What Is The Difference Between Winning Organizations And Losing Ones?

Everyone wants to be part of a winning organization.  You want to be part of a church that is winning.  You want to be part of business that is winning.  Same with a non-profit, educational or athletic organization.  No one wants to be part of a culture of defeat.  No one wants to be a loser.

This past fall I really enjoyed the commentary of Mike Lombardi while he was part of Fox Sports.  If you are unfamiliar with Mike, he is to my knowledge, the only person who has worked for each of these football legends – Bill Belichick, Bill Parcells, Bill Walsh, and Al Davis.  In fact, he is currently writing a book on lessons learned from each.  I will pre-order it the first day available.  You can follow Mike on Twitter by clicking HERE.

The following is the wisdom of Mike Lombardi as he discusses The Difference Between Winning Organizations And Losing Ones.  Though he is talking in context of football, you will see the leadership principles apply to any church, business, or non-profit as well.

• The best time to draft a quarterback is when you have a quarterback.
• Everything about a quarterback is eye-level.  Where are your eyes looking?  Defensive line is down.  Your eye-level must be up the field and see the receivers.
• Look at YPA (yards per attempt).  You’re looking at throwing the ball down the field.
• Teams in the playoffs are in the 7’s at YPA.  That’s how you evaluate quarterbacks.

• You can’t rely on players.  You rely on plays.
• A good head coach embraces confrontation.
• Fear does the work of reason in the NFL.  They have to fear they’re going to lose their job.
• Complimentary football is the critical component in winning a Super Bowl.
• (Jimmy) Garoppolo is blue chip because he had time to develop.

• You scout from the inside out, not the outside in.  You know what you’re looking for.  You put an overlay over the player.
• The most important thing about scouting is not finding players, it’s eliminating players.  Do they fit our criteria?
• We are not in the talent collection business.  We’re in the team building business.
• Bill Belichick’s definition of mental toughness – You do what’s in the best interest of the team when it’s not in the best business of you.
• Sustainable values vs. Situational values.  What’s good for me vs. the team to be good long after you’re gone.  You have to look past the moment.
• Charlie Munger Inversion Technique – Instead of telling your team how to win, tell them first how to not lose.  Avoid losing first so you can setup your team to win.
• Bill Walsh said, “We’re only competing against eight teams.”

• The worst place to be as a quarterback in the NFL is when you are good.  Because when you are good you will make excuses.  When you are bad, you will go out and get replacements.
• Anticipation.  Only the great ones have it.
• There’s design and production.  When they don’t meet you have a bad team.
• Organizationally, the culture inside the building wins.

• They don’t build monuments to committees.

• Players only respect knowledge, not age.
• When strength goes against strength, the home team always has an advantage.
• If you play a Thursday game you work on that game plan in the offseason.

• It’s (the NFL) a business.  Players know it’s a business.  When you go into a locker room, they don’t read the sports page.  They’re reading the business page.
• You can deal with a contract.  You can’t deal with an unhappy player whose getting his play time cut back in a contract year.

• Promote your offensive coordinator and get worse in two spots.  They’re not as good an offensive coach and they’re not a good head coach.
• When you (as a player) talk to the media, you talk to three people.  You’re talking to your owner.  You’re talking to your fans.  And you’re talking to your team.

• The first rule of being a head coach, it’s called The Law of Aversion.  It means we have to eliminate losing before we can win.
• It’s one thing about being aggressive.  It’s another to be cautiously aggressive.

• The coach is the most important person in the organization when it comes to football.
• The best way to make a trade is when people come to you asking for a trade.
• The NFL has to be a paramilitary organization.  The head coach has to be the central theme.

• “The secret to all victory lies in the organization of the non-obvious.” – Marcus Aerillius
• You can’t see mental toughness.
• They (Seattle Seahawks) know who they are.  They scout inside out and he (Pete Carroll) has a philosophy.  It doesn’t change.

• When you’re rewarded with the MVP you have to get better.

• Few guys can coach the quarterback.  Even fewer can evaluate them.
• His (Dak Prescott) ability to lead is he’s conscientious and detailed.
• You get your leadership of your football team through your quarterback.
• It’s an instinctive position (quarterback).  When your mom takes you from the crib you either have it or you don’t.  It’s a crib thing.  You see things on the field no one else can see.
• You can’t play cautiously.  You gotta try to win the game.
• The only way to win is to keep scoring.
• Great players make plays.
• The quarterback is the great deodorant for all the team’s problems.
• “To improve is to change.  To be perfect is to change often.” – Winston Churchill
• There is a difference between being creative and being divergent.

• Sacks are relationship to coverage.  Pressure is a relationship to turnovers.  You want turnovers.
• You don’t react to people after big losses or big wins.
• When you start with a false beginning, you start collecting data to support your false beginning.  It’s completely erroneous.
• Grade what you see.
• You have production and design.  Once you figure out the design, you can produce around it.
• The only way to evaluate any coach is each week when a problem comes up, does it get solved the next week.
• Coaches’ jobs are to solve problems.
• Head coaches are elected in this league.  They’re not selected.
• Everybody is a scout.  Everybody is Sherlock Holmes.  Everybody is looking for that one clue which gives them insight into something.

What is one thing you learned from Mike which will make you a better leader?

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