Coach Prime
Jackson State University head football coach Deion Sanders, known as Coach Prime, has changed the culture of this Historic Black College’s football program. So much so that ESPN’s College Gameday was hosted on the Jackson, MS campus today.
One of Coach Prime’s strengths is his superlative motivational and communication skills which you can see in the video above. Four of his most impactful quotes were the following:
- “The one thing a coach really wants to have is a team full of men who love the game.”
- “Whatever you’re giving is going to require sacrifice. What are you sacrificing?”
- “The sacrifice needs to be greater than the gift.”
- “90% of you are not going pro whether you believe it or not… So I’ve got to prepare you for life. I’ve got to spend more time on the life part than the pro part.”
But what resonated with me most was when he communicated what he needed from each young man for the team to dominate their opponent that week. Great leaders are always calling out the best in their teams and expecting them to go to the next level.
12 Things Leaders Must Demand From Their Teams To Be Successful
The following are 12 Things Leaders Must Demand From Their Teams To Be Successful as asked for by Coach Prime. First is the principle followed by the quote and supporting comments.
- You Need To Be Rested And Fully-Recovered – “I need you to get seven-to-eight hours of sleep from here on out every night.” Pro tip – Be in bed every night by 10:00 PM.
- You Need To Eliminate The Relationships, Hobbies, Activities, and Habits Which Prevent Success – “I need you to eliminate distractions.” The most successful people have learned how to edit their life.
- You Need To Prepare – “I need you to show up prepared.” You will either prepare or repair.
- You Need To Be Consistent – “I need you to be consistent.” Consistency is the defining characteristic of excellence. For more on the topic of consistency, click A Leader’s Truest Measurement Of Performance.
- You Need To Know Your Job – “I need you to know your job”. You need to have mastered your craft or at the very least, mastered its fundamentals.
- You Need To Do Your Job – “and do your job.” This speaks to execution and acting upon what you have mastered.
- You Need To Have Passion – “I need you to play with passion”. You must own the result.
- You Need To Have Purpose – “purpose”. There must be intentionality to all you do.
- You Need To Have Love – “and love.” You must have a deep affection for your task or assignment.
- You Need To Empty Yourself – “I need you to empty yourself. I want you to leave with nothing left. I don’t know how some of you can party after a game.” You should leave it all on the field. Giving 90% effort is 10% short.
- You Need To Self-Evaluate – “I need you to look in that mirror after the game and honestly ask yourself did you give it everything you got and did you do your best.” You should have higher expectations on yourself than anyone else does.
- You Need To Start Today – “But don’t start that on Saturday, start that today in practice.” Success is a daily thing.
What is one thing you need to start doing TODAY to help your team become more successful?
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