by Vince Lombardi
Know yourself
This is wisdom that is as old as mankind. You cannot improve what you don’t understand.
Build your character
Character is not inherited; it is instilled at an early age but it is something that can be and needs to be built on and disciplined. Find ways to write in your own concrete (before it sets)
Earn your stripes
Leaders earn the right to lead. How? Not by position. People follow them because they manifest character and integrity, and they get results.
Think Big Picture
The big picture is your road map and rudder. It can’t change in response to minor setbacks; but it must change as the competitive environment changes.
Study the past, live in the present
Find yesterday’s lesson; but assume that today is new
Have Faith
There is no more reliable comfort and source of strength
Be proud and humble
You must strike the balance; confidence and humility are crucial for the success of the team.
Cultivate compassion
We owe each other empathy. Heart power is the strength of the world.
Embrace your passion
Jump into your passion with both feet-and bring others along with you
Be prepared to sacrifice
Sacrifice and self-denial lie behind every success
Demand total commitment
Demand it first from yourself and then from those around you
Weed out the uncommitted
The organization that wins is populated by winners
Be authentic
Act your integrity, be genuine. Make amends when you foul up.. and you will foul up.
Use your mission
Define the goal and the principles of the organization and then wholeheartedly pursue that goal.
Chase perfection
Settle for excellence along the way
Generate confidence in yourself and your team
Set the stage psychologically and give people the tools they need
Delegate
Look for existing talent in the organization, and take full advantage of that talent
Build skills
You can’t put big demands on the team before you define and provide the needed skills.
Let them see you sweat
Why should they kill themselves for the organization if you don’t?
Build team spirit
This means common goals, complementary skills and mutual accountability
Offer people meaning
If you don’t then someone else will
Keep enormous pressure on
But stay within the individual and organizational breaking points
Motivate the group and the individual
Find ways to move people in masses but don’t neglect the individual, both are important
Win respect, affection will follow
Respect motivates. Win their respect first
Motivate by inches
Better to begin with small victories than large frustrations
Run to win
Set high standards for your team; and keep that standard out in front where all can see it.
Winning is the only thing—but only in context
Sometimes leaders have to make the obvious point: if we don’t win we are out of business
Block and tackle
Execute the fundamentals and the rest will follow
Play to jump on opportunity
There are only a small number of big plays in a game or in a business; you must be ready to take full advantage of those opportunities.
Play for elegance, but take any win you can get
No one comes up with an ugly strategy on purpose but sometimes you play on a frozen field or throw into the wind and ugly things happen that help you win. Celebrate.
Understand the dangers of winning
If winning comes to hard, your team may get demoralized. If it comes too easily, it will be harder to be motivated, even as the world is expecting more and more from you. What is your organizational plan for the day after a big success?
No excuses
Help people take responsibility—and then don’t accept excuses
Build accountability
Paint the picture, provide the tools, and get out of the way!
“Gentleman we are going to relentlessly chase perfection, knowing full well we will not catch it, because nothing is perfect. But we are going to relentlessly chase it, because in the process we will catch excellence.”
“I firmly believe that any man’s finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is the moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle- VICTORIOUS.”
“I would say that the quality of each man’s life is the full measure of that man’s personal commitment to excellence and to victory- whether it be football, whether it be business, whether it be politics or government.”
– Vince Lombardi
