What Bill Walsh can teach us about the leadership tree

      At the end of your leadership career, the companies, the people, and those you influenced, will find ways to remember you. The employees that you met, mentored, and led will talk about you and the mark that you made on their career. Each of them will have different memories of the person you were. Some will remember the one on one meetings and the way you carefully crafted growth plans. Others will recall the random moments that meant nothing to you but everything to them. As a leader, the only mark that will last forever is on the people you influenced and inspired along the way. 

Bill Walsh is forever enshrined as having a major impact on the game of football. Walsh won 3x Super Bowls with the San Francisco 49ers during the 1980’s as head coach. Walsh created what is known today as the West Coast Offense that has been adapted by hundreds of teams both professional and college alike. He was the 2x NFL Coach of the Year and won 92 games finishing with a .609 winning percentage. All of the accolades that Walsh was known for statistically mean nothing today to the mark he left on those around him. 

While Walsh is responsible for multiple Super Bowl wins, the thing he is most known for today is the multiplier effect he had on his coaching staff. To date, the Bill Walsh coaching tree has produced 32 NFL head coaches. The effect that Walsh left on the game isn’t remembered today in total victories, in fact he is currently number forty six on the list of most games won. The coach who tops the list has almost four times the amount of victories Walsh had. The greater impact that Walsh left on those around him is what will forever continue his memory. 

Bill Walsh had six coaches who he impacted greatly during his run with the 49ers. Those coaches included Mike Holmgren, Jim Fassel, Paul Hackett, Sam Wyche, George Seifert, and Dennis Green. Each of these coaches were assistants on his teams who went on to earn the head coach title of their own. These gentlemen took all their learnings from Walsh and while building their own systems stayed true to the idea that in order to win they must produce the best coaches under their wing. 

The coach who created the second generation of the coaching tree was Walsh disciple Mike Holmgren. Holmgren went to three Super Bowls as head coach both with the Green Bay Packers and the Seattle Seahawks, winning one. Holmgren himself created 14 total head coaches off his tree. It’s no surprise that he focused on building winning teams with coaches who he could develop over time as he saw this formula work with Walsh during the 49ers runs. Holmgren was dedicated to the coaching tree concept through his entire career. Today his legacy still lives on as four of his disciples are still coaching even though Holmgren hasn’t been on the sidelines for ten plus years. 

The mark that Walsh and Holmgren left on the game isn’t measured in wins and losses, it’s measured in leadership principles. The mark you will leave on a company won’t be the revenue or the products you produced it will be the people you supported, the careers you made, and the leadership tree you produced. 

As a leader you have a job to build the next generation of Managers, Directors, VP’s and CEO’s. Each member of your staff is looking to you to give them the tools to succeed through one on one coaching sessions and the simple ways you interact with them. Development plans, honest feedback and a culture of growth creates future leaders. Your leadership tree will be built with time but each interaction with your staff provides the growth for the future branches. 

Look around your current team and begin to identify the future leaders. Invest time in each of these individuals while never overlooking the non-leaders. Leadership isn’t for everyone and that’s ok, even the future non-managers are still going to have a major impact on your team. Individual contributors will still shape the leadership tree for your team as their attitude and willingness to learn has a powerful stance on the future leaders around them.

The concept of the leadership tree only works if you spend time developing it. The tree that grows in your front yard requires nurture in the plant form of water, sun, and a healthy environment to nurture it. The same goes for building your personal leadership tree. Your team needs nurture and a healthy environment mixed with your desire to help them grow. 

Consider these principles for identifying and developing your leadership tree:

Invest in people who invest in themselves

Identify people who want to grow and develop and self-select on leadership opportunities. Better yet, identify people who go the extra mile and show a desire to grow and develop in their current role. Remember, leadership isn’t for everyone but developing into a better employee and role model should be. Find people who spend time learning, listening and wanting to lead from the front. Put out a leadership challenge to your team that includes both written and verbal communication exercises and see who grades out. Use simple one on one time with assignments week to week to see who puts in the time. These folks who truly go the extra mile have the potential as they recognize their opportunity ahead. Never waste time on people who are unwilling to invest in themselves. 

Spend time with your team however possible

Everyone is short on time these days. Whether you’re the janitor or the CEO, you are busy and in demand. It’s hard to commit to this principle when so many people want pieces of your time. Consider moving a one on one to an hour instead of thirty minutes. Call, text and check in frequently and randomly. Make sure your team knows that they have access to you as the simplest interactions during a drive home or a random text can say so much. Most of the time your team will say they don’t need anything until you really start asking. Time is precious for every leader but the time you spend with the future leaders will be invaluable. Even some of the most minimal interactions can be so powerful to their development. If you travel, take someone of high potential with you on the trip. If you have an important lunch meeting, bring someone of high potential along. They will learn so much through these interactions and time with you. 

Empower their growth 

Say yes when you want to say no. Consider the growth that someone gets from a yes and following through on working on a project. Even if the project could be deemed a waste of time or something that the organization really doesn’t need at this time. Assuming that the project is minimal in commitment and won’t take away from something else, give them the opportunity to work on something of meaning. Our no’s can be so hurtful to the growth of someone with high potential as their creative spirit and desire to dream big will be crushed. Empower growth from within on the simplest of projects as letting someone run in the open fields of development will mean more to them than you know. The next time you consider wanting to say no to something, say yes, considering it is a high potential team member. You’ll be amazed at what they will learn through the process. 

Imagine you have a team of ten. What does that team look like if you have five future leaders who are genuinely ready for a leadership role on that team? How does this change your day to day as a leader and their impact for the other five who are not interested in leadership? With an entire army of future leaders your job becomes focused on much larger strategic initiatives instead of the day to day leadership of your team. What happens when you get promoted and you are able to replace yourself with one of these future leaders? What happens when you get promoted again and your entire leadership chain consists of leaders that you’ve invested in? 

Your leadership tree is the vehicle that will leave your lasting impact one day. Nobody will talk about the millions of dollars in revenue you touched or the process changes you implemented. The discussion will be about the impact you had on those around you. Spend time today focused on identifying those future leaders and invest in them. Give them the tools to succeed. Empower them, lift them up, lean into challenges, and do everything you can to find promotional opportunities for them. Your impact will be measured in your leadership tree forever.  

by Scott Bond