Generals, Coaches. Leaders of men who inspire greatness, driving us past pain and fear to the jubilation of glory. To see the first post in this series, Click Here:
Vince Lombardi had such an impact on the NFL that the league has named the Super Bowl Trophy after him.
The Green Bay Packers had not had a winning season in 12 years when they hired Lombardi in 1959. His impact was immediate and sustained – he never had a losing season in 10 years as a head coach. In that time he won 5 championships, including 3 NFL Championship and the first two Super Bowls.
Lombardi was inspired by his immigrant parents and catholic faith, driving his teams to strive towards perfection and to live above reproach. He came to represent leadership in America and became a popular speaker on the topic. Many of these quotes come from these speeches.
Leadership
Leaders are made, they are not born. They are made by hard effort, which is the price which all of us must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile.
Vince Lombardi
A leader must identify himself with the group, must back up the group, even at the risk of displeasing superiors. He must believe that the group wants from him a sense of approval. If this feeling prevails, production, discipline, morale will be high, and in return, you can demand the cooperation to promote the goals of the community.
Vince Lombardi
It is essential to understand that battles are primarily won in the hearts of men. Men respond to leadership in a most remarkable way and once you have won his heart, he will follow you anywhere.
Vince Lombardi
Leadership is based on a spiritual quality — the power to inspire, the power to inspire others to follow.
Vince Lombardi
They call it coaching but it is teaching. You do not just tell them…you show them the reasons.
Vince Lombardi
Habits
Once you learn to quit, it becomes a habit.
Vince Lombardi
Don’t succumb to excuses. Go back to the job of making the corrections and forming the habits that will make your goal possible.
Vince Lombardi
Winning is a habit. Watch your thoughts, they become your beliefs. Watch your beliefs, they become your words. Watch your words, they become your actions. Watch your actions, they become your habits. Watch your habits, they become your character.
Vince Lombardi
Commitment
I would say that the quality of each man’s life is the full measure of that man’s commitment of excellence and victory – whether it be football, whether it be business, whether it be politics or government or what have you.
Vince Lombardi
Confidence:
Confidence is contagious and so is [a] lack of confidence, and a customer will recognize both.
Vince Lombardi
If you don’t think you’re a winner, you don’t belong here.
Vince Lombardi
Discipline
There is only one kind of discipline, and that is the perfect discipline. As a leader, you must enforce and maintain that discipline; otherwise, you will fail at your job.
Vince Lombardi
Faithfulness
Faithfulness and truth are the most sacred excellences and endowments of the human mind.
Vince Lombardi
Grit
The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender.
Vince Lombardi
Football is a great deal like life in that it teaches that work, sacrifice, perseverance, competitive drive, selflessness, and respect for authority is the price that each and every one of us must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile.
Vince Lombardi
Success is like anything worthwhile. It has a price. You have to pay the price to win and you have to pay the price to get to the point where success is possible. Most important, you must pay the price to stay there.
Vince Lombardi
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.
Vince Lombardi
Perfection is not attainable. But if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence.
Vince Lombardi
Image cropped, attribution:
LearningLark / CC BY
