Do you want to be part of a great church? Or great business? Or great team? We all do. We are not called to a life that is average or ordinary. We were made to strive for excellence.
With that in mind, wouldn’t it be great to play for the defending champion Alabama Crimson Tide and head coach Nick Saban. Today, Coach Saban appeared on ESPN College Gameday and discussed how Alabama continues to perform at such a high level. To demonstrate their dominance, only 1 team has been within 10 points of the Tide going into the 4th quarter of the last 20 games.
The following are 5 Keys To Superior Performance we learn from Coach Saban’s comments that all leaders, regardless of your area of discipline, can learn from:
- Evaluated Experience – “You can only learn from the experiences that you have.”
- Finish Well – “Winning the 4th quarter is the most important thing you can do.”
- Consistency – “There’s no scoreboard for us as a team. We’re trying to play at OUR best all of the time…It’s consistency that we’re looking for for 60 minutes.”
- Accountability – “Everybody works at their standard. And everybody understands the recipe or formula for what they need to do. Everybody’s got to be responsible for bringing their ‘A’ game.”
- Correct Thinking – “Keeping the mental edge with these guys, everybody trying to be all they can be and staying focused on the formula for what every individual player needs to do to be that, is the key.”
Let’s contrast this with the under-achieving Texas Longhorns. The Longhorns, with one Top-5 recruiting class after another, are currently 102nd in the nation on defense allowing 449.7 yards per game. This statistic includes giving up the most yards as a team in over 20 years last week to Oklahoma. Opposing teams have scored 111 points against them in the last two weeks alone.
Here are quotes about that program:
- Focus On Your Strengths – “If you’re a defensive coordinator, you’ve got to stop something…You can’t be terrible against the run AND terrible against the pass.” – David Pollack
- Do Not Be Reckless – “That Texas defensive is taking way too many chances.” – Kirk Herbstreit
- Develop Leaders – “Where are the alphas on this team?…Where’s the leadership? Where are the guys who care?” – Herbstreit
Lee Corso, quoting former coach Paul Brown, said “Half of knowledge is knowing where to find it.” Maybe Texas should look to Alabama for answers. Maybe we all should.
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