Nick Saban talking about what are the two most compelling words on any #NFLDraft report… “And” & “But” pic.twitter.com/Pu1k9OS3Ow
— James Light (@JamesALight) April 25, 2021
“People are looking for reasons not to pick you. They’re looking for reasons not to hire you. So don’t give anyone a reason to say, ‘BUT.’ That’s the only way you can create value for yourself.” – Alabama Crimson Tide Head Coach Nick Saban
Most decisions made about your career are made when you are not in the room. Think about it. You were not there when someone in the Admissions Office approved your application to college. You were not in the room when it was decided you would be promoted, or given a salary increase, or retained during a time of layoffs and cutbacks.
Therefore, since you are not in these rooms, you will need advocates in the room and will say nice things about you to others.
Coach Nick Saban needs no introduction to anyone who is interested in leadership. With the NFL Draft taking place later this week, he gives us in the above-video a two-minute masterclass on how leaders can create value for themselves. He knows his players are being talked about right now in NFL rooms they are not in and teaches them how they can maximize their value.
Coach Saban puts players (and leaders for that matter) into one of two categories: And People or But People. To understand what this means, watch the video and read the notes below.
- “I spent eight years in the NFL so I sat through eight Drafts.”
- “I tell our players all the time the two most compelling words in the Draft report is ‘AND’ and ‘BUT.'”
- “AND he’s a good person. He was a leader on the team. He graduated from school. The coaches loved him.”
- “BUT he had a positive drug test. He had a domestic violence incident with his girlfriend. He got in a fight in the bar when he was a freshman. The strength coach said he wouldn’t piss on him if he was on fire.”
- “Who do you want on your team – AND or BUT!!??”
- “You don’t realize as soon as you apply for a job, as soon as you put your name in for the Draft, people are looking for reasons not to pick you. They’re looking for reasons not to hire you. So don’t give anyone a reason to say, ‘BUT.’ That’s the only way you can create value for yourself.”
- “The AND and BUT had nothing to do with the player but had a significant impact on where the player got picked (in the NFL Draft).”
- “How do I create value for myself?… I might have to edit my behavior a little bit.”
So the question is obvious – Are you an AND Leader or a BUT Leader? For additional thoughts on this year’s NFL Draft, click Bill Polian’s Philosophy On The NFL Draft, Drafting Quarterbacks, and 4 Psychological Traits Players Must Have which I posted last week.
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!