What It Takes to be Number One
“Winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all the time thing. You don’t win once in a while; you don’t do things right once in a while; you do them right all of the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.
There is no room for second place. There is only one place in my game, and that’s first place. I have finished second twice in my time at Green Bay, and I don’t ever want to finish second again. There is a second place bowl game, but it is a game for losers played by losers. It is and always has been an American zeal to be first in anything we do, and to win, and to win, and to win.
Every time a football player goes to play his trade he’s got to play from the ground up – from the soles of his feet right up to his head. Every inch of him has to play. Some guys play with their heads. That’s O.K. You’ve got to be smart to be number one in any business. But more importantly, you’ve got to play with your heart, with every fiber of your body. If you’re lucky enough to find a guy with a lot of head and a lot of heart, he’s never going to come off the field second.
Running a football team is no different than running any other kind of organization – an army, a political party or a business. The principles are the same. The object is to win – to beat the other guy. Maybe that sounds hard or cruel. I don’t think it is.
It is a reality of life that men are competitive and the most competitive games draw the most competitive men. That’s why they are there – to compete. The object is to win fairly, squarely, by the rules – but to win.
And in truth, I’ve never known a man worth his salt who in the long run, deep down in his heart, didn’t appreciate the grind, the discipline. There is something in good men that really yearns for discipline and the harsh reality of head to head combat.
I don’t say these things because I believe in the ‘brute’ nature of men or that men must be brutalized to be combative. I believe in God, and I believe in human decency. But I firmly believe that any man’s finest hour — his greatest fulfillment to all he holds dear — is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle – victorious.”
– Coach Vincent T. Lombardi
I thought I’d slow down a bit, especially this time of year and think about those out there that motivate us and inspire us to fight on when we feel like giving up. I know of few other people capable of doing this better than the teachings of the world famous Coach Vince Lombardi. For those that are unaware of his leadership abilities just search for his biography, particularly his ability to turn a losing football team into winning one in a single season. For all other intents and purposes, Vince Lombardi was a transformational leader. He motivated through plain speech by telling it like it is and encouraged players, (as well as non-football players) to always do the best you can and to never give up and winning is not everything, it’s the only thing.
The transformational leadership style does just that, it transforms followers into something they weren’t before and in this case, true winners in every sense of the word. We all like to think that hard work pays off but this is not always the case. Life is not fair but no one said it would be and it is leaders like Coach Lombardi that make you feel anything is possible and if you’re waiting for someone to give it to you, you’ll be waiting a long time. It’s better to just jump up and grab it and make it your own. Transformational leaders like this focus on, “emotions, values, ethics, standards, and long-term goals…and treating them (people) as full human beings.” (Northouse p.185)
This time of year with the holidays just around the corner and football in full swing, let’s remember to have compassion for one another but do not neglect everyone’s responsibility to greatness and to continue on moving the ball forward, one inch at a time.
References
Northouse, P. G. (2013). Leadership Theory and Practice. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
http://vincelombardi.com/number-one.html