Over time, many of the most talented players in each sport have queued up to play for these coaches. And when they did, they had a very good sense of what they were signing up for. Usually, such players would have ‘star status’ conferred on them on day one anywhere else, but not with these coaches, because by and large, they don’t allow a ‘star system’ to exist. Miami Heat coach Pat Riley may have put it best when he said, “Being a part of success is more important than being personally indispensable.” In other words, it’s about ‘team,’ not ‘me.’

In many cases, some of these athletes might have made more money or gotten a softer deal playing somewhere else, but they chose not to because they wanted to be part of a winning organization. As a case in point, why would NFL quarterback Brett Favre want to practice his craft for a minor market team in Green Bay, Wisconsin, a place so cold that its field is referred to as the “frozen tundra?” We suspect the presence of a winning tradition has a lot to do with it.

Each of these coaches has exceptionally high standards – for their players and staff, the officials who referee their games, and for themselves.

Since 1963, Bob Knight has been coaching men’s college basketball at places like the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Indiana University, and Texas Tech University. In that time, his teams have amassed over 800 wins and 3 NCAA championships, making him one of the winningest coaches in basketball history. Knight-coached teams have also enjoyed among the highest player graduation rates in Division 1 sports programs.

Fairly or otherwise, Coach Knight has also garnered a reputation for being (how shall we put this?) extremely demonstrative when he wants to make a point. In some cases, the coach’s rather explicit mode of communicating has gotten him in trouble. While we have no interest in being apologists for bad behavior, there seems little doubt that his passion for seeing kids learn and excel has a lot to do with an occasional profane rant or outburst.

In 2003, after a winning 16/11 season that the students, Athletic Director, and college president were all more than satisfied with, Coach Knight refused to accept his $250,000 paycheck from Texas Tech University. Commenting on the matter, he said, "When I was a kid, I used to shovel walks and do all kinds of stuff to make a dollar. But if I shoveled the walk, I made damn sure that I did a good job. I'm just not at all satisfied with what transpired with our team in terms of our fundamental execution. I don't think it's anybody's fault but mine."

"He has standards," men's basketball spokesman Randy Farley said. "He just didn't meet his standards, and so he said, 'I don't think I should be paid for that.’" Our view is that leaders who refuse to exempt themselves from the strict accountability they impose on others usually achieve more.

The Bar is too Low

Somewhere along the way, the words ‘good enough’ worked their way into our lexicon. Though it is likely they have always been there, our tolerance for their application seems to have increased geometrically, and engendered a certain mindset. Sadly, in many respects, whether the standards are personal or organizational, we just don’t have very high expectations any more, particularly when it comes to behavior.

Be it in sports, politics, business, or everyday life, we seem to have reached an accommodation whereby the end always justifies the means. Whether it’s steroid amped baseball players using corked bats, corporate executives backdating their stock options, everybody with an MP3 player toting a library of stolen music, students knocking off term papers, or residents of the White House lying to the nation, their spouses, or both, cheating is not only prevalent, it is commonly accepted. There doesn’t even appear to be any shame.

As New York State Attorney General, Eliot Spitzer made a living (not to mention a reputation) going after some of the companies and individuals involved in corporate shenanigans, and, although he collected billions in fines from settlements, practically no one went to jail, but for Martha Stewart, one of the few remaining legal residents of America who doesn’t mind cooking and cleaning. (To her credit, she stepped up to the plate and took her medicine without whining, dodging, or dying.)

Contrary to the way it may seem, our approach to this issue is not on a moral plane, but a practical one. When we set modest standards and expectations, that is exactly what we get. Moreover, our study of high performance organizations over the last decade suggests strongly that people dislike losing, and just don’t like “hanging around with turkeys.” While at the water cooler we whine and moan about high standards and expectations, but at the end of the day, we appreciate them, because we know intuitively that they are a necessary precursor to winning. Hence, high expectations, accompanied by ambitious goals are a fundamental factor in tapping into the wellspring of discretionary effort.