Ep 469 | What We Can Learn From Coach Franklin's 4 Core Values

Thank you for joining me today. It's Brian Gubernick, and welcome to the No Days Off podcast, where we believe that every single day brings a new opportunity to get better. Coach Franklin, head coach of Penn State football, I had an opportunity to spend time with, with the Penn State football team when they came here to Phoenix for the Fiesta Bowl just a couple of weeks ago. Now, Penn State did just lose, uh, a big game last week, and so they're no longer in the college football playoffs, and they're not playing for that national championship. But when they were here in the Fiesta Bowl, it was a quarterfinal game, and, and I, I happen to do some work for the Fiesta Bowl. And so from the time Penn State landed here in Arizona until the time they departed I was with the team, and it's a lot of fun for me. I'm a big football fan. It's a, it's a big volunteer organization. The Fiesta Bowl actually is a volunteer organization. It's something I commit a lot of time to, and this year my job was to function as a liaison for the team. So everywhere the team goes while they're here in Arizona, I'm with them. Well, I had the very unique opportunity to follow and pay attention, listen to their head coach, James Franklin. Even though they lost, Coach Franklin is probably one of the most amazing coaches I've seen in action in all my years of having the opportunity to be around different, different sports teams. The very first meeting that Coach Franklin held with his team, they landed here in Arizona and they went to the hotel and he sits the whole team down for a 16-minute meeting. I mean, it was 6 slides, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, just things he, he wanted to set the tone as the team arrived and as they started to get into the week, the practice and all that. He sits the team down and the very first conversation that team has, Coach Franklin says to the 100 or so young men in the room, what are our core values? And the whole team recites these values. Now, Penn State football's core values Number 1, operate with a positive attitude. Always have a positive attitude. Number 2, display great work ethic. Number 3, compete in everything you do. And number 4, be willing to sacrifice. Have a positive attitude, maintain a great work ethic, compete in everything you do, and be willing to sacrifice. The kids in that room clearly had recited those values many times over, all throughout the season, probably all throughout their Penn State careers. And, and from what I understand, those core values are plastered all over the, the football department at Penn State. Now, lots of companies, lots of sports teams have core values. They state these things. But what I got to see out of Penn State and Coach Franklin was not just them stating these core values but living them. When we went to the practice field the next day, I watched Coach Franklin say to kids, you know, not your typical coach speak like, "Hey, nice play," or, "Good effort," or, "Way to go," or whatever it may be. Instead, what I heard him say as the leader of that organization, as a leader of that team, he'd say to a kid, "I really like your attitude. That's a positive attitude." or, "Wow, way to work. That's the work ethic we're looking for." Or when his offense and defense were playing against one another in practice, he'd say, "I like the way you're competing. Way to compete. That's what we want out of our guys." I even heard him say, "Sacrifice. You got to make a sacrifice. You got to be willing to sacrifice for the guy next to you." In other words, these weren't just stated core values. They were a part of the culture. They were a part of the Penn State ethos. He was living and breathing and making the team live and breathe these things. Side note, I can't imagine that any of these kids after they're done playing football at Penn State, you know, a portion of them will go play professionally, but more of them will not. But for that entire team, because he has said this so many times and probably because they're saying it to one another, That— those core values are things that those kids are going to carry throughout the rest of their life. It's going to influence how they approach their business or their job or their family or anything else that they get themselves into. It was just such an amazing and almost refreshing thing to see because he recites these core values in, in meetings, but then actually says it and talks about it. One of the coolest things I got to see from Coach Franklin as a leader of that team was after Penn State scored their first touchdown in the Fiesta Bowl. The kid that scored came running to the sideline, and whereas most coaches would high-five a kid or say, "Great play," or whatever it may be, I watched Coach Franklin pull this kid aside, look in his eyes, grab his helmet, look in his eyes, and say, "I'm so happy for you." I'm so happy for you. And it was, it was, you could just tell it was, it was meaningful and it mattered. And for me as a business owner, as, as somebody that thinks of himself as a leader, it was a great lesson to see how, how, how he took that conversation, made it such a meaningful one. And I know he was thinking about the core values that that team stands for. Now, why am I talking about this with you today? I think it's a cool story. Sure. But I'm bringing it up because I think many of our organizations, many of you listening right now, you're running big businesses and you probably have some sort of mission statement or vision. You may even have some core values of your own. Maybe your people know about these core values, but how many of us are running organizations where these core values become more than just words and they're actually part of the DNA of that team? They're actually part of the culture. So in observing, I had to think to myself, gosh, the companies I'm part of, what are our core values? And you know, for my companies, we do in fact have core values. But if I, if I was being honest, if I looked in the mirror, are we living and breathing and experiencing those core values day in and day out? And the answer is probably not to the extent we should be. Am I restating them over and over again, not just at the start of a meeting or the end of a meeting, but throughout my one-on-ones or throughout my, you know, daily interactions with team members and clients? Are we truly living and breathing these core values? Again, the answer is no, not to the extent it should be. So my action step for me personally has been to think about these core values, number one, and determine are they really what we stand for? And if the answer is yes, then the next question is, how am I doing as the leader in terms of making certain that these core values are in fact embodied by my team, by my players, much like Coach Franklin did with his Penn State players? So the question for you is, what are your core values? Does your team know your core values? And are you in fact living and breathing those things? Such that they're shaping the way that you and your team are approaching your day, your week, your month, the game that you're in fact playing. That's what I want the focus for today's episode to be. I want you to turn this off, you know, when we're finished, and I want you to reflect on the core values that you have for your organization. Are you clear? And then after that, If in fact you are clear, if you're not, let's stop and think about that some more. If you are clear, then I want you to think about how they're showing up every single day within the conversations and the actions that you and your team are taking. If it's not where it needs to be, what steps can you take right now to change that? Again, beginning of the year, we get to attack 2025 and the goal being, you you know, to, to achieve greatness. How can you incorporate this into your world such that it puts you one step closer to the success you desire? That's all I have for you today. The No Days Off Podcast. Thank you so much for listening. And remember, every single day brings a new opportunity to get better. So let's get after it.