The Process

As a Tennessee Volunteer fan, it’s not in my nature to praise Alabama. But former coach Nick Saban built a leadership system so strong that ignoring it would be a mistake. Even if you’re not into sports, the principles below apply directly to high-performing organizations—and especially to MSPs trying to scale.

Nick Saban built one of the most dominant programs in college football not by obsessing over championships, but by obsessing over the behaviors that produce championships. His approach is so deceptively simple that most leaders overlook it: stop focusing on winning and start focusing on the work that makes winning inevitable.

It’s a philosophy every MSP leader needs to understand — especially those trying to push past the $5M, $10M, or $20M plateau.

Saban calls it The Process.

And whether you're running a football program or scaling a managed services organization, the principle is the same:

“Don’t think about winning the game. Think about what you have to do on this play to succeed.” — Nick Saban

High-growth MSPs aren’t built on ambition. They’re built on discipline.

The Vision: Clarity Before Strategy

Saban starts with vision. Not a scoreboard goal. Not a trophy. A standard.

Before one snap is played, he defines:

• how his team behaves

• what they tolerate

• what excellence looks like

• what “doing your job” means

• and the accountability to protect that standard

  
  

Most MSPs skip this step entirely.

They chase revenue, chase tools, chase opportunities — but fail to define the identity of the organization they’re trying to build. Without a vision, process has nothing to anchor to. And without process, growth is inconsistent at best, chaotic at worst.

Saban’s clarity is the foundation. Everything downstream is execution.

Discipline: Doing What Needs to Be Done, Not What You Feel Like Doing

One of Saban’s most important lines is brutally simple:

“There are things you are supposed to do that you don’t want to do — so we do them.And there are things you want to do that you’re not supposed to do — so we don’t do them.”

That’s discipline.

And discipline is the oxygen of a scaling MSP.

Most MSPs know what they should be doing:

• running rigorous deal qualification

• following a consistent onboarding process

• documenting every change

• coaching instead of rescuing

• reviewing financials monthly

• enforcing standards equally

• holding teams accountable

  
  

But knowing isn’t the gap. Doing is.

Saban’s teams win because they do the boring, unglamorous, uncelebrated work with relentless consistency. MSPs that scale operate the same way.

Adversity: Staying Composed When Circumstances Get Ugly

One of the most iconic examples of Saban’s philosophy came in a National Championship against Georgia.

Down 13 at halftime. Momentum gone. A freshman backup quarterback forced into action. The season on the line.

Most teams collapse under that kind of circumstance. Saban’s teams don’t.

Why?

Because they don’t focus on the circumstance — they focus on the next play.

“Are you able to stay focused on the process and the vision? Or are you only able to focus on your circumstance?” — Saban

In MSP terms, adversity looks different but feels the same:

• a major outage

• a lost deal

• a surprise churn

• a hiring miss

• a process breakdown

• a tight cash-flow quarter

  
  

Average organizations panic. Strong ones pivot.

Saban called it resilience.

Dr. Angela Duckworth calls it grit.

In MSP leadership, it’s the ability to keep executing the fundamentals when pressure spikes.

The MSPs that grow the fastest are the ones that refuse to let circumstances dictate standards.

People: You Cannot Out-Process the Wrong Team

Saban is maniacal about people. He knows process collapses if the wrong people are running it.

One of his sharpest lines cuts right to the core of MSP culture:

“Mediocre people don’t like high achievers, and high achievers don’t like mediocre people. Don’t mix them.”

That applies to service teams, sales teams, leadership teams — all of it.

In a scaling MSP:

• accountability attracts the hungry

• clarity repels the complacent

• standards expose the indifferent

  
  

The wrong people drain momentum. The right people create lift.

Hiring for culture, discipline, and capacity matters more than hiring for résumé bullets.

Execution: Roles, Standards, and Trust

Saban has another foundational principle: “Just do your job.”

Not someone else’s.

Not the job you wish you had.

Not the shortcut version.

Just your job.

On the field, that’s what allowed his freshman receiver to hold his route on the championship-winning play — instead of trying to make a heroic catch on a ball that wasn’t thrown to him.

If he breaks discipline, Alabama loses.

In MSPs:

• if the sales team doesn’t qualify, deals die

• if operations doesn’t follow onboarding, churn rises

• if finance doesn’t enforce discipline, profit disappears

• if leadership doesn’t coach consistently, culture erodes

  
  

Everyone has a role. Every role has a standard. Execution requires both.

Consistency: The Enemy Is Complacency

After a win — even a national championship — Saban’s rule is famous: 24 hours. Celebrate it. Then move forward.

Because success is not stable. Success is not permanent. Success is not who you are — it’s what you did last quarter.

“As soon as we get some success, we want to relax. It is human nature. And it is the beginning of the end.” — Saban

MSP leaders feel this deeply:

• a great quarter hides broken processes

• a strong month masks an unhealthy pipeline

• a big contract gives temporary confidence

• a good year tempts teams to ease up

  
  

Complacency is the silent killer of MSPs.

The companies that scale understand that consistency is the truest measure of success — not the high points, but the habits.

Building a Process-Centric MSP

Saban’s playbook translates almost perfectly to scaling an MSP:

1. Define the vision. What kind of company are you building?

   
   

2. Commit to the process. Which behaviors produce predictable outcomes?

   
   

3. Execute with discipline. What standards must be upheld daily?

   
   

4. Navigate adversity with resilience. Are you reacting emotionally or operationally?

   
   

5. Build the right team. Are you surrounding yourself with people who elevate or dilute the culture?

   
   

6. Stay consistent. Are you protecting the standards that created your success?

   
   

The Real Question for MSP Leaders

Growth isn’t a mystery. It’s a process. A proven one.

So the question isn’t:

Do you want to win?

Every leader wants that.

The real question is:

Are you willing to build the habits, enforce the standards, hire the people, and follow the process required to win — every day, not just when it’s convenient?

Because the organizations that master the process…make the outcome inevitable.