Book: The Score Takes Care of Itself: My Philosophy of Leadership by Bill Walsh. Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.

It’s a great book on leadership. I confess that I was really bored in the first 15% of the book. The beginning is boring for those who don’t give a f*ck about football but keep reading, it worth the journey. Bill Walsh took the San Francisco 49ers from a really bad performance (2 wins/14 losses) to an amazing one (13 win/3 losses) 2 years later. He applied his organizational philosophy to the whole organization and this is what this book is about, how he managed to do that, and how it works.

Here are my raw notes about the book:

  • People are the most important part of an organization
  • There is no method that guarantees a victory, but there are things to do to increase the probability of success
  • Expect defeat. If you’re surprised when it happens, you’re a dreamer and dreamers don’t last long
  • Give you some time to recover after losing
  • Don’t look to the past and blame yourself
  • Begin planning for your next battle after losing
  • Never ask “why me?”
  • Don’t expect sympathy. Don’t keep accepting condolences. Don’t blame others.
  • The top priority is teaching
  • Be clear about your expectations of performance
  • An organization is not an inanimate object, it’s a living organism
  • Let them know you expect them to have the highest level of expertise in their area
  • Remove the fear from the unknown
  • Be obsessed, look for the upside in the downside
  • Try to anticipate situations before they happen. In the middle of the game, you have to be prepared — 💭 That feels like Stoicism
  • Control what you can control. You may control 80% of the situation and your chance to win is to control more of your 80% than your opponents controls theirs. — 💭 That feels like Stoicism
  • Look for the strengths of your opponent and create counter moves with what you have
  • To maintain a good culture and be able to win, remove the detractors of the good culture (non-team-players) slowly, even if they are talented people. When you have good and bad leaders, remove the bad ones to avoid influence to people that did not take sides yet.
  • Avoid unnecessary control, it only holds you back and drain your energy
  • To be a great leader, be yourself. Don’t try to use anyone else’s style, it may be good for them but not for you
  • Be committed to excellence and positive
  • Be detail-oriented but focus on the right details. Focus on what gives you an advantage over your competitors (the position of the sun in the field) not some meaningless things (like lines for soup at the lunchtime)
  • Be organized
  • Avoid excuses to avoid finger pointing
  • Your decision should be good not just for the short term, but for the long term as well. It should not focus on your personal goals but on the company ones.
  • Be careful with the “sharp pencils” attitude. Don’t only do things in preparation for the job or at the end you will just have sharp pencils to show, not a good letter written.
  • Don’t let anyone defy the culture of the team, no matter how important/talented this person is.
  • Treat people like people, not a number
  • Give no VIP treatment
  • Speak in positive terms about former employees
  • Hire smart people to get rid of stupid questions
  • Be concise when talking to your team
  • Some people are more receptive and ready to learn than others, for reasons out of their control
  • The most important attribute of any organization is the way it treats people
  • Mastery is a process, not a destination, there is no true master
  • When hiring, seek character
  • Leaders must identify people with a bad attitude and get rid of them before they make others act badly
  • A good character is contagious (as well as the bad one)
  • People with a big ego (egotism) must be recognized earlier or they will destroy what you have built
  • A coach is not different from a CEO. You have to know the line between your goals and the well-being of your people. No one wants to achieve something big but hates their lives. You have to work hard but also know when working harder is giving you the worst returns.
  • Use a no enemies policy and is may get you some advocates instead
  • Be passionate and take risks if necessary. Apply your plans.

And the conclusion for the book:

If you achieve your goal to create a great team and superior organization, the score will take care of itself