Success Lessons from Papa John

There is something about this guy that amazes me. He seems so down to earth, and yet he seems dead set on world domination at the same time. I would love to have someone say the exact same thing about me. Here's some advice John Schnatter recently doled out to Brenna Fisher in a recent article:

The Do's and Dont's:

DO:
- Love what you do. Schnatter says, "If you have a passion and you're proud of it, you'll do a good job." I think we're all passionate about the game. That shouldn't be an issue for most coaches.

- Be the best in your class and offer the best product. "We want to be the best pizza delivery company in the world and we think we can be," he says. We as coaches are pretty limited in the area of physical product. Our product is ourselves and our teams; our character and teaching.

- Teach people leadership. "It is very fulfilling to watch people grow," Schnatter says. I think this is why I like this guy so much. He invests in his people. We as coaches need to take this same approach. Sure we want to win, but think past wins and losses. Invest in your players and they will in turn invest in the program. A great resource for this Is Jeff Janssen!

DON'T:
- Give up hope too early. I recently read on twitter, Kevin Eastman touched on this. He said, "Coach your team every day -- even if losing games -- don't let the result keep you from your job!! Hard to do some days -- but necessary!!" (I consider myself EXTREMELY lucky to have spent 5 years working for Coach Eastman; such a great basketball mind)

- Be afraid to confront the facts (especially the ugly ones) and tackle challenges. The efficiency rating I posted earlier is a great objective tool to assess the facts. Another great nugget from Coach Eastman on this, "Continue to evaluate what you are doing for your team every day; are you getting the most out of your ability? Are you doing your job completely?"

- Be arrogant. Schnatter states, "When companies start to fall apart, it's because they think they're smarter, they're not open and they don't watch trends." There is a lot to be said about character. Being arrogant will eventually catch up to you.