MorrisAnderson

In a historic shut-out win against the LSU Tigers, Alabama won the BCS National Football title on January 9, 2012.  My sports commentary capabilities are essentially nonexistent, but my passion for leadership development led me to find several key takeaways from the game.

In the post-game interview, Alabama coach Nick Saban made four interesting points:

1. Be Yourself
Before the game, Saban told quarterback AJ McCarron to “be yourself, don’t try to be a quarterback.”  McCarron was trying to be the emotionless, “got-it-all-together” stereotype of what a quarterback should be and wasn’t bringing his authentic, spirited self to the game.

Takeaway:  Leadership is not about emulating a historic leader or trying to be the vision of a perfect leader.  Leadership is about bringing the essence of who you are to the table.  When you bring your authentic self (personality, strengths and passions) to the “big game,” you bring your best to the team.  This is critical in engaging employees as you begin as interim CEO/manager when trust is low and you are a new, unwelcome face in the organization.

2. Stay Energized
During the holiday break, instead of practicing for weeks, the team only practiced for seven days (five then two, with breaks in between).  They were not tired and were hungry for the big game.

Takeaway: As a turnaround leader, you need to make sure your team is solidly prepared for key meetings with lenders, vendors or customers.  However, working people into the ground for that extra analysis or strategic plan risks draining precious energy needed to pull off a successful negotiation or to ask customers to stick with you during a bankruptcy.  Turnarounds are difficult times, with staff already taking on additional responsibilities from laid-off colleagues.  Unless you encourage and model renewal activities (you can’t just talk about it, you need to do it) such as getting up to stretch intermittently and not eating lunch at your desk glued to spreadsheets, the stress of the assignment will deplete the focused energy required to have productive dialogues with stakeholders.

3. We Are All In It Together
The day before the game, the football team saw the movie “Red Tails.” Saban echoed the key message from the movie “until the last plane, the last bullet, the last man, the last minute, we fight and we always stay on mission.”

Takeaway:  In a turnaround situation, it is easy for employees to forget about the collective and focus on their individual fates.  It is crucial for leaders to champion the vision of “we are in this together and will succeed when we are united.”  If people know you have each other’s back, they are much more likely to go the extra mile during tough times instead of wallowing in cynicism and self-pity.

4. Do What We Do, Every Day
Saban commented his approach is to “do all the things we need to do every day, not just for the big game.”

Takeaway:  First, leaders need to have consistent approaches and processes for handling a turnaround.  Of course each assignment will be different and things will always come out of left field. (Who hasn’t had a client reveal critical negative information on the way to court?)  However, consistency helps everyone stay grounded and focused at doing things “one play at a time, regardless of what is happening in the game.”

Second, a turnaround leader needs to exude an attitude of commitment every day.  You are not a mercenary leader-for-hire but a crisis manager who is a stakeholder dedicated to bringing a company back to stability. This can get lost as pressures to deliver financial forecasts and to make operational changes overwhelm the turnaround team.  However, by showing commitment every day, not just during key bank meetings or court appearances, a leader builds trust and quickly forms partnerships with employees, creating building blocks to help a struggling company get back on its feet sooner.  The leader quickly goes from being the “new, bad guy” to “one of us.”

There might be something to “The Wisdom of Southern Football” after all.  We have this book somewhere in the basement – it’s time to dust it off.  I am not a graduate of the University of Alabama myself, but my husband is an alum as well as a passionate football fan. I think that entitles me to say: Roll Tide!

You can reach Paulina at pcaprio@morrisanderson.com.