Leadership: On Being a Winner

Alabama's Trent Richardson holds up the winning trophy after the BCS National Championship college football game against LSU Monday, Jan. 9, 2012, in New Orleans. Alabama won 21-0. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)The University of Alabama’s football team has won two of the last three national championships. That’s a fact. How did they do it? Well, here’s a surprising bit of insight from ESPN

  • The attendance for A-Day was 78,526 (1st in the SEC and 2nd nationally  this year to Ohio State) which was the fifth-largest in school history.  Each spring game under coach Nick Saban has had an attendance of  78,200 (2008) or higher. …
  • During the last academic year, Alabama’s football program led the SEC  (in what is believed to be a conference record) with a total of 38  student-athletes on the Academic All-SEC Honor Roll. A  total of 22 players were on the bowl roster who had already earned their  degrees, which was tied for first nationally in terms of graduates on  bowl rosters.
  • Of Alabama’s 13 starters lost, all were either drafted or signed free -agent contracts with the NFL. Included among those 13 were the four  first-rounders  … .

It’s easy enough to get the X’s and O’s right. Most major schools have excellent assistant coaches. But Alabama also sends all their graduating starters to the NFL while making certain their players graduate and set records for Academic All-SEC Honor Roll and college graduates.

How does this happen? Well, discipline. If the coaches insist that the players go to class, study, and achieve in school, two very good things happen.

First, good players are attracted to the school because the team takes academics seriously. Their parents especially will be encouraged to push their children to Alabama where they have a great chance to get a degree — even before they finish their football eligibility.

Second, and perhaps more importantly, discipline in one area carries over to other areas. Players who are disciplined both on the football field and the classroom will also be disciplined in life. They’ll be less likely to get in fights and get arrested. Because discipline is a way of life, rather than a way of football, they’ll be even more disciplined on the field — because they become different kinds of people.

Of course, the discipline attracts those who are willing to pay the price — to be disciplined both in athletics and academics. The kids who don’t want to maximize their talents, who just want to have fun for four years of college, will choose somewhere else.

Saban likes to say that there two kinds of pain in life: the pain of disappointment and the pain of discipline. Take your pick. You can’t escape having pain, but you can choose the outcome.

As a result, Alabama players leave the program NFL ready. The discipline that gets good grades also teaches them how to learn the playbook. They show up in the NFL with the habits and mentality to be successful — and therefore they get drafted higher than other players with similar physical gifts — which, in turn, attracts highly motivated, talented players.

Also key to this is something call “the process,” which is Saban’s relentless emphasis on doing the things that lead to championships. He has no interest at all in talking about championships — only those things that get you there: practicing hard, weight training, nutrition, etc. That is, he shifts the focus from the end goal to the steps needed to get there — the process.

Therefore, there’s far more talk about mastering the playbook than making big bucks in the NFL — which, of course, leads to making big bucks in the NFL.

Oh, and then there’s the fan support. I attended the first spring practice game that Saban coached. The 92,000-seat stadium was full! The Fire Marshall closed the gates, only letting more in as others left. I’m sure over 100,000 ultimately got into the game.

Why did this matter? Because the players were astounded at the fan support! And the support encouraged them to work harder and helped the coaches recruit the next class of players. Who wouldn’t want to play where they are most appreciated?

So does this have anything to do with church? Well, only if you think that a little discipline, focus on the right things, and encouragement might make a difference.

Do you want your members to run through walls for Jesus? Do you want them to volunteer without begging or wheedling? Show them how much you appreciate them. Make them feel like they’re in Bryant-Denny Stadium being cheered on by a sold out stadium. Make service an encouragement.

But insist on getting it right — not perfect, but right. What is “right”? Well, if your goal is church growth, don’t talk about church growth but the things that result in church growth — personal evangelism, open small groups, etc. Decide what those things are and then be absolutely relentless in pursuing them. And don’t let them become something other than what produces church growth. Don’t take the easy road.

Of course, this means being extremely careful to define just what it is you want, because you’re going to bend and shape everything else to that end. You may actually get your wish — so be sure it’s the right one.

It’s an easy call in college football — winning championships with excellent academics and class is pretty much the goal everyone has, even if they aim for something they consider more attainable.

In church, it’s just as easy — easier — to aim for the attainable rather than the real goal. So what is the real goal — the one the Bible points us to — and what are the steps toward getting there?

About Jay F Guin

My name is Jay Guin, and I’m a retired elder. I wrote The Holy Spirit and Revolutionary Grace about 18 years ago. I’ve spoken at the Pepperdine, Lipscomb, ACU, Harding, and Tulsa lectureships and at ElderLink. My wife’s name is Denise, and I have four sons, Chris, Jonathan, Tyler, and Philip. I have two grandchildren. And I practice law.
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7 Responses to Leadership: On Being a Winner

  1. laymond says:

    Jay, many if not all your post point to the fact that Alabama Churches of Christ are exactly like Alabama football. They have a strict adherence to discipline, they hate everyone outside their circle, (some more than others, Auburn , and Baptist) they care only for their own, and are particular who they admit to that circle (only the best need apply) and they have the same goal, self aggrandizement. What exactly is different about the two? They both have leaders they adore, questionable which they adore more Jesus or Saban, now he is no “Bear” but you never know, “The Bear” could fall from grace if “Nick” keeps winning. 🙂 🙂

  2. “Do you want them to volunteer without begging or wheedling?”

    What in the world is “wheedling?”

  3. Jerry says:

    whee·dle/ˈ(h)wēdl/
    Verb:
    Employ endearments or flattery to persuade someone to do something or give one something: “you can wheedle your way onto a court”.
    Coax or persuade someone to do something.

  4. I would suggest that the University is more effective than the football program at producing college graduates and at graduating people who are well-equipped to enter society as professionals who contribute value to the nation as a whole. It is only when we compare one football program with another that their academic and professional contributions seem impressive. This is because the goal of the football program is to win football games. All other sucesses are ancillary.

    The joke in the old Southwest Conference was that everybody beats Rice at football, but they do it carefully. After all, in five years that guy you blindsided will be deciding whether to hire you or not.

    I am certain that this is not Jay’s heart, but the football program analogy fundamentally offers us a system which is wholly self-centered and manipulative. It uses people to meet the goals of the organization rather than the other way around. It is not unlike the speeches made by coaches on the rubber chicken circuit who teach businessmen how to ge the most out of their “team” so the business can win.

    If we help people develop into what God intends for them to be, and encourage them in how to walk out this process in their community, this is valuable to God. But it may or may not translate into something the religious marketplace will buy. Most certainly, when our goals are making the organization larger and more influential, we will find ourselves using people to meet the organization’s goals rather than using the organization to serve them. The arrow cannot point both ways.

    This is a clear differentiation, if an uncomfortable one. It is the difference between the hired hand and the son. Church leaders who see believers as the sons of God will help develop each one into his own royal identity out of love for the King. One day, they will proudly present to the King his own mature sons. Church leaders who see believers as hired help will figure out ways to motivate them to do good work for the King. At the end, they will proudly present to the King good programs and well-tended buildings and a cash balance.

    I see a lot of the second and too little of the first.

  5. Alan says:

    The analogy between college sports and church breaks down pretty quickly. Sports teams succeed more by recruiting than by coaching. Alabama sends their starters to the NFL primarily because they get the premium recruits every year. Does anyone think that Alabama’s coaching staff could win national championships with Harvard’s players?

    Churches, OTOH, have the mission to work with the people they are given. And success can’t be evaluated before judgment day (1 Cor 4:5). Maybe the winners and losers won’t be the ones we think they will be.

  6. JMF says:

    Dwayne —

    I wondered the same thing! Jay is always stretching my vocabulary.

  7. Doug says:

    Maybe “Wheedling” is more commonly used in the S.E.? All I know is my Mother used it with me as in… “you can’t wheedle your way out of this, young man!”.

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