WHAT ELITE-LEVEL LEADERSHIP LOOKS LIKE
This week another college football season wrapped up as Georgia defeated Alabama 33-18 to capture their first national championship in more than 40 years. Though Georgia spent most of the season as the top-ranked team in the country, their championship win still came as a surprise to many. One reason is because Alabama had already beaten Georgia once this season only a few weeks before.
Another reason Georgia’s victory surprised many is because Nick Saban is the coach at Alabama, and it seems all Nick Saban does is win championships. He’s won more than anyone in the history of college football. His program’s success and his coaching philosophy have become a model that many others have tried to learn from and emulate. This year his team came up short, and yet - ironically, even in defeat - Saban still had something to teach us.
In the aftermath of his team’s loss, Saban and his two star players, quarterback Bryce Young and linebacker Will Anderson - both All-Americans - met with the media. As the players solemnly wrapped up their interview and prepared to leave, their disappointment was obvious. They had failed to achieve their most meaningful goal. As they stood to go, Coach Saban interrupted their departure. He had something he wanted to say - something he wanted his star players to hear. It’s something each of us working to become our best as leaders need to hear today, too. It’s another glimpse into what makes Coach Saban and his program so special. It’s what elite-level leadership looks like.
Most people would describe Nick Saban’s leadership style as extremely demanding. That’s usually what we see from him, and for anyone trying to learn from him, that seems like the most obvious takeaway. It comes through in everything he does. Set your standards high and keep them there. Don’t tolerate mediocrity. Never be satisfied. Those are the qualities you could argue make him a great coach, and the qualities to which we most often attribute his success.
But this postgame press conference moment offers us some deeper insight into what really makes Nick Saban an elite-level leader. We regularly see his high standard of performance and his low tolerance for mediocrity. We see his temper when things aren’t done the right way, and we see his commitment to toughness and accountability. He is hard on his players. What we don’t see as often is that all those things are built on a foundation of love and respect and appreciation for who his players are and for what they do. We don’t see the commitment Saban’s made to making sure his players see and feel that love and respect and appreciation. But there in the aftermath of his team’s disappointing performance, it came to the surface.
In that moment, Coach Saban had the perspective and the awareness to identify an important opportunity. He didn’t just want to make sure he told the world how much he appreciated his players. He wanted them to hear him tell the world how much he appreciated them. There’s a powerful distinction there. It was an unscripted, authentic moment that clarifies what elite-level leadership looks like and the strong connection it creates.
When you hear people say Alabama’s players would run through a brick wall for their coach, it’d be easy to point to things like his high standard of performance and low tolerance for mediocrity. And don’t get me wrong, that’s an important part of the formula. But that’s not the whole formula. It’s this, too - this genuine love and respect and appreciation that may not be obvious publicly, but I guarantee is an important part of the relationship between Coach Saban and his players. It’s what elite-level leadership looks like: push ‘em hard and love ‘em harder.
It’s a popular saying that “success leaves footprints,” and that’s true. There’s a lot we can learn from observing how champions choose to behave, ironically even in their moments of failure. Who Coach Saban is and how he leads his team here validates that we need the perspective and the awareness, even in and maybe especially in those moments of disappointment or failure, to recognize those opportunities when our connection with them can be strengthened, both as players and as people. We need to keep in mind that sometimes we don’t just need to tell the world how much we appreciate our kids. Sometimes we need to make sure they hear us tell the world how much we appreciate them.
The truth is, we need to establish with our kids a high standard of performance and a low tolerance for mediocrity. But we also need to make sure those things are built on a foundation of love and respect and appreciation for who they are and what they do. We need to keep learning from elite-level leaders like Nick Saban, and clarifying that bringing out the best in our kids requires us to push ‘em hard...and to love ‘em harder.