G 2 G.  Two letters and a little number, and yet together they are very powerful.

Just ask Auburn Head Football coach, Gene Chizik, who led his Tigers to the B.C.S. National Championship last night.

Quite an accomplishment for a guy who is only in his second season at the helm.

Chizik came to Auburn from little known Iowa State, where his overall record was 5-19.

Two years later he is the National Coach of the Year, and his team is the National Champion.

This past summer, Chizik reminded his team that they had been a good team last year.  Then he challenged them to move to greatness.  He showed them G 2 G and told the team it would become their focus.

They responded and now sit atop the college football landscape.

How did they do it?  They took a page out of Jim Collins book, Good to Great.

1 – Great people.  Have you seen Cam Newton and Nick Fairley play football?  Not to mention all of the coaches and other players who were the right people on the Auburn “bus.”  Chizik not only had the right people, but they were also in the right seats.

Imagine little Ontario McAleb playing on the defensive line.  It would not have worked.  Cam Newton as a linebacker?  Ok, that might have worked.  But he would have been good, not great.

2 – Great Thinking.  They confronted the brutal facts.  Alabama, Florida, and L.S.U. were better than they were over the past couple of years.  And  yet Auburn believed that they ultimately would prevail and be great.

They then focused on a single goal.  To win championships.  First it was their Division.  Then the SEC.  Finally the National Title.

3 – Great Actions.  Great actions are the final piece of the Good to Great puzzle.  Auburn created a culture of discipline and turned it into momentum.  We will look at these two principles of G 2 G over the next couple of days.

But today I couldn’t resist the opportunity to write about the Tigers.  My wife is an Auburn girl and we have been season ticket holders for the past couple of decades.  We have seen first hand an amazing climb from G 2 G.

Greatness is available to you too.  But not without disciplined people, disciplined thinking, and disciplined actions.  If an ordinary guy like Gene Chizik can apply the G 2 G principles and experience greatness, so can you.

War Eagle!!!

i2i,

Randy

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