JIMBO FISHER ON BUILDING & MAINTAINING CULTURE

It is somewhat ironic that I have just finished an outstanding book by Jeff Janssen titled "How to Build and Sustain a Championship Culture" before running into an outstanding article on culture on the web this morning.  The article appears in the Tallahassee Democrat and is well-written by Jim Henry.  You can, and should, read the entire article here.  It speaks of Jimbo Fisher and his challenge of maintaining his culture in the light of great success.  I've known Jimbo since my high school days in West Virginia where we occasionally played some pick up basketball and then watched him do an amazing job at LSU under Nick Saban before building a championship team at Florida State. 

Here are a few take aways I got from the piece.

While FSU is a prohibitive favorite to repeat as college football's national champion, it's not expected to be easy. That's why only three teams have repeated since 1980 in the Associated Press poll.

Looking to maintain that elusive level of greatness, Fisher spent a portion of his summer reading books on great coaches and players and studying their methods on how they were/are consistent winners.

"It's human nature to win and relax," Fisher said. "Our natural human nature is not to strive."

We both have a mutual friend in Don Yaeger, also a resident of Tallahassee, who knows a great deal about success and culture who shares his thoughts as well.

 Building that culture of greatness is also a passion of Tallahassee's Don Yaeger, a multiple New York Times best-seller who travels the country and works with some of the most successful coaches and franchises in sports.

"If you believe that success leaves clues, then Jimbo Fisher's out there looking for clues – I think that's very important," Yaeger said.

Yaeger has learned among the strongest links between teams and organizations that win consistently is their focus on building the culture that allows them to do so.

I thought it was also telling that on the heels of winning a National Championship that Jimbo spent the summer "learning."  He specifically wrapped himself into reading -- reading about those who has sustained excellence.

Looking to maintain that elusive level of greatness, Fisher spent a portion of his summer reading books on great coaches and players and studying their methods on how they were/are consistent winners.

"It's human nature to win and relax," Fisher said. "Our natural human nature is not to strive."

"You have to understand that everything has got to be committed to excellence," Fisher said.

"It's creating that culture that is much more important. You've got to get players, but then you've got to create culture and that takes time."

To find ways to keep his team motivated and learn from past champions, Fisher studied the likes of Michael Jordan, Joe Montana, Larry Bird, coach Phil Jackson and others.

Again, these are just a few excerpts from a great article -- read it all here.