If you were born into a Maize and Blue bleeding family, it’s probably safe to say that you’ve heard of numerous stories about the legendary Bo Schembechler. For those of you who aren’t familiar with him, Bo was the head football coach at The University of Michigan; an outstanding leader who guided the wolverines from 1969–1989, finishing his career 194–48–5 with the additions of 13 Big Ten Conference titles (won or shared). But it wasn’t his record that made him the legend he is today. Instead, he is admired by many for his lessons, his attitude, and his leadership that he brought to the University.
Bo was unlike any coach you know today. With his success, you might think that his players loved him. Well, it was actually quite the opposite; many players were scared to death of Schembechler. But that’s how Bo liked it. He was a tyrant, and he was not afraid to get in a players face if they did something wrong. Needless to say, Bo knew how to get stuff done. But at the same time, Schembechler also stood as a father figure to his players. If they needed anything, and I mean anything, he’d always be there for them; and you know what, he stuck to his word. He was both a coach and a mentor; teaching life lessons both on and off the field to those who were willing to listen.
Bo is a perfect example of what it is to be both an effective leader, and also a decent human-being. Most famous for his “The Team” speech, Bo knew how to inspire with his words; with pithy language, Bo delivered timeless lessons on leadership, responsibility, and motivation. His lessons are just as impactful today as they were on his players and the University years ago. We can all learn from Coach Schembechler, and I think his words of wisdom are words to truly live by.
Responsibility
"Not making a decision is the worst thing you can do. So long as you feel you made the right decision based on the information you had at that time, there's no need to fret about it. If it fails, you'll know what to do next time."
"For God's sakes, quit worrying about your next job. Just do the best you can at the job you have now, and the offers will come. And when they do, if you have confidence in yourself you don't have to feel that you can't turn it down if it isn't quite right for you because you fear you'll never get another offer. You will. Wait for the right opportunity, and turn down all the rest. It will make all the difference."
"Early is on time and on time is late."
"Nothing good ever happens after midnight."
“I do not believe in sitting on a problem. Because the longer you sit on that thing, the longer it'll irritate you. If you're keeping it to yourself, there's nothing the guy you're mad at can do to fix it, either, because you haven't told him why you're mad.”
Leadership
“You can NOT be a leader unless you like people! You’ve got to spend time with them, so you know them. You’ve got to be interested in who they are, what they do away from the job, and how they think.”
“If you do not like people, you will not take the time to get to know them, and if you don't get to know them, you will have no idea what scares them, what inspires them, what motivates them.”
“If you want to become a great leader, you need to prepare yourself to become a great leader, and the best way to do that is to study great leaders.”
Motivation
"Every day you either get better or you get worse. You never stay the same."
"When your team is winning, be ready to be tough, because winning can make you soft. On the other hand, when your team is losing, stick by them. Keep believing."
And most famously…
"We want the Big Ten championship and we're gonna win it as a Team. They can throw out all those great backs, and great quarterbacks, and great defensive players, throughout the country and in this conference, but there's gonna be one Team that's gonna play solely as a Team. No man is more important than The Team. No coach is more important than The Team. The Team, The Team, The Team, and if we think that way, all of us, everything that you do, you take into consideration what effect does it have on my Team? Because you can go into professional football, you can go anywhere you want to play after you leave here. You will never play for a Team again. You'll play for a contract. You'll play for this. You'll play for that. You'll play for everything except the team, and think what a great thing it is to be a part of something that is, The Team. We're gonna win it. We're gonna win the championship again because we're gonna play as team, better than anybody else in this conference, we're gonna play together as a team. We're gonna believe in each other, we're not gonna criticize each other, we're not gonna talk about each other, we're gonna encourage each other. And when we play as a team, when the old season is over, you and I know, it's gonna be Michigan again, Michigan."
Those Who Stay Will Be Champions
To learn more about Bo, I recommend reading his book, Bo's Lasting Lessons: The Legendary Coach Teaches the Timeless Fundamentals of Leadership.
Go Blue!
