We can’t say that NFL rookie head coach Nick Sirianni will go down as one of the game’s greats. Heaven knows, football at the professional level is a unique challenge for coaches and players alike, and few survive the experience with accolades.
But one thing we do know is that Sirianni never wings it when it comes to his pre-game team meetings. For five years prior to getting the break of his life as a new NFL coach, Sirianni practiced a very particular thing: his speeches to the team. He developed his thoughts and outlined what he would say to his players in any given situation. From home games to first games, as underdogs or favorites, in winning streaks or losing streaks, in hostile crowds or the home crowd, in the news and out of the news, he is ready for the moment because he has prepared for that moment for years.
This is a lesson shared by many great leaders. Few of us are as articulate as we would like to be in big moments when our leadership needs to shine. By preparing for those moments before they happen, we can ensure the message we deliver will be what we want to say and not what the situation or the emotion of the moment influences us to say. Now, that’s a message worth remembering.
