On January 9, 2023, the Georgia Bulldogs steamrolled the TCU Horned Frogs by a score of 65-7 to win their second consecutive national championship. Afterwards, ESPN’s Rece Davis interviewed Georgia’s head coach Kirby Smart. The video of their time together is shown below.
What I take most from Coach Smart are his intentionality, intensity, and focus. He comes across like ancient military leaders whose sole aim was world domination. While certainly not at that scale, the Georgia Bulldogs are not going anywhere anytime soon and are going to be a force to be reckoned with for years to come.
The following are 16 practices of organizations with sustained success I gleaned from the interview above. First is the lesson followed by Coach Smart’s quote.
- Organizations With Sustained Success Share Credit – “A lot of credit goes to a lot of people.”
- Organizations With Sustained Success Celebrate With Others – “I’m so happy for the University of Georgia.”
- Organizations With Sustained Success Elevate The Team Above The Individual – “This whole team was really special. Sell the team. The team is bigger than any individual.”
- Organizations With Sustained Success Identify And Unleash Talented Individuals – “They’ll always say that person is the exception. He (Stetson Bennett) is the exception. … There is no next Stetson Bennett. He is the exception.”
- Organizations With Sustained Success Don’t Happen By Accident – “We’re not stopping. We’re built to sustain. We want to continue success.”
- Organizations With Sustained Success Have Good Cultures – “We’re going to continue success because we have a really good culture and good fanbase.”
- Organizations With Sustained Success Are Resilient – “They were hunting us this year. TCU didn’t have the burden of having people hunt them during the year.”
- Organizations With Sustained Success Are Firm In Their Convictions – “We’re not going to be the hunted.”
- Organizations With Sustained Success Don’t Run From Challenges – “I’m humble enough to know humility is a week away but we will not be hunted. They can come at us all they want but we’re going to come right back.”
- Organizations With Sustained Success Are Aggressive – “It means aggression. If we’re aggressive, then we’re not being hunted. We’re on the attack. We’re on the prowl. We’re trying to be the lion in the jungle that wants to be the King of the Jungle.”
- Organizations With Sustained Success Have Work Ethics They Believe In – “There’s only one way to do that and it’s not on Saturdays, it’s not on TV, it’s everyday. It’s a work ethic that you got to believe in.”
- Organizations With Sustained Success Are Acutely Aware Of Threats – “We spend a lot of time explaining how the mighty fall. “
- Organizations With Sustained Success Are Humble – “The mighty fall because of not having humility”
- Organizations With Sustained Success Are Present – “(The mighty fall because of) not being where your feet are”
- Organizations With Sustained Success Have High Trust – “(The mighty fall because of) not believing in what got you there”
- Organizations With Sustained Success Are Coachable – “(The mighty fall because of) not being coachable.”
What leadership lessons did you take from Coach Smart’s words?
To learn more about the Georgia Bulldogs and their head coach Kirby Smart click the following articles:
- 3 Lessons From UGA Head Coach Kirby Smart’s Surprising Post-Game Comments
- 10 Things Elite Teams Do – Leadership Lessons From National Champion Head Coach Kirby Smart
- 7 Inspirational Leadership Lessons From Georgia Bulldogs Quarterback Stetson Bennett IV
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