On Halloween day later this year, Nick Saban, the legendary head football coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide, will celebrate his 70th birthday.  He has had quite a 26-year coaching career.  The following are just a list of his numerous accomplishments:

  • 7 national championships
  • 9 Southeastern Conference championships
  • numerous Coach of the Year awards
  • 261-65-1 overall college record (.800)
  • 170-23 record at Alabama (.881)
  • After 6 players were selected in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft, Coach Saban has coached 39 first rounders while at Alabama… and counting.  Overall, he has coached 44 first rounders.  For more on this, click Nick Saban’s 2 Most Important Words You Need To Know About Creating Value For Yourself.

Probably most importantly, on December 18th Coach Saban will celebrate his 50th anniversary to Ms. Terry.  Well done!

Coach Saban is clearly a success on and off the field.

But there is something Nick Saban fears.

On July 20th, Coach Saban was the keynote speaker at the 89th annual Texas High School Coaches Association convention.  As reported in this article written by The Athletic’s Sam Kahn, Jr., Coach Saban said “I played second base in Little League when I was 9 years old.  I’ve been a part of a team since I was 9 years old.  That’s 60 years I’ve been a part of a team.  I am scared to death of when I’m not going to be a part of a team.”

To give you some insight into his thoughts, Coach Saban added, “I want to be a part of a team.  It’s a great experience to try to get people to work together, get people to buy into the principles and values of your organization, and to each other, and to the standard that you have to get them to do it so that they can have success, so that together they can have success.  It’s a great challenge.  I enjoy it.”

From his comments we glean 8 reasons Nick Saban is “scared to death” of not being part of a winning team:

  1. On Winning Teams You Are Not Alone, People Work Together. “It’s a great experience to try to get people to work together”
  2. Winning Teams Have A Systems Of Beliefs – “get people to buy into the principles”
  3. Winning Teams Have Standards Of Behavior – “and values of your organization”
  4. On Winning Teams People Are Accountable To Each Other – “and to each other”
  5. On Winning Teams You Can Experience Individual Success – “and to the standard that you have to get them to do it so that they can have success”
  6. More Importantly, On Winning Teams You Can Experience Collective Success – “so that together they can have success.”
  7. On Winning Teams You Learn Resilience And How To Overcome Adversity – “It’s a great challenge.”
  8. It Is A Joy To Be A Part Of A Winning Team – “I enjoy it.”

Now you know why Nick Saban would miss being part of a team.

To get a deep-dive on the wisdom of Coach Saban click Free Ebook On The Coaching Brilliance Of Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban.

The Top 60 Leadership Quotes From 2021 Part 1 is my latest ebook.  For many entering a post-pandemic environment, leadership looks completely different than the pre-pandemic world.  People are more broken now. They are more uncertain. Fear and anxiousness are unwelcome constant companions. Cultures are more unhealthy. Relationships are more dysfunctional.  Hope seems to be in short supply.  Every day seems to bring a new hacking, natural disaster, or unexpected calamity.

Therefore, the fundamentals of leadership are more important than ever. The quotes in this book deal with the basics of leadership.  If you want to be the best leader you can possibly be, click HERE or on the image provided to download this FREE resource.  The lessons learned from last year, if applied, will sustain you for years to come.

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