When we see someone who has incredible success, we quickly assume that they possess gifts or talents far beyond our own. As humans, we gravitate towards complexity and mysteries.

For the University of Alabama, 2021 began with head coach Nick Saban delivering its sixth national title. A dominating performance in one of the most competitive industries: division one college football.

There are many dynamics a head coach has to deal with. Chief among them are unrealistic expectations and pressure from boosters and fans, constantly rotating coaching staff, and the task of developing a squad of 18-year-old men into responsible adults.

How does he do it? And, crucially, what lessons can we learn and apply in our own situations? After studying Nick Saban’s methods and reading articles and books about him, I believe there are three secrets to his success.

Focus on the lead measure

The lead measure in college football is recruiting. And Nick knows this better than anyone. In his book, “Saban: The Making of a Coach,” Monte Burke recounts an exchange Saban had in 2007 with athletic director, Mal Moore, just moments after he hired him from the Miami Dolphins.

“‘Mal, let me ask you something,’ Saban said. ‘Do you think you’ve hired the best coach in the country?’

Moore was a bit taken aback by the question, not exactly sure where it was heading. ‘Why Nick of course I do,’ he said, while thinking to himself: For four million dollars a year, I sure as hell hope so.

‘Well, you didn’t. I’m nothing without my players,’ Saban said, locking eyes with Moore. ‘But you did just hire a helluva recruiter.’”

Where did Saban learn these skills? At his father’s knee. From the age of 10, he was recruiting players for his dad’s Pop Warner football team with lines like, “It will prepare you for high school,” and “We have cheerleaders and ice cream.”

This recruiting success has been visible throughout his entire college career and there are numerous examples. Frank Cignetti, the West Virginia head coach for whom Nick worked in 1978, recalled “Where Saban helped the most was off the field in recruiting.” In 1980, while Saban was on staff at Ohio State, he demonstrated his ability to be not only likable and a good listener, but also a closer of top talent for the university. And on being appointed head coach at Louisiana State University (LSU), one of Nick’s immediate goals was to “build a wall around the state” and keep the top talent at home to play for the Tigers. Within his second year, he was pulling in players that would help him win his first national championship as head coach.

Nick Saban knows the first step in winning college football games is finding top talent. He doesn’t focus on winning; he focuses on recruiting.

So, what lead measures can you focus on?

Want more sales?

  •  Measure the quality of sales conversations you have on a weekly basis.

Want to lose weight?

  •  Measure your daily intake of calories or your weekly training sessions.

Selecting a lead measure to focus on improves your chances of success. It is all too easy to become overwhelmed by the complexity of your goals, and the constant pressure we put on ourselves measuring where we are compared with where we want to be is distracting.

2. Focus on “Process Thinking”

I know, this sounds boring. Who wants to focus on the daily grind? Isn’t it much more attractive to dream about your goals?

Saban first introduced process thinking to his team while head coach at Michigan State. He came across a psychiatry professor named Lionel “Lonny” Rosen who helped Saban and his players focus on one thing at a time.

The concept is to focus on what can immediately be done and let go of the outcome. By focusing on the process, the outcome will take care of itself.

With Saban and Lonny, the goal was to get the players to a high level of focus for each play. Having the players focus for seven seconds — the average time of a play — and focusing on each quarter, paid off.

This approach was on display when Nick’s Michigan State team took down a top-ranked Ohio State team. Even though they were down at the half, Nick nor his players showed any sign of concern. They came out focused on each play and eventually won the game.

Saban still continues to focus on the “process”. During the football season, reporters will try to bait him with questions about Alabama’s title hopes. Nick always finds a way not to answer, but instead steer the conversation right back to his next opponent.

What would happen if you started to “let go” of the result and increased your focus on the process?

Chances are that you would get to your goal faster. This type of thinking is similar to “deliberate practice,” where you think about what you are doing, analyze and record your progress, and constantly look for ways to improve.

To have more of a process approach start to see things as a process and not a result. You can apply this to almost any situation. For example, after a storm, I go into my backyard to pick up debris. Normally, I just do it. Recently, I caught myself thinking about the process, where I would start and the most effective path around the yard. I find that process thinking makes for better decisions.

3. Success is an inclined treadmill, not a mountain top

Moments after Nick Saban won his first national championship game, he called in his starting quarterback Matt Mauck and star wide receiver Michael Clayton to ask them what they were going to do next year. (There is something to be said about enjoying success and from what I’ve observed Nick’s gotten better at this.) This may seem way too soon to think about the future, but for Nick, he doesn’t see success the way most people do. He sees it as ongoing. Typically 24 hours after winning the national championship, Nick is back on the recruiting trail. That is one of the reasons he’s had the #1 recruiting class since 2008, he is relentless.

In addition, he views each year as a clean slate. What his team did the previous year is in the past, and now he is starting all over again.

How many of us have had success in some area of our life, got comfortable and complacent, and then stopped doing all the things that got us there? And then we wonder what happened. To achieve continual success, we must combat the daily thoughts of our past accomplishments.

Something I often reflect on before every professional speaking engagement is, “Eric, no one cares how good your last program was. They care about what you can do for them right now.”

If we can start to view success as an experience and not a goal, we may experience it more often.

by Eric Papp

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