The Game.
When Bill Walsh took over the San Francisco 49ers in 1979 he inherited the worst team in the NFL.
They'd won two games the entire previous season. Broken locker-room, toxic culture and non-existent expectations.
Most coaches would have focused on the quick wins immediately - Fixing the offense, recruiting better players. Getting results quickly to turn things around.
Walsh did something different.
He ignored wins entirely in year one.
Instead, he set a standard. He didn't ask his players what they thought the standard should be, he defined it himself and he made it non-negotiable.
He taught his players how to:
Exhibit a ferocious and intelligently applied work ethic directed at continual improvement
Demonstrate respect for each person in the organisation and the work they do
Be deeply committed to learning and teaching
Deal appropriately with victory and defeat, adulation and humiliation
Promote internal communication that is both open and substantive
He called it "The Standard of Performance."
Walsh didn't talk about winning the Super Bowl, he talked about doing things the right way, every single day, regardless of the score.
Year one: The 49ers went 2-14 (Again)
Year two: 6-10. Still losing.
But something was changing…
Year three: The 49ers won the Super Bowl.
Walsh didn't win because he had better players or better plays. He won because he set a standard of excellence before anyone believed it was possible.
The standard came first. The results followed.
The Analysis.
In business, most leaders make a critical mistake. They expect their team to set the standard - They hope culture will emerge organically and they assume people will naturally hold themselves accountable.
They won't.
Bill Walsh understood something most leaders miss: it's your job to set the standard. Define what excellence looks like in your organisation, make it clear, and hold people to it relentlessly.
This isn't about being authoritarian, it's about leadership. Your team is looking to you to tell them what great looks like. If you don't define it, they'll define it themselves.
Jim Collins writes about this in ‘Good to Great’:
"Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness, it turns out, is largely a matter of conscious choice, and discipline."
This approach takes courage, because it takes time. Year one, when you're still losing and your standard isn't producing results yet, the noise will be there. People will question the results, and your team wants to see proof it's working.
Most business leaders don't have that patience. They abandon the standard the moment it doesn't produce immediate results. They lower expectations, make excuses and as a result things slide because "we just need to get through…"
The standard dies.
Ray Dalio talks about this in ‘Principles’:
"If you don't have principles, you will be forced to react to circumstances."
Your team won't set the standard, that's not their job, it's yours.
If you don't do it, no one will.
The Reflection.
Have you clearly defined the standard in your business?
Best,
Daniel Holloway
Founder, Sport of Business
P.S. Know someone building a business who thinks like an athlete? Forward this to them. The best performances are by those who understand the game.