The Score Takes Care of Itself: My Philosophy of Leadership

by Bill Walsh

What was so striking, especially in retrospect, was how he imagined, planned, and prepared everything. Everything.

He conducted practice at a fast tempo, full-throttle delivery of information with extraordinary demands for precision in execution.

And in that teaching he created belief in ourselves as a team, an organization, because it was apparent that what he was teaching was not only absolutely right, it was advanced.

Someone will declare, “I am the leader!” and expect everyone to get in line and follow him or her to the gates of heaven or hell. My experience is that it doesn’t happen that way.

Unless you’re a guard on a chain gang, others follow you based on the quality of your actions rather than the magnitude of your declarations.

back. This last item is important because if the person in charge is casual in these areas, others will follow suit.

There is no one perfect or even preferable style of leadership, just as there is no perfect politician or parent.

The leader who will not be denied, who has expertise coupled with strength of will, is going to prevail.

Some leaders are volatile, some voluble; some stoic, others exuberant; but all successful leaders know where we want to go, figure out a way we believe will get the organization there

When it was time for a decision, that decision would be made by me according to dictates having to do with one thing only, namely, making the team better.

Everybody’s got an opinion. Leaders are paid to make a decision.

difference between offering an opinion and making a decision is the difference between working for the leader and being the leader.

However, I had jeopardized the game by locking my ego into a strategy that was failing. I

It was my ego and strength of will that had almost killed us.

Here’s the answer: There is no answer; there is no cut-and-dried formula.

A leader must be keen and alert to what drives a decision, a plan of action. If it was based on good logic, sound principles, and strong belief, I felt comfortable in being unswerving in moving toward my goal. Any other reason (or reasons) for persisting were examined carefully. Among the most common faulty reasons are (1) trying to prove you are right and (2) trying to prove someone else is wrong. Of course, they amount to about the same thing and often lead to the same place: defeat.

A leader must have a vision, which is simply an elevated word for “goal.”

If I led our team down the road to failure, I wanted to make sure the quality of my reasoning was very solid.

your conclusions flawed, your logic skewed by emotions, pride, or arrogance.

A successful leader is not easily swayed from this self-belief.

When you fall prey to the naysayers who eagerly provide you with all the reasons why you won’t succeed, why you can’t win, and why you should quit, you have lost the winner’s edge.

Great organization is the trademark of a great organization.

To a large degree, a leader must “sell” himself to the team. This is impossible unless you exhibit self-confidence.

Of course, belief derives from expertise.

“There’ll be plenty of time for pencils, parties, and socializing when I lose my job, because that’s what’s going to happen if I continue to avoid the hard and harsh realities of doing my job.”

Sharpening pencils in lieu of sharpening your organization’s performance is one way to lose your job.

Promote an organizational environment that is comfortable and laid-back in the misbelief that the workplace should be fun, lighthearted, and free from appropriate levels of tension and urgency.

The trademark of a well-led organization in sports or business is that it’s virtually self-sustaining and self-directed—almost autonomous.

My logic was that I wanted our focus directed at one thing only: going about our business in an intensely efficient and professional manner—first

I walked slowly along the loosely assembled front row of 49ers—studying them like General George Patton inspecting his troops.

You must be able to make and carry out harsh and, at times, ruthless decisions in a manner that is fast, firm, and fair.

Cross my line and you can expect severe consequences.

a very serious breach of my Standard of Performance, which demanded respectful behavior toward all others on the 49er payroll.

Leadership is expertise. It is not rhetoric or cheerleading speeches. People will follow a person who organizes and manages others, because he or she has credibility and expertise—a

The true inspiration, expertise, and ability to execute that employees take with them into their work is most often the result of their inner voice talking, not some outer voice shouting, and not some leader giving a pep talk.

you determine what their inner voice says. The leader, at least a good one, teaches the team how to talk to themselves.

rough-and-tough

aggressive competitive instincts are readily apparent, like his great teammate in later years, Steve Young.

He led with his own talent, quiet confidence, and unassuming demeanor.

Joe didn’t have to talk the talk because he walked the walk.

were a perfect match for the Standard of Performance I had established within the 49er organization.

Montana’s kind of leadership is a great starting point, in my view, for what any good leader strives to do, namely, bring out the best in people.

soften the heavy blow of a demotion or termination with compassion and empathy.

Cleanse the wound before it gets infected.

War As I Knew It),

You demonstrate a lack of assuredness when you talk constantly in negatives. When attempting to help someone attain that next level of performance, a supportive approach works better than a constantly negative or downside-focused approach.

If you’re perceived as a negative person—always picking, pulling, criticizing—you will simply get tuned out by those around you. Your influence, ability to teach, and opportunity to make progress will be diminished and eventually lost.

Constructive criticism is a powerful instrument essential for improving performance.

In an earlier time, leadership—most visibly in sports, but also commonly in business—required no greater people skills than those of a blunt-force object.

While leadership still involves occasionally using a heavy-handed approach—“my way or the highway”—collaboration is required more than ever these days to obtain optimal results.