Entrepreneur Secrets: How Dabo Swinney did it
January 23, 2017
By Jerry Bellune
Do you think you can learn anything from a football coach?
This one’s a national championship winning Clemson Tigers coach.
I’ll bet you can. Here are his success strategies:
- Overcome your challenges.
Challenges are necessary. They teach us to succeed.
And we learn more from failures than successes.
Swinney started at Alabama with no scholarship.
He lettered three times after walking on at 19 as a wide receiver.
- Keep your eyes on the details.
It’s OK to be a big picture person.
But it’s the tiny details that can hurt you.
Swinney makes detailed plans.
He tracks the Tigers’ routines up to a year in advance.
- Work hard . . . and smart.
At Alabama, he had to outwork the scholarship players.
You may be No. 2 – or No. 22 – in your market. That’s OK.
Plan what it will take to become No. 1 and go after it.
4, Be a lifetime learner.
Coach Bobby Bowden, collected quotes from his own reading..
This is a practice he passed on to his son Tommy.
As a coach, Tommy taught Swinney to do it, too.
- Build long-lasting relationships.
Good leaders cross racial, economic and religious lines.
They build mutually-beneficial relations.
As an assistant coach, his office was always filled with players.
They sought him out because he was fun to be with.
- Recruit great talent.
Clemson consistently has Top 20 recruiting classes.
His assistant coaches are among the best in the business.
Their team scored over 500 points, 25% more than in 2015.
To sustain a successful business, infuse your team with top talent.
- Think long-term as well as today.
Swinney is a big-picture guy with a long-term vision.
Yet he sees the minutest details of day-to-day operations.
Bonus. Seek constant improvement.
His 2011 team won the ACC championship.
The 2012 team beat a strong LSU team in their bowl game.
The 2013 team beat Ohio State in a bowl.
In 2014 they ended South Carolina’s five-year winning streak.
In 2016 they narrowly lost the national title to Alabama.
This year they beat Alabama in the last seconds for the title.
Which of these strategies could you put to use this week?
Next: More secrets from Dabo Swinney
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©2017 The Bellune Company, Inc
Neither MidlandsBiz.com nor The Bellune Company, Inc. makes any warranty as to the results that may be achieved from using this information. ©2015 The Bellune Company, Inc. All rights reserved. Requests for permission to reprint or circulate may be obtained by emailing [email protected]
