Want to build strong, caring leadership habits Bill Walsh would be proud of? Then sign up for a free trial of Lighthouse, because it will help you with the most important soft skills you need as a manager. Do begin planning for your next serious encounter. The smallest steps—plans—move you forward on the road to recovery. Focus on the fix.

Exhibit a ferocious and intelligently applied work ethic directed at continual improvement; demonstrate respect for each person in the organization and the work he or she does; be deeply committed to learning and teaching, which means increasing my own expertise; be fair; demonstrate character; honor the direct connection between details and improvement, and relentlessly seek the latter; show self-control, especially where it counts most—under pressure; demonstrate and prize loyalty; use positive language and have a positive attitude; take pride in my effort as an entity separate from the result of that effort; be willing to go the extra distance for the organization; deal appropriately with victory and defeat, adulation and humiliation (don’t get crazy with victory nor dysfunctional with loss); promote internal communication that is both open and substantive (especially under stress); seek poise in myself and those I lead; put the team’s welfare and priorities ahead of my own; maintain an ongoing level of concentration and focus that is abnormally high; and make sacrifice and commitment the organization’s trademark.”In many ways, it comes down to details. The intense focus on those pertinent details cements the foundation that establishes excellence in performance. Few things embolden and create self-confidence in a person like hearing those words from an individual whose judgment he or she respects, especially if that person is you, his or her boss.” Here are 5 such counter-intuitive ideas from the book. 1. Stop Focusing on Your Results When a goal is attained, a common mistake is to assume things are fine.

The showdown came in week eleven of our schedule and at theworst possible moment for me because after a great start to my second season— three straight wins against the New Orleans Saints, St. LouisCardinals, and New York Jets—we had lost seven consecutive games.Our year was imploding. (The previous season, my first as head coach, ourrecord had been 2–14, which meant that since I had taken over leadershipof the 49ers we had won five games and lost twenty- one, the worst recordin the NFL.) Work does not count as a result: Walsh went against the popular saying which says that participation matters more than winning. He cites the legendary basketball coach, John Wooden on this: “Don’t mistake activity for achievement.”

The “big plays” in business—or professional football—don’t just suddenly occur out of thin air. They result from very hard work and painstaking attention over the years to all of the details related to your leadership.”

The 49ers self-perception was improving; individuals began acting and thinking in a way that reflected pride and professionalism, even as we continued to lose games.”This concept applied beyond the team itself. Players had a connection to-and were an extension of-the coaching staff, trainers, team doctors nutritionists, maintenance crew, and, yes, the people who answered the phones. Everybody was connected, each of us an extension of the others, each of us with ownership in our organisation. People are most comfortable with how they are being treated when their duties are laid out in specific detail and their performance can be gauged by specific metrics. The key is to document-clarify-those expectations. The most powerful way to do this is to have the courage to say, ‘I believe in you,’ in whatever words—or their equivalents—constitute the most inspirational message a leader can convey. There are many ways to do it, but the underlying message should be the same, ‘I believe in you. I know you can do the job.’”

Here are my favorite take-aways from reading, The Score Takes Care of Itself: My Philosophy of Leadership by Bill Wash.: This one reminds me of Jeff Bezos again, another person who is full of counter-intuitive thought patterns. Talent, functional intelligence, experience, maturity, effort, dedication, and practice may not be perfect, but they will get you so close to perfection that most people will think you achieved it. And the results will show it.” Drawn from a series of deeply revealing conversations with coauthor Steve Jamison, "The Score Takes Care of Itself" offers Walsh's best leadership principles illustrated by anecdotes from his entire career. Additional insights and perspective are provided by his son Craig Walsh. A sample of Bill's wisdom:If the West Coast Offense doesn’t sound familiar, just imagine that you’ve inherited a marketing team … and nobody knows how to use Google Analytics. Be bold. Remove fear of the unknown—that is, change—from your mind. Respect the past without clinging to it: “That’s the way we’ve always done it” is the mantra of a team setting itself up to lose to an organization that’s not doing it that way anymore.