The Score Takes Care of Itself

In The Score Takes Care of Itself, author and former coach Bill Walsh walks through his leadership principles that allowed him to take the San Francisco 49ers from the laughingstock of the NFL to become multi-time Super Bowl champions. While many of Walsh's leadership techniques are universally held, there were some that stood out from Walsh's experience as new and interesting ideas.

First among these ideas is incessant preparation. Walsh made sure his team, and himself in particular, were extremely prepared for every possible scenario they could encounter in the game. Walsh himself prided his preparation especially with respect to being prepared regardless of what curveball appeared. He made sure he had plans and backup plans whenever their team got into situations, no matter how unexpected they turned out to be. This proved crucial in several games when this advanced preparation helped seal their win.

Additionally, Walsh made sure he filled his team with people who were bought in, regardless of whether or not they were stars. He gave specific examples of instances where he let superstars walk away because their attitude was detrimental to the team as a whole. Once he was able to establish that culture where everyone was bought in, the flywheel started rolling and the 49ers improved remarkably fast.

Walsh also brought up the idea that winners can get far too complacent, which is why it's so difficult for teams to sustain long term success. In order to root out that attitude, Walsh always was trying new ways to energize his team and make sure they were focused on the opponent ahead, regardless of how poor the opponent may have been.

Walsh's techniques paved the way for the 49ers to go from the bottom of the NFL to the top in a remarkably short period of time. His leadership lessons, however, extend far beyond the gridiron.