These days it seems some people will say almost anything to get to the top. Then having gotten to the top, they want to make sure everyone knows they’re Top Dog. They fly in private jets, ride in limos, keep their own hours, and never do anything they consider beneath them—unless compelled by subpoena.

But the most successful leaders understand what it means to walk their talk. Take NFL Hall of Fame football coach Chuck Noll.

When most men get their shot at a head coaching position in the National Football League, they’re anxious to assure team owners they can do great things for the franchise. In 1969, the Pittsburgh Steelers needed a shot of greatness. One of the league’s oldest franchises, they hadn’t won a playoff game in their 36-year history. You betcha, we can turn this baby around toot sweet! prospective coaching candidates promised owner Art Rooney and his son, team vice president Dan Rooney, who was doing the hiring. Chuck Noll took a different approach.

The truth hurts

Don’t expect miracles, he said. He got the job.

At 37, Noll became one of the youngest head coaches in the NFL. And he kept his word: No miracles. He finished his first season with one win. But, Art Rooney said, “he never lost his poise.”

In his 1974 book About Three Bricks Shy of a Load, Roy Blount Jr. recounts the Steelers’ struggles during the first couple of seasons under Coach Noll. Defensive tackle Tom Keating explained how Noll earned the team’s confidence:

“If Noll says the plane’s leaving at six, it’s leaving then. He announces fines in meetings. And Noll gets right down on the ground with everybody and does all the exercises.… He never wears anything heavier than the players when it’s cold. It looks like he waits to see what everybody’s wearing before he finishes dressing. If you’re supposed to be in by eleven, you know he will be.”

Noll won the team. And before long, the team was winning.

His first season, they went 1–13. In his fourth, they won their division. In his sixth, they won the Super Bowl, becoming the only team to win four Super Bowls in six years.

Chuck Noll is still the only NFL coach to win four Super Bowls.