They’re three seemingly simple questions.

“Why do you coach?” “What’s your philosophy?” “How do you measure success?”

But for Rod Olson, the answers to these almost always reveal critical insights.

“They’re my questions of clarity,” he said.

Olson was a college football coach for nearly two decades and now serves as a leadership consultant and advisor to college and professional head coaches, CEOs and Navy SEAL commanders. He’s also penned three books.

The Daily Coach spoke to him recently about why it’s not enough anymore to simply have buy-in, how the best leaders continuously evolve, and the importance of “beginning with the end in mind.”

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Coach, thanks a lot for doing this. I know you got into coaching earlier than most. What are some lessons from your early years coaching different sports?

I grew up in Minnesota. I was a football, basketball, baseball guy. I had some knee impact injuries and was hit, so it got me coaching way earlier than I had planned.

I coached high school basketball for a little when I was in college. It was one of the hardest things I ever did. I remember thinking, “My guys are better coached! They’re better drilled!” But the other team had two guys better than we had. I started thinking, “I’m not good enough to be a high school coach. I need to get to college so I can recruit.”

You don’t know anything. Technically, you think you’re pretty good, but you’re over-coaching everybody because you’re young. Instead of telling them one thing, you’re telling them 90 things because you love to hear the sound of your own voice.

But I was really good at connecting with players and was always good with relationships. We say the secret sauce today is to be relationship-driven and also be able to hold them accountable without them resenting you. Can you teach old-school values with new-school methods?

I could always connect with the guys and parents.

You went on to coach football at several different Division I and NAIA schools. What stands out to you most from your time on college sidelines and what ultimately led you into consulting for coaches?

The only (head coaching) jobs I had been able to get were the ones no one else wanted. Teams that were 0-10, 1-9 whatever. I took a job as the head coach at Dakota Wesleyan University in South Dakota.

My staff and I had a real knack for coming up with these team-building activities. We wanted to keep our players busy on the weekends, but we also wanted to build culture. We’d do scavenger hunts, play capture the flag. We had two rules. One, it had to be crazy fun, like they couldn’t wait to come back. Two, it had to be highly competitive.

I started speaking a little here and there at banquets, or breakfasts, or coaches clinics. Coaches started calling me up and asking about those activities.

You said “they couldn’t wait to come back.” Can you discuss why that’s so important for leaders, especially in the modern era?

It’s everything. It used to be, “Well, players don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Now, everybody talks about emotional intelligence, E.Q. Emotional intelligence is an essential skill in any industry. If you don’t have it, you’re done.

If you’re not a leader who can get along with his team, you’ve got a major problem. You used to be able to just win and you could do whatever you wanted

You can’t get away with it anymore. Now, they want you to win, and be a great human, and have people love themselves and love you.

It’s not enough to have buy-in. You have to have your team members take ownership. That’s when you win championships and build culture. That’s when lives are changed.

You’ve worked with leaders and coaches across a range of industries. Are there common mistakes you see?

There’s common fabric with executives, Special Forces leaders and head coaches. Why? They’re all high-stakes individuals. They are high speed, usually highly-addictive personalities. I always say, “Don’t trust anybody without a limp.” All the principles I teach are principles I still struggle with. To be world class is brutal. It’s difficult.

We say, “How you do anything is how you do everything.” But do you know how hard that is? It’s hard to be a simple man in a complex world. It’s hard to be easy to please and hard to satisfy. It’s hard to destroy complacency without destroying confidence. It’s hard to be a great husband and great father and great coach and fight for balance.

The common mistake I see, and we all do this, is you should never assume resilience. We think our wives and spouses will always be there. We think our kids are resilient and will get over it. We think we have unlimited energy and can drive our coaching staffs into the ground. But all of us have a breaking point, and none of us are any good when we’re tired.

The other thing in today’s world is over-coaching and understanding how to say more by speaking less. I think people love the sound of their own voice and we over-coach people to death. But it doesn’t promote ownership.

What do you think are the most relevant skills for a coach in 2024 compared to years ago?

It used to be we got into coaching because we were a player who got hurt or we just loved coaching and wanted to stay around a sport. Money wasn’t even in the equation.

Now, the money has gotten so good in college sports. Younger people have gotten into coaching not just because they love it but also because of the lure of the money. I think the pendulum has now swung back to, “This is a hard job. It’s tough. It’s a grind now.”

The skills needed in today’s world are you have to be the ultimate relationship builder. You have to be able to connect with anybody because recruiting is everything. But you also need to be highly competent and cutting edge with what you’re teaching. John Wooden said, “My values, my principles don’t really change. But how I teach them has to evolve with the generations I coach.”

One of the things I do is just help guys modify their message. There’s nothing new under the Sun, but maybe there’s a different way to say it or package it. You better be the ultimate communicator in today’s world. You can’t just be a grunter and get things done. You have to be able to communicate with people clearly, concisely and with precision.

I want to ask you about a core leadership thought of yours, which is “Beginning with the end in mind.” What does that mean to you?

I was challenged a long time ago in a little office in Chicago when someone said to me, “The players of today are the coaches of tomorrow. What legacy are you building into them?” I wasn’t expecting that.

One of the things I do when I teach is I have people write down the name of someone who’s had a profound impact on their life. They wouldn’t be in the seat they are today if not for them. Then, I ask them what this person did consistently with you over time where you’d do anything to not disappoint them.

You can’t pick if people write your name down later in life, but you can choose what you want them to write down. You were always there for them. You told them what they needed to hear, not necessarily what they wanted to. You spoke greatness into them, you didn’t just tear them down.

For me, building a legacy into people is the end in mind.

Q&A Resources

Rod Olson ― Website | Twitter | Facebook | Books | Speaking 

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