“The Xs & Os of Success gives readers an intriguing look at the parallels between coaching a sports team at the highest level and leading a team of professionals in a business setting. Congratulations to Lon Kruger and D.J. Allen for teaming together to write a book many of us have always wanted to read.”
— George W. Smith
President, Bank of America Nevada
Lesson One: The Simplicity of Success
Pre-game:
It’s simple. Success is a process, not an event.
That’s not always the most exciting thing to hear. We want to believe in quick fixes, silver bullets, catching magic in a bottle.
But if you take the time to analyze the large majority of successful people, organizations, companies or teams, you will find that their overall success is a byproduct of simply doing the right things on a daily basis.
That is the reality we face as leaders — the simplicity of success. So how do we address something that is so elementary? How do we affirm this message with our teams day in and day out?
Welcome to the challenge of being a leader.
Game Time:
The average college basketball fan would probably be surprised to learn how much our coaching staff focuses on working with players to develop them off the court, in addition to helping them improve on the court.
When these young men join our program, they are usually 18-, 19- or 20-years-old. Many of them are away from home for the first time.
Some arrive on the scene with a strong work ethic while some lack the concept of working hard. It is all relative to their background and surroundings. While you can learn a little something about the players during the recruiting process, there are just some things you can’t find out about people until you are around them everyday.
Our objective as a staff is to develop our program for long-term success.
This means having kids on our team who are emotionally, mentally and physically able to perform at their highest level possible in basketball as well as in the classroom and socially. We want to maximize the potential of each player in our program.
In order to do this, we must start with the basics. We talk to our kids about the simplicity of success. “Take care of what you have to take care of today,” we tell them. “If you do this day in and day out for your entire tenure with us, you will have success and we will have success as a team.”
It is teaching elementary principles, but it is what works.
The Xs & Os of Success 