Dudes In Their Underwear

NIck Saban is considered to be one of the greatest football coaches of all time. Although he has coached on both the professional and collegiate levels, it was his success on the latter that has cemented his legacy. Saban won seven national championships(including six at the University of Alabama)—the most in college football history. During his tenure as a college coach, Saban sent more than 173 draft picks to the National Football League (NFL), and coached four Heisman Trophy winners. If anyone knows anything about leadership, winning, and success, it is Nick Saban.

So when I learned that he would be a keynote speaker at a leadership conference earlier this year, I immediately registered. I was anxious to learn what insights he could provide on how to achieve long-term success. His address did not disappoint. I knew from watching him over the years in various interviews that he was often uncomfortably direct, occasionally sarcastic, but always sangfroid. I was surprised also to discover that he has a great sense of humor.

During his presentation, he made an observation that made me and the other 7000 people at the conference howl with laughter. Saban said that he is often asked what was the toughest aspect of keeping his players motivated in the face of criticism. Maintaining motivation hard enough. Doing so in the face of criticism is even more so. High-level athletes are bombarded on a daily basis with critics of all types, and from all sides. Every week, their performance both on and off the field is held up to the greatest scrutiny. Leaning how to navigate those spotlights is a crucial skill. But all of us, especially those of us who are responsible for leading others, must learn how to deal with the spotlights that inevitably turn toward us as we move toward greater success.

The only way to avoid criticism is to not do anything. But take a step in any direction, and someone is going to have an opinion. And with the range of technological tools available today, anybody can say anything with zero cost. So to hear what someone like Saban—who has faced great scrutiny and has had to lead young men who have also faced it —thought about the matter was a rare treat.

Everyone leaned in as Saban gathered his thoughts. The crowd held its collective breath as one of the gurus of Football crisscrossed his consciousness to glean insights to share with the rest of us. Then he laughed to himself and said “I would ask them, why are you so concerned about what some dude sitting on his couch in his underwear thinks?” Then he went on to say that to allow someone who has not worked as hard as you to question how hard you work is the height of folly. He advised his players—and us—to ignore people whose opinions don’t cost anything. Most of them are just sitting around in their underwear—doing nothing, going nowhere, and the only work they’ve done is watch you work.

Saban’s counsel is not only deeply humorous. It is also deeply wise. Dudes in their underwear can undermine your confidence. Dudes in their underwear can undercut your progress. Dudes in their underwear can cause you to underrate your skill. Dudes in their underwear are a virulent species of critics. And as Theodore Roosevelt once reminded us, 'It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better... The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena.” If someone is not in the arena, their feedback is probably faulty, their observations are probably obtuse and their ideas are probably inane.

This is the same conclusion that Nehemiah reached. God gave Nehemiah a vision to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem after it was destroyed almost a century earlier. He faced enormous opposition, but was able to successfully rebuild the wall. After the wall was finished and Nehemiah was moving forward to other projects, he received a curious request. According to Nehemiah 6:1-4, this is what happened:

When Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall and that there were no more breaks in it—even though I hadn’t yet installed the gates—Sanballat and Geshem sent this message: “Come and meet with us at Kephirim in the valley of Ono.” I knew they were scheming to hurt me so I sent messengers back with this: “I’m doing a great work; I can’t come down. Why should the work come to a standstill just so I can come down to see you?” Four times they sent this message and four times I gave them my answer.

His critics wanted to talk. And that’s what critics like to do: talk. In fact, that’s all critics ever do: talk. Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem were all ancient versions of “dudes sitting on their coach in their underwear.” It is instructive that Nehemiah refused to stop working to entertain their desire for discourse. Nehemiah, like Coach Saban, understood that success, impact, effectiveness—is all about the work. When we stop working we stop growing. When we stop working, we stop succeeding. When we stop working, we stop becoming.

So here’s today question: what “dudes” or “dudedettes” (who are sitting in their couches in their underwear) have you allowed to settle in your spirit or to occupy your space?

Do me a favor. Ignore the underwear army.