“Leadership is getting a group of people to move in a direction toward a worthwhile goal,” sums up Lou Holtz with his 28 years coaching experience and currently head football coach for the number one ranked Fighting Irish of Notre Dame.

To some sales managers, the connection between coaching football players and leading a sales team to victory is not obvious, until they listen to Lou Holtz. Anyone who has ever seen Holtz in action knows there is little difference between a winning football team and a winning sales team. Sure, there are minor language differences like scoring points vs. market share, or goal posts vs. sales goals or touchdown vs. close, but after all is said and done, the name of the game is still ongoing achievement. Says Lou Holtz, “If what you did yesterday seems big, you haven’t done anything today.” To him, achievement, like success, is a journey, not a destination.

The Power of Discipline

Holtz, who has become one of the most sought after motivational speakers in America today, is known for his strong sense of discipline.

He explains, “Discipline is not what you do to someone; it’s what you do for someone.” These words are like music to managers who struggle with the challenge of disciplining their highly paid sales stars. But how do you discipline a star? According to Holtz, it’s really simple: “Getting on a player is not necessarily appreciated. But caring about players doesn’t mean making it easy for them. Caring is helping them to develop traits and talents. My job is to provide athletes with a chance to win. A coach can’t win, no coach has ever won a game.” This view of caring is shared by master motivator Zig Ziglar – a Holtz admirer.

But what about establishing discipline in a sales team? Holtz responds: “We all have 24 hours a day, 60 minutes to an hour and 60 seconds to a minute, and it’s how we spend them that is really important. I don’t think discipline is forcing somebody to do something, it’s showing them how this is going to help them in the long run. You don’t go about establishing discipline. You set rules and you enforce the rules. You just tell them that you expect them to do what’s right, and treat others as they like to be treated.”

Peter V. Ueberroth, another Holtz admirer, once told a reporter, “Lou Holtz is motivation. He embodies truly American values with his determination of purpose and his deep respect for others. America is fortunate to have people like Lou Holtz working with its youth.”

The Power of Expectations

It is a common phenomenon in selling that a sales manager’s expectation determines team performance. As Holtz claims, “The players usually are going to reflect the atmosphere that is generated on the sideline by the leadership of your assistant coaches, your senior players and yourself. On the sideline, if the coach doesn’t have much faith, the coach thinks bad things are going to happen, the coach thinks you’re going to lose, if the coach appears to be disorganized and disoriented, your football team usually will reflect that.” In other words, the sales team is highly responsive to the subtle signals their managers send. A salesperson respects what a sales manager expects – even when these expectations are not wrapped in words. Many times the sales manager’s nonverbal messages speak the loudest.