Getting Unstuck #26 – Creating Long Term Success

The fastest way to de-motivate and lose top performers is to demonstrate that you are willing to accept mediocrity. High performers want to work with other high performers. Jim Collins – Good to Great

This is an excerpt from my #1 bestselling book Business Secrets for Walking on Water

As hard as it is to develop a great culture or change a toxic culture, it is even more difficult to sustain a successful culture long term. Nothing is static—Times change. Situations change. Processes change—technology changes. People or managers change. New people or managers may not have the same passion or commitment. Worse yet, sometimes an organization just gets lazy.

A great culture is self-sustaining. Still, it requires focus, commitment, and discipline. It is not a sign on the wall, or a social media post, or a sound bite, or a statement in an annual report. Your culture becomes what you are, not what you do. People must know what to expect and how to respond.

Discipline, in essence, is consistency of action. Consistency with values, consistency with long-term goals, consistency with performance standards, consistency of method, and consistency over time. Jim Collins – Great by Choice.

The best example I can offer of an organization that first changed a toxic culture and then created long-term success is the University of Washington women’s volleyball program.

When Jim McLaughlin arrived as the head coach of the University of Washington volleyball program, the general attitude was, “Poor guy, he is taking over the Titanic after it hit the iceberg.” I had the good fortune to work with Jim McLaughlin from the first day he arrived on campus in Seattle.

The volleyball program had been mediocre at best for many years. There was an occasional good year like 1997 when they made it to the “Sweet Sixteen, but from 1998 through 2000, the program had deteriorated. They finished 7th, 8th, and 10th in the PAC-10. Attendance was down, as was the morale of the student-athletes and fundraising. In mid-July 2001, the head volleyball coach resigned. The team was due to arrive on August 10, and there was no coach.

Jim McLaughlin arrived on August 1, 2001. He won a national title with the University of Southern California men’s program, and in 2000 he led Kansas State, not exactly hotbed for volleyball talent, to a 22-9 record, a program-best No. 16 national ranking, and its first-ever trip to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen.

“Here is the first statement he made to his team: The question to you is this: Are you willing to become great? Moving from good to great is not easy. It requires you to examine and reexamine every aspect of your game and your life. It requires your total and complete commitment. If you are willing to learn and have the courage to change your game, your attitude, your diet, your training, and your behavior outside of this court, you could become great.” From the Ashes: The Rise of the University of Washington Volleyball Program by Frank Zaccari

Developing the Plan

To say Jim inherited a toxic culture is a major understatement. The program was in terrible shape. There was a total lack of trust. We started the painful process of building a high-performing culture. We focused on ten steps that had been successful in working with the many different industries.

1. Find the right leader.
2. The leader must clearly articulate the vision.
3. The leader must inspire people to believe.
4. The leader must clearly define what he/she wants to do and what pieces are needed to get there.
5. The leader must select the right people and put them in the best position to succeed.
6. The leader must focus on details and training.
7. The leader must document everything; the organization must operate without key people present.
8. The leader must review all aspects of the operation and make adjustments as needed.
9. The leader must continue to bring in better people than the ones already in place.
10. The leader cannot lose sight of the goal.

We were told, “These steps might work in business, but they will not work here. This is a college athletic program, not a business, and you are working with young women between the ages of 18 and 23. Do you really think you can get these ‘kids’ who have had little to no success with this program to buy in, and even if they do buy-in, they don’t have the skills or the ability to execute the plan. You are wasting your time.”

As we said to every doubter, “It’s our time, not yours. I will send you a picture of Jim and me holding the national championship trophy.”

Ignore the doubters and keep moving forward

During his first meeting with the volleyball booster group, about twenty-two people, the new tone was set. The meeting was short and to the point. Jim said, “I don’t have and won’t have much time to spend with this group this season. I have never had or want to meet with a booster group this large on a regular basis. I suggest you prepare a plan of what you want to do and what you need me to do, and we will discuss it in a few weeks. So, all of you know, my plan is to win the National Title within five years. I don’t know what we have this year since I have only met my team once, but we will be better than last season. The team will play with pride and passion. Everyone will see a major improvement in the level of play.” Then he left the meeting.

The reaction from the boosters was shock and disbelief. “Win a national championship in Seattle, no way in hell.” Most of the boosters left the program believing that Jim was delusional.

Like so many leaders who come into a challenging situation, Jim had a staff (players) whom he had never met and “supporters” who did not believe him. When he and I met, I showed him a business plan to raise money and improve the image of the program based on the ten steps I had used to turn around several businesses. Would this work for an athletic program? We were about to find out.

So, we went to work. Jim changed everything about the program. The way the players practiced, how they ate, the way they studied film, and how they interacted with fans pre-and post-game. The first year, 2001, was rough. The team won eleven and lost sixteen, but they played with an intensity and passion unseen the past several years.

Reaching out to potential customers & supporters

The goal of the business plan was to generate revenue with as little involvement of the players and coaches as possible. We prepared a situation analysis, a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis, action, and recruiting plan which adhered to every NCAA requirement. We needed to be smart and target specific donors for contributions and specific players who wanted to be part of building an elite program. We needed to gather contact information from the people who attended the matches to build a database. We needed to create a Newsletter and send it to each donor and fan monthly.?

We needed to make a connection between this program and the community. We needed a list of equipment Jim needed so I could show it to potential donors. This way, donors could select a specific item or multiple items. We needed to have a consistent story about why the equipment is needed and what value it will bring to the team. Husky fans want to feel like they have a part or a role with the team.

At one event, both Jim and I spoke. I held up the list of equipment. Later, a husband and wife came up to me and asked if they could see the list. After looking it over, they said, “We want to do this.” I asked, “Which item?” They said, “The entire list.” I said, “That is over $10,000.” Their response, “Who do we make the check to.” I was both shocked and grateful. The lesson learned was if you are authentic and show how much you care, people will be happy to help.

We hosted training parties for supporters to learn some of the game’s finer points, and we added pre-game chats with Jim for selected donors so he could tell them what the keys to winning were for a particular match.

I told Jim, “As long as the team plays hard every night, these fans will love you and support you forever. When you win the National Title, you will achieve legend status.”

Analyze the results and adjust as needed

The 2002 season saw the team start to win, and donations started to increase. This team, with six freshmen, made it to the second round of the NCAA tournament. In 2003 they advanced to the quarterfinals. Then it happened. The 2004 team went to the Final Four for the first time in school history, and donations increased dramatically. While they did not win the title, the organization had received a taste of greatness and how hard it is to attain and sustain.

After analyzing the data and determining the steps he felt were necessary to take that next step, Jim made some hard decisions. He changed one of his assistant coaches to improve the teams blocking. He replaced the middle blocker who started on a Final Four team with a very gifted but untested sophomore. And he moved his best player, All-American Sanja Tomasevic (now a professional international volleyball coach) from the left side to the right side. All had an element of risk. All were questioned, but when he explained why to the team and key supporters, everyone agreed.

Trust the Process

During the 2005 season, the team was on a mission. It won thirty- two matches, lost only one and went back to the Final Four, and played heavily favored Nebraska in the title match. Washington dominated the match and won the National Championship, one year sooner than Jim had predicted his first day on campus. In 2006, the team again went to the Final Four.

During his time at Washington (2001 through the 2014 season), his record was 357-90 (.799). From 2002 through 2014, they went to the NCAA tournament every year, including four trips to the Sweet Sixteen and four Final Fours. The attendance for the first home match in 2001 was 75. The attendance for the last home in 2014 was 9,000. Five years after Jim left, the new coach has kept many of those principles, and Washington has remained an elite program. Jim then turned around the program at Notre Dame.