How to Build a Dynasty using the Lessons from Built to Last
How to Build and Maintain a Dynasty Like Good to Great, Collins' Built to Last studies some of America's most dominant businesses including 3M, Sony, Wal-Mart, General Electric, Hewlett-Packard, Nordstrom, Disney, Johnson & Johnson, Marriott, and others. This would be akin to studying the New York Yankees, the Los Angeles Lakers, North Carolina women's soccer, Duke men's basketball, UCLA men's volleyball, and Nebraska football. Collins research highlights several keys to business success that you can easily adapt to your program. Simply substitute the words "successful team" for "visionary company," "coach" for "manager," and "athletes" for "employees." As you read about the key points, take a moment to evaluate the status of your program on each of them.
1. Clock Building, Not Time Telling
Business - Collins writes: "Having a great idea or being a charismatic visionary leader is 'time telling;' Building a company that can prosper far beyond the presence of any single leader... is 'clock building.' The builders of visionary companies primary output of their efforts is not the tangible implementation of a great idea, the expression of a charismatic personality, the gratification of their ego, or the accumulation of wealth. Their greatest creation is the company itself and what it stands for." Sports: Top coaches continually look to build a self-sustaining program. The success of the program is paramount and always takes precedence over individual goals - even those of the coach. Thus, for successful coaches, its not all about them - their record, their fame, their salary, their endorsements, their ego. Instead, it is about building a consistent, winning program that stands the test of time. In the words of Rick Pitino, "To be a truly great leader you must give of yourself. You can't be selfish. You must convey a vision of partnership, that you not only care about the people who work for you, but that it's important that they're successful too. It can't just be about you, your career, your success."
2. More Than Profits
Business - Collins writes: "Contrary to business school doctrine, we did not find 'maximizing shareholder wealth' or 'profit maximization' as the dominant driving force or primary objective through the history of most of the visionary companies. Indeed, for many of the visionary companies, business has historically been more than an economic activity, more than just a way to make money. Through the history of most of the visionary companies we saw a core ideology that transcended purely economical considerations." Sports: As we found in our interviews with highly successful coaches for the Seven Secrets book, wins are not the only, nor most important criteria that successful coaches use to judge their effectiveness. Coach K from Duke said "Your definition of success should have more depth than the equivalent of winning a national championship." Arizona softball coach Mike Candrea added, "Rings don't mean that you are a champion. It's that kid ten years from now who calls you up and says, 'You know what? You were very special in my life.' That's what it is all about." Thus, to build a highly successful program, be careful not to get consumed by the wins and losses, even though those are the traditional measures of a coach's success. If you recruit quality people to your program, show them that you care about them, treat them with respect, and create an environment which challenges them to grow in all aspects of their life, you will not only win games, but also your athletes' respect.
3. Preserve the Core/Stimulate Progress
Business - Collins writes: "A company can have the world's most deeply cherished and meaningful core ideology, but if it just sits still or refuses to change, the world will pass it by. A visionary company preserves and protects its core ideology, yet all the specific manifestations of its core ideology must be open for change and evolution. Like a persistent and incurable itch, the drive for progress in a highly visionary company can never be satisfied under any conditions, even if the company succeeds enormously: "We can always do better; we can always go further; we can always find new possibilities." Sports: What is your program all about? What are the core foundations and values that your program stands for? This is what Collins means by "Preserving the Core." You must know what you value as a coach so that these values can form the basis of your program and guide all of the decisions you must make in terms of recruiting, selecting coaches and support staff, playing time, team discipline, academics, etc. Great coaches and team leaders constantly remind the team members about the standards necessary for success. While you must identify and preserve your core, you also must seek to evolve, adapt, and improve, or "Stimulate Progress" as Collins calls it. Again our interviews with successful coaches confirmed their inquisitiveness and need to innovate. Successful coaches continually look for little ways to improve by attending clinics, reading books, and talking with colleagues. They don't rest on their laurels or ever believe that they know it all. As five-time national champion and veteran Indiana men's soccer coach Jerry Yeagley says, "When you think you have all the answers and you have it all figured out - that's when you are in trouble. You always have to be open for new ideas and be open to people's recommendations or suggestions."
4. Big Hairy Audacious Goals
Business - Collins writes: "A true Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG) is clear and compelling and serves as a unifying focal point of effort - often creating immense team spirit. It has a clear finish line, so the organization can know when it has achieved the goal, people like to shoot for finish lines. A BHAG engages people - it reaches out and grabs them in the gut. It is tangible, energizing, highly focused. People 'get it' right away. For example, General Electric's BHAG was to become #1 or #2 in every market we serve." Sports: One of the best ways to motivate and unify your team is to involve them in creating a challenging and compelling goal for each season - this is what Collins refers to as a Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG). This goal provides meaning, focus, challenge, and excitement to your season. A BHAG appeals to every person's desire to do something special, to leave a legacy, to be remembered for accomplishing something that tested them to their limits. This is what creating a BHAG is all about. In my book Championship Team Building, I encourage coaches and athletes to invest the time to create an overall mission (BHAG) for the season. This BHAG must engage the hearts and minds of the athletes and coaches on the team. It must be highly challenging, but at the same time within the team's grasp - provided that they maximize their potential." For example, UConn women's basketball was highly motivated to be one of only four NCAA teams to win a championship and have an undefeated season. By creating a BHAG for your team, you give them a meaningful and mutually agreed upon focal point to motivate and rally them throughout the season. What is your team's BHAG?
5. Cult-like Cultures
Business - Collins writes: "Because the visionary companies have such clarity about who they are, what they're all about, and what they're trying to achieve, they tend to not have much room for people unwilling or unsuited to their demanding standards. [Visionary companies are cult-like in that] they indoctrinate people, impose tightness of fit, and create a sense of belonging to something special. We learned that you don't need to create a "soft" or "comfortable" environment to build a visionary company. We found that the visionary companies tend to be more demanding of their people than other companies, both in terms of performance and congruence with the ideology." Sports: The members of great sports teams have a cult-like reverence for their programs. The North Carolina men's basketball program is a great example. Current and former Carolina players and staff have a cult-like allegiance to their program and each other. They look out for each other and are willing to help out a fellow Carolina alum whether they know him or not. Much of this special allegiance is modeled by Coach Williams and Coach Smith who continue to do a lot for any one who was associated with the Carolina program. Further, successful teams demand the best from their members. They don't tolerate mediocrity. Successful coaches continually challenge others to give their best whether they are in practice, the weight room, or the classroom. Athletes who do not train at this high level are told by coaches and teammates to "Go hard or go home." If a person cannot meet the demanding standards of the program, he will be released.
6. Home-Grown Management
Business - Collins writes: "Visionary companies develop, promote, and carefully select managerial talent grown from inside the company to a greater degree than the comparison companies. They do this as a key step in preserving their core. Visionary companies were six times more likely to promote insiders to chief executive than comparison companies." Sports - Just as visionary companies promote from within, successful coaches have a high propensity for hiring their former athletes as assistant coaches. Coach K's present staff of Johnny Dawkins, Chris Collins, and Steve Wojciechowski and former staff Quin Snyder and Tommy Amaker all wore the Blue Devil uniform. Who should know your program's values and standards better than the players who have played for you? These former players, who were likely your best team leaders, will also be able to provide your current athletes with a sense of history and perspective on your program as well as insights on how to understand you and succeed within your system.
7. Good Enough Never Is
Business - Collins writes: "The critical question asked by a visionary company is not "How well are we doing?" or "How can we do well?' or "How well do we have to perform in order to meet the competition?" For these companies, the critical question is "How can we do better tomorrow than we did today?" They institutionalize this question as a way of life - as a habit of mind and action. Superb execution and performance naturally come to the visionary companies not so much as an end goal, but as the residual result of a never-ending cycle of self-stimulated improvement and investment for the future. There is no ultimate finish line in a highly visionary company. Visionary companies, we learned, attain their extraordinary position not so much because of superior insight or special 'secrets' of success, but largely because of the simple fact that they were so demanding of themselves. Becoming and remaining a visionary company requires oodles of plain old-fashioned discipline, hard work, and a visceral revulsion to any tendency toward smug self-satisfaction." Sports: One of Arizona softball coach Mike Candrea's sayings is "You either get better or you get worse. There is no such thing as staying the same." Great sports teams are always looking to get better each and every time they train. They know that everyone is gunning for them so they have to be at the top of their game all of the time. They take pride in their work ethic and how they practice.
As you think about these seven keys to building and maintaining a winning program, consider how much they are a part of your team culture. Are these principles a part of your program's values and standards? Remember that many of these principles all start with you as a coach. They must form the foundation of your coaching philosophy and be shared by your coaching staff. Then they must be transmitted to your captains or team leaders so that they can help you ingrain them in everyone else who is associated with your program. When this happens, you will ensure your program's long-term success.
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Inspire Your Team
