The Score Takes Care of Itself: My Philosophy of Leadership

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In fact, the book features several interviews from Bill’s former players, and they all say that being coached by Bill was some of the best times of their lives. Promotions/wins/sales quotas are results, they do not provide performance information. And it’s important to dig into the performance to find the truth hidden behind these results. Creating gold from dross is alchemy; making lemonade when you’re given lemons is leadership; making lemonade when you don’t have any lemons is great leadership.”

Bill’s personal examples of how he implemented and executed each of these steps in the transformation of the San Francisco 49ers creates a fascinating story of business, football, and triumph. More than anything, Bill’s story reminds business leaders that success is not accidental but rather the result of deliberate and tenacious preparation.” By focusing strictly on my Standard of Performance, the 49ers were able to play the bigger games very well because it was basically business as usual—no “try harder” mentality was used.” The 49ers self-perception was improving; individuals began acting and thinking in a way that reflected pride and professionalism, even as we continued to lose games.” In business this means actively seeking the counsel of those you respect in your profession, as well as studying printed material and publications that you determine will provide pertinent input. Netflix has developed their own "Chaos Monkey" to randomly take down some of their servers to ensure their engineers build perfect redundancy, so they never have a failure impact customers.

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The executives who ignited the transformations from good to great did not first figure out where to drive the bus and then get people to take it there. No, they first got the right people on the bus (and the wrong people off the bus)"

It’s a maxim that one enemy can do more damage than the good of a hundred friends. I believe it’s true and worth remembering the next time you get upset with someone and mutter, “I’ll fix that so-and-so.” While you’re getting even, they’re getting ahead.” I accepted the fact that I couldn’t control that 20 percent of each game. However, the rest of it—80 percent—could be under my control with comprehensive planning and preparation.”

Quality collaboration is only possible in the presence of quality communication; that is, the free-flowing and robust exchange of information, ideas, and opinions. And “having big ears”-the skill of being a great listeneris the first law of good communication. (The second law is “When you’re not listening, ask good questions.”) Don’t push people to their limits all the time, try to maintain a sustainable level of performance, and keep the reserves ready for an emergency.

Second, make sure the expectation applies to everybody. Every single department is held to high standards. Even reception. There is a continuous up and down nature of competitive sports. Especially early on it is hard to justify the invested work when the results are not favorable.Exhibit a ferocious and intelligently applied work ethic directed at continual improvement; demonstrate respect for each person in the organization and the work he or she does; be deeply committed to learning and teaching, which means increasing my own expertise; be fair; demonstrate character; honor the direct connection between details and improvement, and relentlessly seek the latter; show self-control, especially where it counts most—under pressure; demonstrate and prize loyalty; use positive language and have a positive attitude; take pride in my effort as an entity separate from the result of that effort; be willing to go the extra distance for the organization; deal appropriately with victory and defeat, adulation and humiliation (don’t get crazy with victory nor dysfunctional with loss); promote internal communication that is both open and substantive (especially under stress); seek poise in myself and those I lead; put the team’s welfare and priorities ahead of my own; maintain an ongoing level of concentration and focus that is abnormally high; and make sacrifice and commitment the organization’s trademark.” After Walsh passed away Jamison and Welsh’s son, Craig finished the work they started years earlier. The book was published after 2007 but largely in Welsh’s words. Failure is an integral part of success. Knowing when it happens and what to do when it happens is the first step toward success. There’s an ebb and flow, an up and down, in every significant endeavor at every level. I cut through that ebb and flow with the Standard of Performance.

Drawn from a series of deeply revealing conversations with coauthor Steve Jamison, "The Score Takes Care of Itself" offers Walsh's best leadership principles illustrated by anecdotes from his entire career. Additional insights and perspective are provided by his son Craig Walsh. A sample of Bill's wisdom: In an organization, it’s not just important for individuals to know their role but they should be aware of the roles of other people as well.Professionalism matters: There was no showboating allowed after touchdowns, no taunting of opponents, and no demonstrations to attract attention to oneself. That character isn’t you, but it’s an addictive attraction if the plaques, awards, and commendations start rolling in. Believing your own press clippings-good or bad-is self-defeating. You are allowing others, oftentimes uninformed others, to tell you who you are. Interestingly, this is very similar to the investment philosophies of Ray Dalio and Warren Buffet, two of the most successful investors in history. They ignore things like share price, market cap, or the performance of the Dow. Instead, they look at interest rate trends, demographic trends, how the company is run and whether they trust the management of the organization. 2. Your Job Isn’t To Make Your Employees Happy He actually gives very good accounts of what he learned and found helps to build your team and achieve goals and at the end of each chapter gives numbered lists of key points to do to try to do things like build a career, build a team, deal with troublemakers, get through difficult times etc etc.