A Legend Has Died: Meeting Bill Walsh

Bill Walsh, legendary former football coach of the San Francisco 49ers passed away last week. I thought I would share the interesting story of the one and only time I spoke with him. It happened about eight years ago at the airport in San Jose, California. He was sitting all alone and no one seemed to notice who he was. I had to look at him several times to reassure myself it was really him.  

   

At the time, I was the vice president of sales working for a Silicon Valley software company. A year earlier I had read his 550 page book titled “Finding the Winning Edge.” While the book is an exhaustive description of his football philosophy intended to be read by other coaches, I thought many of the concepts applied to sales management (understanding the role of the head coach, organizing the team, acquiring talent, etc.).

Now I am the type of person who will bother a stranger so it took some courage on my part to approach him. He seemed somewhat surprised when I introduced myself and told him that I really liked his book. He asked what I did for a living and why I liked it. I told him I was in sales and what made the book so interesting was how he drew upon history and integrated quotes from military leaders such as George Patton and Erwin Rommel within the book. As we shook hands I told him that I planned to write a book someday. He was very gracious, encouraging, and wished me well.    

I am sure Bill Walsh influenced the lives of many coaches and players. However, as I look at his book on my bookshelf today, I have no doubt that it help trigger my interest in the application of history and military strategy to the field of sales. This would later serve as the foundation for Heavy Hitter Sales Wisdom. I also included a quote from him in my first book Heavy Hitter Selling:  “History is our collective memory. It is our accumulated experiences. It is constantly invoked by every person, every day, to help them make decisions based, to some extent, on what has gone on before their lives.” A legend has died; Bill Walsh.