The Distillation of Nick Saban 

The Process begins here: Do you want to be the best you can be? Are you driven to be the best player you can be? Are you driven to have the INTENSITY, the SENSE OF URGENCY, the INTELLIGENCE? Are you going to work to do the things you need to do to be your ABSOLUTE BEST? 

DISCIPLINE

COMMITMENT

TOUGHNESS

EFFORT

PRIDE 

Nick Saban’s Keys To Success   

• Have a vision, create a process on how to achieve that vision, and have the discipline to stick to the process. 
• The most important factor that contributes to success is mindset. It’s how you think.
• Set goals that you are in control of. Control what you can control.
• Have the discipline to do the right thing when it needs to be and in the right way.
• Stay in the present moment. Focus on the task in front you. Don’t let past failures affect you, and don’t let future gains distract you.
• Have “Pride in performance”, pride in everything that you do and do your best at it. 
• Over-prepare. 
• You are either investing your time or spending your time. The choice is yours. 
• Learn from your mistakes. 
• Set clear expectations. 
• You are selling yourself every minute. What are you selling? Are you selling positive? 
• Being a champion isn’t easy, expect the inevitable challenges you will face. Simply accept them and move on. “I always smiled through the mud.”- Nims Purja  
• To be a champion, you have to work like a champion. Do what champions do.

“There are two pains in life. There is the pain of discipline, and the pain of disappointment. If you can handle the pain of discipline, then you’ll never have to deal with the pain of disappointment.”

The Process

Saban is the embodiment of routine, consistency and focus. He knows that small daily victories, performed with disciplined consistency over extended periods of time, lead to revolutionary results. Great changes come when we make small adjustments with great conviction. The smallest of actions is always better than the noblest of intentions. Achieving long-term goals through daily effort and focus is what he refers to as “the Process.”

• The Process is never ending, it’s horizontal. It’s a destination that will never be met but the chase towards it brings joy.  
• The Process was born on November 7th 1998 when Michigan State (Saban’s team) defeated Ohio State 28-24.  Ohio State was undefeated, No. 1 and on track for a national title. So Saban prepared differently for this game. He decided they weren’t going to focus on the result but they were going to look at each play as a separate entity. Focus on the moment in front of you. 
  • “Just all your focus, all your concentration, all your effort, all your toughness, all your discipline to execute went into that particular play. And regardless of what happened on that play, a success or failure, you would move on to the next play and have the same focus to do that on the next play and you would do that for 60 minutes in a game. And you would be able to live with the results regardless of what the results were.“

 

• Saban says the process guarantees success. A good process produces good results. A bad process produces bad results. Focusing on the outcome is paradoxical. The more one emphasizes winning, the less he or she is able to concentrate on what actually causes success.
  • “Right is never wrong.” I think this view is both a strength and weakness of Saban’s. Life is gray and staying attached to this black or white view of the world isn’t feasible in a non binary outcome world like in business/ family. 

 

“You have to be a champion before you can win a championship”

Control what you can control

• “The process is really what you have to do day in and day out to be successful. We try to define the standard that we want everybody to sort of work toward, adhere to, and do it on a consistent basis, and the things that I talked about before, being responsible for your own self-determination, having a positive attitude, having great work ethic, having discipline to be able to execute on a consistent basis, whatever it is you’re choosing to do, those are the things that we try to focus on, and we don’t try to focus as much on outcomes as we do on being all that you can be and the things that you need to do to be all you can be. Eliminate the clutter and all the things that are going on outside, and focus on the things that you can control with how you sort of go about and take care of your business. That’s something that’s ongoing, and it can never change. So it’s the process of what it takes to be successful, very simply.”

 

Mindset

Nick Saban mentioned that many people ask him for advice on how to be successful. Is it having a good game plan? Is it having special offensive and defensive systems? Is it simply outworking the competition?  It’s none of these things, said Saban. The most important factor that contributes to success “is mindset. It’s how you think. It’s the vision you have for what you want to accomplish.”

VISION -> PROCESS -> DISCIPLINE

VISION

• The most important aspect of your mindset is to have a vision of what you want to accomplish. 
• Your Vision is what you’re working towards on a daily basis, and what sustains you through difficult challenges. The vision has to be the reason why you get up in the morning and put in the hard work.
  • “It’s not what the vision is, it’s what the vision does.” Robert Fritz

• “We have two sets of eyes. We have the eyes that see everything that happens, and we have the eyes of the soul, which is what is important to us, what we want to accomplish, what we want to do, and what our vision is.”

PROCESS

• You can have the greatest most ambitious vision in the world but unless it’s followed by a great process you’ll never achieve it. 
  • Similar to my VBARRC Framework: Vision – Belief- Action-Routine-Revise- Consistency 

DISCIPLINE

• Saban says the hardest part in being successful is having the discipline to stick to the process. Most people can create a vision, and they can figure out a process to reach that goal. But most people lack the discipline to execute on a day-to-day basis.
  • “The common denominator of success—the secret of success of every person who has ever become successful—lies in the fact that he or she formed the habit of doing things that failures don’t like to do.”- Albert Gray 

• Discipline is doing what you’re supposed to do, when you’re supposed to do it, the way it’s supposed to be done.

Nick has said this multiple times over the years in team meetings. He is using both of his hands and starts of pointing to one, “I have this thing over here that I know I’m supposed to do. But I don’t really want to do. Can you make yourself do it? Then I have this little thing over here that I know I’m not supposed to do, but I want to do it. Can you keep yourself from doing it?”

• That is what discipline comes down to. Can you do the things you don’t always feel like doing but know you need to in support of your vision. 
• It’s not only about avoiding the little things that bring little to any value to your life but it’s also about the relentless work ethic it requires to climb your own personal mountain. 

Challenges 

• Saban has been known to share the book The Road Less Traveled, by M. Scott Peck. The reason is because of the first line of the book: “Life is difficult.” Saban knows that life is full of challenges and difficult circumstances. But it’s how we respond to those circumstances that determine our lives. 
• Life for anyone is difficult but life for a group of men trying to be National Champions is even more challenging. Bring your best everyday, even in the face of adversity. 
• Saban embeds that life is difficult this into his players thinking so when they face hard things they will have already been expecting these things. “The more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in battle.”
• The Navy SEALS have a saying I like which is, “Hold fast, stay true”. Hold fast means to stay strong during challenging times and staying true is about being committed to your values and your training. I think Saban would like this line as well if he heard it. 

“Pressure is a privilege” 

• The great Tennis Star Billie Jean King said, “Pressure is a privilege.”If you’re competing for the best in the world and have vast amounts of pressure on your shoulders that is a privilege, it’s earned. What Saban and his football teams are trying to do is become the best in the world at what they do and there is a certain pressure and privilege with getting to enjoy the process and journey of putting yourself in difficult circumstances everyday and then working towards overcoming them. In order to have 100,000 fans screaming for you on a Saturday night then you need to put in the work on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to garner those rewards…. Pressure is a privilege. 
• “We must undergo a hard winter training and not rush into things for which we haven’t prepared.” – Epictetus

Positive Mindset

• This is a requirement in the Alabama football program. 
• Saban instills in his players and staff you need to bring positivity into the environment, you need confidence in yourself and you need to express this energy in all that you do. 
• As Jon Gordon wrote about in his book The Energy Bus, no one wants to be around an Energy Vampire who is draining the positive energy out of an environment. Fill your team, company, friend group with people who have a positive mindset and bring you energy. 

Everyday you’re selling something …. What are you selling?

• “Because every minute of every day you’re selling something. You’re either selling positive, or you’re selling negative. And when you put your head down and I can’t even hear where you’re from, you’re not selling positive. You’re not selling confidence.”
• Nick knows that if you’re working towards benign a National Champion you need to be confident in yourself and so he starts with the little things. If your heads down and you won’t look someone in the eyes how are you going to be confident when you faceoff across the line of scrimmage from the #1 team in the country in front of a packed house with millions of people watching? You won’t. By getting his players to focus on conducting themselves to a certain manner in the little things like shaking your hand and looking you in the eyes he’s able to build that confidence up into the big things. 
• “Now, everybody always says there’s no ‘I’ in team, but there is an ‘I’ in win, because the individuals make the team what it is, and how they think and what they do is important to the team. So when you act like the individual is not important, well, it is damn important who these people are and what they are.”

Leadership

• “Some of the great leaders in history were not adored, but respected. My advice to leaders—stop trying to please everyone and do what you believe is best.”
• “By definition, a leader is “a person who rules or guides or inspires others.” But that’s not entirely true. A person “who rules” may or may not be a leader, even if he or she is the ruler or manager. You see, just because you’re in command of a company, a team, or an army battalion, that does not qualify you as a leader. Perhaps you attained that position by experience or success, or maybe you simply outlasted everyone else. Regardless, how you lead defines you as a leader.”
  • This style of leadership can work with college young men but not one I’d want to be a part of. I want to be pulled by the leader to explore and expand my potential as being pushed. 

Over Prepare 

• Saban and his staff try and prepare for every situation they may encounter. 
• “Ninety percent of what we talk about never comes up, but 10 percent of it does. When it does, you’re ready and you make a good decision based on the preparation.”- D Coordinator Kirby Smart
• “Every single bit of the game is covered down to how many umpteen [helmet] snaps the equipment guy is wearing on his belt. There is an emergency plan if a guy’s helmet pops off. Whatever it is, you better be ready.”- O Line Coach Mario Cristobal 
• “What if meetings”
  • In their game prep Saban and has staff has “What if meetings” to prepare for unexpected outcomes. They go through hypothetical scenarios by going back and forth asking each other, “What if this happens? What if that happens?”

 Top of the mountain

• “There’s a lot of people in the world who would take the challenge to climb the mountain. But when you get to the top of the mountain you become the mountain because everyone’s shooting for you. The great one’s get to the top of the mountain and say they can become even better.” 

 

“Everybody wants to be a success. Not everybody is willing to do what they have to do to achieve it.”

• Saban encourages his players to adopt a definition of success defined not by results, but rather by effort. Instead of emphasizing scoring touchdowns, he asks players to define themselves with such things as completing each set in the weight room or completing practices with 100% intensity. Saban states: “Everybody wants to be a success. Not everybody is willing to do what they have to do to achieve it.”
• What’s the price of success? Are you willing to pay it? 

“Champions are rare. Everybody has some chance, some opportunity to change and improve, but not everybody takes advantage. Be somebody who does.”

Cultivating a Culture of Champions 

This is Not a Democracy 

• “You know, this is not a democracy.  Everybody doesn’t get to do what they want to do. Everybody doesn’t get to do what they feel like doing.  You’ve got to buy in and do what you’re supposed to do to be a part of the team and do the things you need to do in practice every day.”
• The crucial part is that you need to buy in and be fully committed to something larger than yourself. 
• Saban continually makes the point that being part of a historic program like Alabama is a privilege and you need to earn it everyday and be bought into what the program is working towards. 
• One thing is obvious and that’s there is no lack of clarity of what Saban and the program expects out of the players. Define the expectations clearly from the get go. 
• “Focus relentlessly on recruiting the best people. Define exactly what the job is you want them to do. And then, push them to focus relentlessly on doing just that, rather than looking ahead to the win-or the next game.”

Clearly Define Expectations

• Those expectations are that EVERYTHING you do will be done to the highest of standards. If you’re not down for that then get off the damn bus. 
• Your message should be constantly reinforced. 
• “You really have to define exactly what the expectation of everybody in your organization is and everybody on your team and what the standard is. Because if you don’t do that, then people don’t know exactly what is expected of them…. But once it is defined, you have to hold everyone accountable to that. Because mediocre people don’t like high achievers, and high achievers don’t like mediocre people. And if you let those things coexist in your organization, you’re never going to have any team chemistry.”
  • Baseball manager Casey Stengel once quipped, “The secret of managing is to keep the guys who hate you away from the guys who are undecided.”

Pride in Performance

• Saban expects everyone to have “Pride in Performance.” in all that they do. Take pride in what you do, and strive to do it to the best of your ability.

• “Recognize certain traits that seem to be in every champion: passion, commitment, confidence, pride in performance, high standards of excellence, relentlessness, perseverance, and the ability to perform in adverse circumstances.”
• Character is what you do when no one else is watching. 

The Disease of Me Dominance 

• Lesson 1. There is no i in team but there is an i in win. 
• Lesson 2. Everything you do, you do to the team. 
• Lesson 3. Get out of yourself and into the team. 
• Lesson 4. Don’t forget the fundamentals. 
• Lesson 5. You can have no flickering lights. 
• Lesson 6. Do not allow mistakes to go uncorrected. 
• Lesson 7. Having skill is not having talent. 
• Lesson 8. You must trust, not just believe. 
• Lesson 9. Sometimes what is best for the individual is not what is best for the team. 
• Lesson 10. Teams must take ownership for themselves and their personalities. 
• Lesson 11. Teams that play together often end up lucky. 
• Lesson 12. With your A game, you can beat anybody; anything less and they can beat you.

 

Success is Momentary 

• The process never stops… 
• “Just because you won last year, doesn’t mean you don’t have to go earn it next time. Success is momentary. If you don’t do the things you always did, you’re going to be disappointed when you have to play people in the next tier. It’s really about the standard, regardless of what happened yesterday — win, lose or draw. You win a championship, it still comes back to what the standards are.” 
• This is the same ideas as Joseph Schumpeter’s “Creative Destruction” which is used commonly in business: Creative destruction describes the deliberate dismantling of established processes in order to make way for improved methods of production. If you rest on your laurels then you’re going to get beat in the future. This is why Tiger Woods when he was the #1 golfer in the world decided to completely change his swing because he knew “What got him here, wouldn’t get him there” 

Time Management   

• Nick Saban said, “Are you spending your time, or are you investing your time?” When you invest your time, you are working towards your goals. You are putting the work in to make sure that your efforts are being directed towards the process that you set out for yourself.
• If you’re investing your time to be a Champion then you’re doing the little things that will add up to reach your goals. 
• “When you’re spending time, you’re playing Xbox. And I know all of you will say ‘I need my relaxation time’. You know what I say to that? And excuse me to all the Mamas that are here, but that’s bullshit. You don’t need to do that.”

Creature of Habit

• Saban is a creature of habit (wakes up same time every day, eats the same breakfast and lunch) he does this to conserve energy to spend that energy on more important decisions. Very similar to Steve Jobs wearing the same outfit everyday to conserve his thinking energy. 
• “character is an accumulation of our thoughts, our habits, and our priorities on a daily basis.” How we think, how we spend our time, and the mindset we bring to what we do will determine our outcomes in life. If you aren’t aligning your actions “The process” in a way that will give you your desired outcome then it’s time to get a new process. 
  • “Clarity about what you want to bring into being simplifies your life, while opening a source of strength to tackle all the secondary choices that may be needed to accomplish your goal. How do you reach such clarity? You decide for yourself what you will let your life be about.” -Robert Frost 

Every Rep Counts

• Saban is maniacal about how he structures and plans his practices. He structures it so that every drill, every rep, everything on the field has been thought out and planned. 
• Bill Belichick said that if Saban runs a drill a certain way then he just adopts that method because he assumes that Saban has thought about it more than anyone else and therefore is running it most effectively. If Saban does it, then it must be the best way to do it. 
  • “If I ask Nick a question and he says, ‘Well, this is how we do it,’ then I usually just cut to where he is and take that shortcut and say, ‘Okay, we’re going to do it this way.’ I know that he’s already gone through all the stages of thinking it through, and I would rather just get to the stage that he’s at rather than waste the time figuring that I’m going to end up at the same point anyway.”- Bill Belichick 
• This is how Dean Smith at The University of North Carolina structured his practices when Michael Jordan was there. Same as Bill Walsh with the 49ers (most great coaches are like this) 

Winning 

• “Focusing on the outcome is paradoxical. The more one emphasizes winning, the less he or she is able to concentrate on what actually causes success.”
• There are NO signs about “Winning” inside of the football facility on campus. Everything Saban emphasizes is about DISCIPLINE – COMMITMENT- TOUGHNESS- EFFORT- PRIDE 
• Focusing on the end results serves as distractions, and takes your focus away from doing the best job you can in the moment. 

7 Components of Excellence 

• • Saban has learned from Psychologist Dr. Terry Orlick who has been studying excellence in sports, business, and life for decades. He is world renowned for his motivational and mental approach to peak performance. Orlick has determined that there are seven components of excellence: 

• Commitment

• Focus

• Confidence/trust/belief

• Positive imagination

• Mental readiness

• Controlling distractions

• Constant learning