
Maintain a positive attitude

3. Know what real success is
What are you striving for
Health, happiness, friends and family

JEFF JANSSEN: 4 STEPS TO ESTABLISH YOUR STANDARDS OF BEHAVIOR

The following comes form "How to Build and Sustain a Championship Culture" by Jeff Janssen.  I'm not sure there is a more important word in leadership today than culture -- creating the identity and standards your want your program to live by.  Jeff's book is the best I've read on the subject and here is an abbreviated list of 4 steps in establishing a team's standards of behavior:
 
1, Include your leaders with a meeting before the standards meeting
Before your standards meeting with your entire team, I highly recommend you sit down with your key leaders to discuss their thoughts and insights on the process. You want to all be on the same page going into the meeting so that you understand each other.

2,  Involve Instead of Impose
As with your vision and core values, be sure to involve your team when establishing your standards of behavior. It will value their perspective and help garner their commitment. As leadership author Stephen Covey once said, “No involvement equals no commitment.”

Similarly, Coach K says, “In putting together your standards, remember that it is essential to involve your entire team. Standards are not rules issued by the boss; they are a collective identity.”

3, Create and clarify your standards in writing
It is important to put your Standards in writing to help clarify and codify them for the short and long term. Unwritten standards are easily forgotten and can become an easy excuse when someone breaks them because they can say they weren’t clear about them.

4. Sustaining Your Standards
While establishing your standards on the front end is a critical part of developing a Championship Culture, the key part is sustaining the standard throughout the course of the season. Many teams talk about the standard at the start of the season but don’t meticulously maintain them throughout the course of the season.

“It all starts with everyone buying into the same principles and values… If you don’t define the expectation for everybody in the organization and the standard, what they’re supposed to do and how they’re supposed to do it, then how can you know whether someone is mediocre or a high achiever… We clearly define personally, academically, athletically what the expectation is for every player and they have to be accountable to it.” –Nick Saban
 

GUIDELINES FOR GOAL SETTING

Some great guidelines for goal setting via John Maxwell from his book "Be All You Can Be."

To help you understand the importance of goals and to facilitate your own goal-setting, let me give you six important guidelines.

§  Your goal must include others. No goal is worthwhile that is only for yourself. Set a goal big enough to include and help other people.

§  Your goal must be worthwhile. There is no such thing as a successful frivolous goal.

§  Your goal must be clean. If you don’t know where you are headed, a map will be of no use.

§  Your goal must be measurable. You need a way to see if you are making any progress toward the goal.

§  Your goal must be expandable. Don’t set your goals in concrete. If your goal is not expandable, it’s expendable.

§  Your goals must be filled with conviction. Conviction is the unshaken confidence that the goal is worthwhile. It’s the fuel that pushes us to achieve.

URBAN MEYER'S "PLAN TO WIN"

While the head coach at the University of Florida, Urban Meyer had what he titled the "Plan to Win."  It was, as described author Buddy Martin in his book "Urban's Way" as follows:

There's a blueprint of success for the Gators, and it's all right there on Urban's virtual stone tablets.  The life of Urban Meyer is metered out on the expanded version of a day planner, parts of which are given to all coaches and players.  Tucked inside the 129-page document is the Plan to Win.  It's only one page.  While Meyer will admit to changing or tweaking his offense, or even learning to listen, and growing as a coach, Urban's organizational philosophy is the same as it was yesterday -- and will be tomorrow.

The four main staples of Urban's mandate for success and his organizational schematic -- his bible of football coaching -- are:

1. Play great defense
2. Turnovers (all coaches are required to teach ball security the same way)
3. Score in the red zone
4. Win the kicking game

Included in the 129-page manual is a set of core values for players:

1. Honesty
2. Respect women
3. No drugs
4. No stealing
5. No weapons

Also included are the guides on how assistant coaches should coach.  The magic potion is simply "Do your job."  That includes the following for coaches:

1. Take care of your family and your health.
2. Take care of your players (academic, social, spiritual, family).
3. Be an expert at your position and excel as a teacher.
4. Recruit every day (expect to sign two to three players per year).
5. Be passionate about coaching and football.

10 THINGS TALENTED PEOPLE DO TO MAXIMIZE SUCCESS

One of the absolute books I've read, and one that we periodically have our team's read is "Talent Is Never Enough," by John Maxwell.  Talent flows everywhere but successful people take talent and combine it with a work ethic and prioritized structure for maximum results.  Here is a great list I read from BusinessInsider.com in a column written by Heather Huhman. 

Here are 10 things people possessing great talent always do:

1. They talk about their long-term goals.
Talented candidates aren't afraid of their future. In fact, they're excited about their career and what's in store.

Ask candidates about their long-term goals during a job interview. Those with great talent will talk about their prospective future with the company and what they plan to accomplish if hired.

2. They're resourceful and prepared for anything.
Great talent is prepared for any situation. The ability to think and act on the spot is a quality few people have.

People with top-notch talent know their resume inside and out, have their portfolio ready and can answer interview questions without stumbling over their thoughts.

3. They display confidence in any situation.
There's a fine line between confidence and arrogance when identifying top talent. Confident individuals, however, can handle any situation and accept the reality that it's OK to be wrong.

During the interview, ask candidates about their weaknesses. Look for a candidate who can confidently speak about weaknesses and explain the lessons they have learned.

4. They market their versatility.
Individuals who are truly talented possess a wide range of skills and can transfer them to different roles and succeed.

Ask candidates about a time when they had to try something new or apply their skills in an unusual situation. A good candidate will be able to share an experience or two.

5. They prioritize results.
Talented people care about results. They have a burning passion to accomplish their goals, both in their personal life or career.

Those who possess top talent will talk about what they want to accomplish once hired without the interviewer having to ask.

6. They ask smart questions.
Bright individuals are curious people. Because of this, they'll ask questions to learn more about an organization and how it functions.

During the interview, a talented candidate will ask questions about what he or she is expected to accomplish if hired. They will inquire about the attributes of the top performers at the company and about what it takes to drive results.

7. They're extremely flexible.
Many organizations continuously update their goals and implement new strategies. Top talent can adjust to such changes without becoming derailed from success.

Ask candidates about a time when they had to quickly adapt to a new situation and what happened.

Risk taking is involved at any business. Talented people aren't afraid of pushing the envelope to discover new ideas.

Ask candidates about a time where they had to take a risk. Their response should provide enough insight about whether they can take big enough risks.

9. They bring passion to the position and organization.
This might seem like a cliché, but passion is a quality that sets apart those with great talent from lackluster candidates.

When a talented person is passionate about what he or she does, that individual is not afraid to tell a prospective employer. In fact, when someone is truly passionate, a hiring manager can see it in the individual's personality and previous experience.

10. They communicate effectively with a variety of stakeholders.
Strong communicators have the ability to take organizations to the next level.

When speaking to candidates over the phone or in person or exchanging emails, pay close attention to how they communicate. This gives employers a better indication of their communication skills.

You can read the entire article here.

MAKE THE BIG TIME WHERE YOU ARE

Those who are faithful reader's of this blog know how we feel about the importance of process over results.  Far too many get caught up in setting destination goals as opposed to living daily striving for excellence in all they do.  Life is about mastery and mastery is a daily process -- sometimes involving the most mundane activities.  Yesterday, spending time in airports and airplanes, I read "Burn Your Goals" by Joshua Medcalf and Jamie Gilbert.  It is one of the best books I've read in regard to understanding and living the process.  I believe it is a necessary read for coaches and athletes and I will blog a little over the next week about a few of the passages.

One chapter, "The Resources Myth" hit home because of my own coaching journey of some of my stops along the way.  It also brought back fond memories of Coach Don Meyer and all that he accomplished in his career.  If we were to hear Coach Meyer speak this fall, one of his topics was always doing the best with what you have with where you're at.  And he would no doubt encourage us all to read "Make The Big-Time Where You Are" by Frosty Westering.

The thing to know about resources is you have what you have and you don't have what you don't have. 

Simple, but far too many of us spend more time -- completely wasted time -- talking and thinking about what we don't have instead of showing initiative and maximizing what we do have.  Excellent programs do a few things in regards to resources:

1. They get the most out of what they do have.
2. They utilize their imagination to overcome what they don't have.
3. They go to work to obtain what they don't have (fundraising, etc.)

Here are some great thoughts from "Burn Your Goals" in regard to resources:

The "lack-of-resources" myth not only cripples creating thinking but it also has another harmful effect. If limits the people you will attract.  Successful people's ears perk up when they see and hear about people being resourceful and persevering.

Rather than fall into the trap of the resources myth, try and always ask these 2 questions:

What is the smallest version of my dream I can start right now, using what I have, right where I am at?

What is one thing I can do make this better?

Those who are faithful with little will be trusted with so much more.

Create. Be resourceful. Persist.

Resources have a habit of following:

Passion

Persistence

Patience

CREATING A MORE PRODUCTIVE DAY

I ran across this website and really liked the stuff I read -- especially this post by Eric Barker titled, "6 Things The Most Productive People Do Every Day."  I'm going to share a few excerpts but you can read the entire article here.

1) Manage Your Mood
Most productivity systems act like we’re robots – they forget the enormous power of feelings.

If you start the day calm it’s easy to get the right things done and focus.

But when we wake up and the fray is already upon us — phone ringing, emails coming in, fire alarms going off — you spend the whole day reacting.

2) Don’t Check Email In The Morning

To some people this is utter heresy. Many can’t imagine not waking up and immediately checking email or social media feeds.

I’ve interviewed a number of very productive people and nobody said, “Spend more time with email.”

Why is checking email in the morning a cardinal sin? You’re setting yourself up to react.

An email comes in and suddenly you’re giving your best hours to someone else’s goals, not yours.

You’re not planning your day and prioritizing, you’re letting your objectives be hijacked by whoever randomly decides to enter your inbox.

3) Before You Try To Do It Faster, Ask Whether It Should Be Done At All

Everyone asks, “Why is it so impossible to get everything done?” But the answer is stunningly easy:

You’re doing too many things.

Want to be more productive? Don’t ask how to make something more efficient until after you’ve asked “Do I need to do this at all?”

4) Focus Is Nothing More Than Eliminating Distractions

Ed Hallowell, former professor at Harvard Medical School and bestselling author of Driven to Distraction, says we have “culturally generated ADD.”

 

Has modern life permanently damaged our attention spans?

No. What you do have is more tantalizing, easily accessible, shiny things available to you 24/7 than any human being has ever had.

The answer is to lock yourself somewhere to make all the flashing, buzzing distractions go away.

5) Have A Personal System

I’ve spoken to a lot of insanely productive people. You know what none of them said?

“I don’t know how I get stuff done. I just wing it and hope for the best.”

Not one. Your routines can be formal and scientific or personal and idiosyncratic — but either way, productive people have a routine.

6) Define Your Goals The Night Before

Wake up knowing what is important before the day’s pseudo-emergencies come barging into your life and your inbox screams new commands.
Here’s Tim:

Define your one or two most important to-dos before dinner, the day before.

Bestselling author Dan Pink gives similar advice:

Establish a closing ritual. Know when to stop working. Try to end each work day the same way, too. Straighten up your desk. Back up your computer. Make a list of what you need to do tomorrow. 

Research says you’re more likely to follow through if you’re specific and if you write your goals down.

WHAT SABAN TOOK FROM BELICHICK

Big thanks to Zak Boisvert for passing this along via his monthly email newsletter.  If you are on his mailing list, I highly recommend it.  Here's is Zak's email address:  zak.boisvert@maine.edu.  Below is an article he shared that was written by Doug Lesmerises for Cleveland .com on Coach Nick Saban.  You can read the entire article here. All of them are great points but I especially gave thought to quote that I highlighted:

1. Saban took a chunk of his coaching philosophy from Bill Belichick thanks to the four years he spent as the Browns' defensive coordinator from 1991-94 before leaving to take the Michigan State job before the last of Belichick's five years in Cleveland.

"Y'all ran us both out of Ohio," Saban said with a laugh.

But Saban took a lot of Belichick with him.

"He defined everything in the organization. Everything," Saban said. "The standard for personnel, what kind of players we wanted, what he expected from the coaches, what he expected from the players on our team. Everything was defined, clearly defined. We had one sign in the building – 'Do Your Job.'"

2. Saban and Urban Meyer may be able to relate on this point. Alabama was the two-time defending national champion and 11-0 and No. 1 last season before finishing with two losses. Ohio State was 24-0 to start Meyer's career in Columbus before ending last season with two losses.

"I hate to say this, but sometimes a group needs to lose, they need to lose," Saban said. "They lose their respect for winning. And I love our team, I loved our team last year. It's not like we had a bad team, but compared to the championship teams, there was a little bit of complacency in terms of buying in. This year's team has a lot better chemistry. Whether we have the same talent or the talent at the right positions to be capable of that, I don't know. 

"But losing the games helped everybody gain a perspective for winning and not taking things for granted and the importance of paying attention to detail. And maybe that's the only way you can learn."

3.  "Mediocre people don't like high achievers. And high achievers have no tolerance for mediocre people. So if they're going to co-exist in your organization, you're going to fail. You're never going to have any team chemistry because they won't respect each other."

4. "We don't have a sign in our building – never have, never will – that says win championships. We don't have anything in our building that says win the SEC, win the national championship – never have, never have.

"We have a sign that says, 'Be a champion.' Everybody talks about there's no 'i' in team. But there is an 'i' in win. And that 'i' is for individual, because the individual makes your team what it is."

5. "When you raise the trophy up, when you win a championship, as soon as you put it down, you become the target for everybody else that competes against you."

LEARNING YOUR ROLE, EARNING YOUR TIME

The following is an excerpt from NFL.com by Daniel Kim.  It speaks to the fact that many players that are successful must start at the bottom, learn the game and work to earn their playing time.  I thought Coach Saban's quote at the bottom was outstanding

In an interview with CBS Sports Radio's Jim Rome last week, McCarron said he thought elite prospects tend to enter college with the idea that they're too good to sit on the bench. "It's a little entitlement, and when they don't play off the bat, they get a little ticked off and they don't want to work," McCarron said.

Nick Saban didn't necessarily disagree with McCarron, but he said he remembers McCarron wasn't that different in his first few days with the Crimson Tide.

"When they were freshmen they had the same issues," Saban said, referring to McCarron and other Crimson Tide stars. "I remember when AJ came up in my office all upset because he was the third-string quarterback after the first scrimmage. So, you know, sometimes we forget what it's like to be a teenager."

McCarron arrived at Alabama as a four-star recruit. After redshirting in 2009, he served as a backup the following season before taking over as the starting quarterback in 2011. He went on to lead the Crimson Tide to two national titles as a starter.

Saban, of course, has plenty of experience managing the expectations of elite prospects.

Said Saban: "We want everybody to have goals and aspirations for everything they want to accomplish here. We just want them to be realistic about what they have to do to accomplish those goals, and to understand the competition here is actually going to help them be successful and help them to be better."

NAVY SEAL LESSON ON THE LACROSSE FIELD

If you follow me on twitter, as well as read my blogs, you already know how much I have enjoyed and took from the book "Damn Few" by Rorke Denver, former Head of Basic and Advanced SEAL Training.  It is an amazing book about the sacrifice, commitment, and passion of our nation's very best -- the Navy Seals.

Part of the book deals with Denver's thoughts on where you could find possible SEAL recruits and of course on area was athletes.  Denver himself play lacrosse at Syracuse under the legendary Roy Simmons, Jr.

I thought one of the most telling parts of Denver's lacrosse experience comes a major lesson he learned under Coach Simmons:

"Coach Simmons taught us many things. 

None was more important than

an utter disdain for mediocrity."

 

 

 

IZZO USES PLAYERS' CIRCLE OF INFLUENCE FOR MOTIVATION

I have often wrote about by admiration of Don Yaeger.  As a journalist, he really gets it.  In a world filled with so much negativity that is hammered home through the media, Don is constantly looking for that which is good and sharing it with us in such a way that we can not only be inspired by it, but learn from it as well.  Such is true with one of his most recent blog posts on Tom Izzo and how he uses a players circle of influence to help them grow and move forward towards the goals.

Here is an excerpt from that article (you can read the entire post here --  in fact, you can check out his outstanding website here):

“A player-coached team is better than a coach-coached team,” said Izzo as he grinned knowing, by the look on my face, that he’d get the chance to explain further. He did just that.

I was impressed by how Izzo established a connection with certain star players to the point where they reinforced his message early and often with each new season. Players like Magic, Steve Smith, Shawn Respert, and Mateen Cleaves would still return to campus, seeking out current players to offer advice and place expectations nurtured by the MSU basketball culture.

But that accountability model wasn’t just relegated to the players and former players. Izzo’s culture placed that responsibility on the parents of the players as well. He understood that external forces could be counterproductive to laying a solid foundation. In an effort to get a total buy-in from his team, he focused some of his energy on the mothers, fathers,and legal guardians.

Izzo would hold a non-player meeting with his team’s family members and get them to commit to helping their athlete achieve success on the court and in the classroom. They would commit to supporting Izzo’s coaching methods and discipline even if it meant their son would be directly impacted. That reinforcement on the court and at home created a culture where all parties clearly understand the values of the program, and the consequences and rewards of certain actions within the culture.

SIR ALEX FERGUSON: A CHAMPION'S FORMULA

I came across the following article written by Anita Elberse for the Harvard Business Review.  These are just a few excerpts of well-written length article on Sir Alex Ferguson who for 26 seasons as the manager of the Manchester United soccer club.  In that span his teams won 13 English titles and 25 other championships.  As Elberse opened her article, "Some call him the greatest coach in history."

Here are some of the excerpts of the story:

Winning a game is only a short-term gain-you can lose the next game. Building a club brings stability and consistency. You don’t ever want to take your eyes off the first team, but our youth development efforts ended up leading to our many successes in the 1990’s and early 2000’s.

I always take great pride in seeing younger players develop. The job of a manager, like that of a teacher, is to inspire people to be better. Give them better technical skills, make them winnners, make them better people, and they can go anywhere in life. When you give young people a chance, you not only create a longer life span for the team, you also create loyalty. They will always remember that you were the manager who gave them their first opportunity. Once they know you are batting for them, they will accept your way. You’re really fostering a sense of family. If you give young people your attention and an opportunity to succeed, it is amazing how much they will surprise you.

Dare to Rebuild Your Team

Even in times of great success, Ferguson worked to rebuild his team.

“He’s never really looking at this moment, he’s always looking into the future,” Ryan Giggs told us. "Knowing what needs strengthening and what needs refreshing-he’s got that knack.”

Set High Standards and Hold Everyone to Them

Ferguson speaks passionately about wanting to instill values in his players. More than giving them technical skills, he wanted to inspire them to strive to do better and to never give up-in other words, to make them winners.

I had to lift players’ expectations. They should never give in. I said that to them all the time: “If you give in once, you’ll give in twice. “ And the work ethic and energy I had seemed to spread throughout the club. I used to be the first to arrive in the morning. In my later years, a lot of my staff members would already be there when I got in at 7 A.M. I think they understood why I came in early-they knew there was a job to be done. There was a feeling that “if he can do it, then I can do it.”

I constantly told my squad that working hard all your life is a talent. But I expected even more from the star players. I expected them to work even harder. I said, “You’ve got to show that you are the top players.” And they did. That’s why they are star players-they prepared to work harder. Superstars with ego are not the problem some people may think. They need to be winners, because that massages their egos, so they will do what it takes to win. I used to see [Cristiano] Ronaldo [one of the world’s top forwards, who now plays for Real Madrid], Beckham, Giggs, Scholes, and others out there practicing for hours. I’d have to chase them in. I’d be banging on the window saying, “We’ve got a game on Saturday.” But they wanted the time to practice. They realized that being a Manchester United player is not an easy job.

There are occasions when you have to ask yourself whether certain players are affecting the dressing-room atmosphere, the performance of the team, and your control of the players and staff. If they are, you have to cut the cord. There is absolutely no other way. It doesn’t matter if the person is the best player in the world. The long-term view of the club is more important than any individual, and the manager has to be the most important one in the club.

Why should I have gone to bed with doubts? I would wake up the next day and take the necessary steps to maintain discipline. It’s important to have confidence in yourself to make a decision and to move on once you have. It’s not about looking for adversity or for opportunities to prove power; it’s about having control and being authoritative when issues do arise.

Ferguson: No one likes to be criticized. Few people get better with criticism; most respond to encouragement instead. So I tried to give encouragement when I could. For a player-for any human being-there is nothing better than hearing “Well done.” Those are the two best words ever invented. You don’t need to use superlatives.

When their teams are behind late in the game, many managers will direct players to move forward, encouraging them to attack. Ferguson was both unusually aggressive and unusually systematic about his approach. He prepared his team to win. He had players regularly practice how they should play if a goal was needed with 10, five, or three minutes remaining. “We practice for when the going gets tough, so we know what it takes to be successful in those situations,” one of the United’s assistant coaches told us.

United practice sessions focused on repetition of skills and tactics. “We look at the training sessions as opportunities to learn and improve,” Ferguson said. “Sometimes the players might think, ‘Here we go again,’ but it helps us win.” There appears to be more  to this approach than just the common belief that winning teams are rooted in habits-that they can execute certain plays almost automatically. There is also an underlying signal that you are never quite satisfied with where you are and are constantly looking for ways to improve. This is how Ferguson put it: “The message is simple: We cannot sit still at this club.”

I think all my teams had perseverance-they never gave in. So I didn’t really need to worry about getting that message across. It’s a fantastic characteristic to have, and it is amazing to see what can happen in the dying seconds of a match.

One of the things I’ve done well over the years is manage change. I believe that you control change by accepting it. That also means having confidence in the people you hire. The minute staff members are employed, you have to trust that they are doing their jobs. If you micromanage and tell people what to do, there is no point in hiring them. The most important thing is to not stagnate. I said to David Gill a few years ago, “The only way we can keep players at Manchester United is if we have the best training ground in Europe.” That is when we kick-started the medical center. We can’t sit still.

ANTHONY GRANT 5 V's OF SUCCESS

What are your Values: You determine your values before you determine your vision.

What is your Vision: Set by the leader. Inspire, Influence, Impact the lives of your players.

“I can help you achieve by making you do things you don’t want to do.”

What are your Virtues: We have to know strengths of team and coaching staff. Players want to know are you competent, sincere, trustworthy, reliable.

What Vehicles do we employ? Where do you want to go? How do you develop the people in your organization? How do you add people to your organization?

What are our Vices? What are we going to have to overcome.

THE SECRET OF NICK SABAN

The following is an excerpt from an article in GQ written by Warren St. John:

Saban's guiding vision is something he calls "the process," a philosophy that emphasizes preparation and hard work over consideration of outcomes or results. Barrett Jones, an offensive lineman on all three of Saban's national championship teams at Alabama and now a rookie with the St. Louis Rams, explains the process this way: "It's not what you do, it's how you do it."

Taken to an extreme—which is where Saban takes it—the process has evolved into an exhausting quest to improve, to attain the ideal of "right is never wrong." At Alabama, Saban obsesses over every aspect of preparation, from how the players dress at practice—no hats, earrings, or tank tops are allowed in the football facility—to how they hold their upper bodies when they run sprints. "When you're running and you're exhausted you really want to bend over," Jones says. "They won't let you. 'You must resist the human need to bend over!'"

Sometimes players learn about Saban's arcane preparation only when they encounter the external factor it is intended to control. During a lightning delay in the second quarter of the 2012 Alabama-Missouri game, Tide players jogged back to their locker room to find dry shoes, chairs arranged by position, and coaches ready with teaching material to keep them occupied during the break. A coach might go his entire career without experiencing a weather delay, but Saban was ready. His players dubbed it "the lightning audible."

Jones says that while all the talk of "the process" can sometimes seem mysterious—the cultic manifesto of that demonic head coach—it's actually quite straightforward.

"He pretty much tells everybody what our philosophy is, but not everyone has the discipline to actually live out that philosophy," Jones says. "The secret of Nick Saban is, there is no secret."