Getting Better at Getting Better

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The 2024 NFL Draft is underway as I write this and, once again, players that were coached by Nick Saban (University of Alabama) were selected early and often. When two players have similar stats, NFL teams consider Saban-coached players to be less risky because they know those players have adopted Saban's "process." Saban relentlessly communicates to his team that their daily commitment to getting better is more important than the results of the games.

One of my neighbors was a backup player on one of Saban's National Championship teams. He only got on the field for about twelve plays in his entire college football career, but, decades later, he attributes all of his business success to "the process" philosophy he learned from Saban. "What are you doing to create value for yourself everyday?" This is the question that he still thinks about every morning when he walks into his office, as Saban continues to influence his professional life long after his football career ended.

"The guys on TV evaluate what you do in the games, but the pro scouts evaluate what you do in practice - what you do EVERY DAY." - Coach Nick Saban

In professional Sales, we mostly operate under exactly the opposite of Saban's "process." The rewards are almost exclusively tied to results. We evaluate performance almost exclusively on the scoreboard of the game. We link value to quota attainment. The only way to be an "A Player" is to exceed quota this year. If you are terrible at following our sales process and you are a bad teammate, but you exceed quota this year, you have created value for yourself.

High Impact Humans know the difference between maximizing short-term incentives and maximizing long-term value. Your annual compensation on any given year is an inaccurate reflection of the value you contributed during that one year. Especially in Sales, there are a lot of factors beyond your control that affect your earnings in any one year. Over ten years, though, your earnings are a very accurate reflection of the value you contributed. When choosing whether to optimize for this year's earnings or ten year earnings, Coach Saban and I would advise you to create those daily habits that create long-term value for you and your teammates.

You create value for yourself by getting better at getting better. If scouts watch film of how you work everyday, would they want to draft you? The discipline of getting better at getting better is transferable to all aspects of our lives. It's similar to a saying I've heard forever but don't know the original source: "How you do anything is how you do everything." When we stop growing and learning, we start dying. The best choice you can make today is to surround yourself with people who are committed to getting better at getting better.

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