#Leadership : Did We Just Get Proof Of Nick Saban’s #Leadership Style ? Great REad!
There are four fundamental leadership styles: Pragmatist, Idealist, Steward and Diplomat. And as you can probably tell from the names, some are competitive, others collaborative and others structured.
But the toughest, and most intense, of these four leadership styles is the Pragmatist. Pragmatists have high standards, and they expect themselves, and their employees, to meet those standards. These leaders are driven, competitive, and they value hitting their goals above all else. They’re also hard-driving and often enjoy smashing through obstacles. Does that sound like a particular college football coach we all know?
Yesterday, Wall Street Journal reporter Laine Higgins published a piece titled “Nick Saban Wins National Titles. He Loses Assistant Coaches.” And her terrific reporting may have given us the most definitive proof yet that Alabama coach Nick Saban has a Pragmatist leadership style.
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Recounting what happened after their game in the College Football Playoff semifinal, she notes that even though Alabama won, almost immediately Saban was obsessing over the team’s mistakes. He leveled some especially tough feedback at co-offensive coordinator Michael Locksley. With Alabama leading by four touchdowns, Locksley called a risky play that failed. Higgins quotes Locksley as saying, “We punt one time and he’s calling it out. You’re not getting a bunch of pats on the back or ‘great jobs.’”
“You’re not getting a bunch of pats on the back” might be one of the signatures of the Pragmatist leadership style. Working for them is not for the faint-of-heart or thin-skinned, as there will often be more criticism than praise. If you want to know your own leadership style, take the test What’s Your Leadership Style?
If they’re so tough, why would people continue for work for Pragmatists? The opportunities to learn under the Pragmatist’s tutelage are typically second-to-none. The job can sometimes feel like an apprenticeship to a master artist or professor. Partly this is because many Pragmatists are really smart.
If a Pragmatist has been in their role for a while, and they’re still getting good results, it’s likely that their talent outweighs their toughness. A Pragmatist who is not getting good results will often lose their job because they lack the political capital (that comes from niceness, good relationships, etc.) to weather the failures. In other words, if you see a long-tenured Pragmatist, it’s often because they’ve been achieving great results in spite of their intensity (and even abrasiveness).
Higgins’ article identifies another phenomenon that’s common with the Pragmatist leadership style: high turnover. She notes that “for the second year in a row, seven of Saban’s deputies from the previous season’s staff, including both the offensive and defensive coordinators, left Alabama for coaching jobs elsewhere.” And those coaches are not eager to discuss their tenure working for Saban; thirteen of the fifteen assistant coaches that have left since 2015 either wouldn’t comment or wouldn’t respond to requests for comment.
Employees working for the Pragmatist are typically at higher risk of burnout and low employee engagement than those working for a leader with a Diplomat leadership style. It can tough for many to maintain the high-intensity environment typical of the Pragmatist and that can mean shorter employee tenures.
But the plus of this is that when employees quit working for the Pragmatist, they’re often well positioned to take higher-level positions somewhere else. And it’s because of the intense learning experiences that working for a supremely talented Pragmatist can provide.
One of my recent studies called If They’re Not Learning, You’re Not Leading found that intense learning experiences are in short supply for many employees, as only 35% of employees say that they’re Always learning something new at work. Meanwhile, 52% of employees are Never, Occasionally or Rarely learning new things. And as bad as that sounds, it’s even more serious; employees who are always learning new things are 10 times more likely to be inspired than those who are not.
Nick Saban’s success at Alabama is undeniable. And with this latest report, I’d argue that so too is his Pragmatist leadership style. He’s driven, competitive, and appears to value hitting his goals above all else. There aren’t lots of pats on the back, but there are lots of opportunities to learn from, and apprentice under, a master. And while he does lose a lot of assistant coaches, there are always going to be ambitious, driven people who are more than willing to log long workdays, absorb tough criticism, and give 100% effort if it means getting a chance to learn from Nick Saban.
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