16 Lessons From Kobe Bryant’s Visit With Nick Saban And Their Message For Young Leaders

In my new book Timeless: 10 Enduring Practices Of Apex Leaders, two of the individuals I profile are the legendary Nick Saban, head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide, and future Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant.  Recently, Bryant visited the Tuscaloosa campus to speak with Coach Saban and the team’s players.  A video is shown of their time together.

As expected, leadership literally oozed from their time together.  Their insights, particularly for the next generation, are transformative.

The following are 16 Lessons From Kobe Bryant’s Visit With Nick Saban And Their Message For Young Leaders.  Also, if you have not picked up your copy of Timeless yet, click HERE and learn even more from these two Apex Leaders.

1. Leaders Want To Learn From Other Successful Leaders – “I’ve been impressed, Kobe’s kind of in a league of his own, but how many high-level, big-time names want to come here.” – Assistant Athletic Director Ellis Ponder
2. Great Leaders Have Great Influence – “If you’re calling on behalf of Nick Saban, you can just about get anything done you need done.” – Ponder
3. Great Leaders Are Great Teachers – “He’s a teacher.” – Bryant on Saban
4. Great Leaders Challenge Their Teams To Reach Their Full Potential – “He’s going to challenge his guys to hit their full potential.” – Bryant
5. Success Is A Grind – “It’s a grind and it has to be that way and that’s what I’ve always admired about Nick Saban from afar.” – Bryant
6. Successful Leaders Edit Their Life – “What I’ve always found helpful, particularly when the season starts, is to edit your life.” – Bryant to the players
7. Successful Leaders Are Ruthless Self-Evaluators – “What’s important to you?  When you do that exercise with yourself things become clear rather quickly.” – Bryant
8. Great Leaders Are Great Listeners – “Hearing you speak today about your mentality as a player” – Saban to Bryant
9. Confidence Comes From Work Ethic And Perseverance – “Your work ethic, your perseverance, gave you the confidence to be the kind of player that you were.” – Saban
10. Talent Is Not Enough.  EVERY Great Leader Has A Strong Work Ethic And Perseverance – “Every great player I ever met, they all have that.  They all have talent but they have that.” – Saban
11. Successful Leaders Love The Daily Grind – “The process.  Loving the process, loving the daily grind of it.” – Bryant
12. Many Young Leaders Want The Gain Without The Pain – “This generation seems to be really concerned with the end result of things vs. understanding and appreciating the journey to get there which is the most important thing.” – Bryant
13. Failure Is Part Of The Leadership Journey.  Great Leaders Know How To Embrace And Leverage It. – “The trials and tribulations that come along with it, you have successes.  You have failures but it’s all part of the end game.” – Bryant
14. Many Young Leaders Quit Too Easily – “What I see a lot of times from young players is they’ll try.  They’ll push.  But when they get hit with some adversity, ‘Nah, I’ll do something else.'” – Bryant
15. Many Young Leaders Quit Too Early – “Stay with it.  A lot of guys give up on it because it’s not happening now.” – Bryant
16. Everyone Wants The Perks Of Leadership But Few Are Willing To Pay The Price Of Leadership – “Everybody wants to be the beast but not everybody wants to do what the beast does.” – Saban

What is one thing you learned from these two Apex Leaders which will make you a better leader?

To receive more leadership insights from Coach Saban, click HERE or on the image to the left for my new ebook The Leadership Of Nick Saban: Timeless Truths From The Incomparable Head Coach Of The Alabama Crimson Tide.  Enjoy!