As a youth, I started playing organized, supervised football through the Boy's Club in Elizabethtown, PA.
I went on to play football at the junior high, junior varsity, varsity, collegiate levels and beyond for about 18 years.
During those years, I became totally impressed with a football coach named Vince Lombardi and his principles.
And to this day, I try to use what I learned from Coach Lombardi in my business coaching practice and my personal life.
Coach Lombardi believed that running a football team was no different than running any other kind of organization or business.
He believed that you have to be smart to be number one in any business and more importantly you have to play with your heart and every fiber of your body.
Vince Lombardi believed that people deep down in their hearts, appreciate discipline and competition and emphasized that the objective is to win fairly, squarely, by the rules.
The most impactful book I ever read about Coach Lombardi is "When Pride Still MatteredA Life of Vince Lombardi" by David Maraniss.
After reading the book, I knew the time was NOW to really put the "lessons learned" from Coach Lombardi into my business coaching practice, as well as recommit to them in my personal life.
Reflecting on the Maraniss book, other reading and personal experiences, I selected 10 key character traits and 2 quotes from Coach Lombardi for each trait to represent the lesson learned from each character item.
CONFIDENCE: "Confidence is contagious and so is lack of confidence, and a customer will recognize both.
" "We would accomplish many more things if we did not think of them as impossible.
" COMMITMENT:"Individual commitment to a group effort - that is what makes a team work.
" "Once a man has made a commitment to a way of life, he puts the greatest strength in the world behind him.
" ENTHUSIASM:"If you aren't fired with enthusiasm, then you will be fired with enthusiasm.
" "It is time for us all to stand and cheer for the doer, the achiever - the one who recognizes the challenges and does something about it.
" LEADERSHIP:"Leaders aren't born, they are made.
And they are made just like anything else, through hard work.
And that's the price you will have to pay to achieve that goal, or any goal.
" "Leadership rests not only upon ability, not only upon capacity; having the capacity to lead is not enough.
The leader must be willing to use it.
His leadership is then based on truth and character.
" EXCELLENCE:"The quality of a person's life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.
" "If you'll not settle for anything less than your best, you will be amazed at what you can accomplish in your lives.
" DEDICATION: " ..
...
Winning in business or in personal life is all about inches:going small distances successfully, then gaining further still.
" "After the cheers have died down and the stadium is empty, after the headlines have been written and after you are back in the quiet of your room and the championship ring has been placed on the dresser and all the pomp and fanfare has faded, the enduring things that are left are: the dedication to excellence, the dedication to victory, and the dedication to doing with our lives the very best we can to make the world a better place in which to live.
" PERSEVERANCE:"It's not whether you get knocked down.
It's whether you get up.
" "The spirit, the will to win, and the will to excel are the things that endure.
These qualities are so much more important than the events that occur.
" WILL:"The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will.
" "The spirit, the will to win, and the will to excel are the things that endure.
These qualities are so much more important than the events that occur.
" DISCIPLINE: "Mental toughness is many things and rather difficult to explain.
Its qualities are sacrifice and self-denial.
Also, most importantly, it is combined with a perfectly disciplined will that refuses to give in.
It's a state of mind-you could call it character in action.
" "Once you learn to quit, it becomes a habit.
" TEAMWORK:"Individual commitment to a group effort - that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.
" "People who work together will win, whether it be against complex football defenses, or the problems of modern society.
" If you would like to learn more about business and personal coaching and its benefits and how to apply the "lessons I learned" from Coach Lombardi to guide, facilitate and coach you, please contact Glenn Ebersole through his website at http://www.
businesscoach4u.
com or email Glenn at jgecoach@aol.
com
I went on to play football at the junior high, junior varsity, varsity, collegiate levels and beyond for about 18 years.
During those years, I became totally impressed with a football coach named Vince Lombardi and his principles.
And to this day, I try to use what I learned from Coach Lombardi in my business coaching practice and my personal life.
Coach Lombardi believed that running a football team was no different than running any other kind of organization or business.
He believed that you have to be smart to be number one in any business and more importantly you have to play with your heart and every fiber of your body.
Vince Lombardi believed that people deep down in their hearts, appreciate discipline and competition and emphasized that the objective is to win fairly, squarely, by the rules.
The most impactful book I ever read about Coach Lombardi is "When Pride Still MatteredA Life of Vince Lombardi" by David Maraniss.
After reading the book, I knew the time was NOW to really put the "lessons learned" from Coach Lombardi into my business coaching practice, as well as recommit to them in my personal life.
Reflecting on the Maraniss book, other reading and personal experiences, I selected 10 key character traits and 2 quotes from Coach Lombardi for each trait to represent the lesson learned from each character item.
CONFIDENCE: "Confidence is contagious and so is lack of confidence, and a customer will recognize both.
" "We would accomplish many more things if we did not think of them as impossible.
" COMMITMENT:"Individual commitment to a group effort - that is what makes a team work.
" "Once a man has made a commitment to a way of life, he puts the greatest strength in the world behind him.
" ENTHUSIASM:"If you aren't fired with enthusiasm, then you will be fired with enthusiasm.
" "It is time for us all to stand and cheer for the doer, the achiever - the one who recognizes the challenges and does something about it.
" LEADERSHIP:"Leaders aren't born, they are made.
And they are made just like anything else, through hard work.
And that's the price you will have to pay to achieve that goal, or any goal.
" "Leadership rests not only upon ability, not only upon capacity; having the capacity to lead is not enough.
The leader must be willing to use it.
His leadership is then based on truth and character.
" EXCELLENCE:"The quality of a person's life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.
" "If you'll not settle for anything less than your best, you will be amazed at what you can accomplish in your lives.
" DEDICATION: " ..
...
Winning in business or in personal life is all about inches:going small distances successfully, then gaining further still.
" "After the cheers have died down and the stadium is empty, after the headlines have been written and after you are back in the quiet of your room and the championship ring has been placed on the dresser and all the pomp and fanfare has faded, the enduring things that are left are: the dedication to excellence, the dedication to victory, and the dedication to doing with our lives the very best we can to make the world a better place in which to live.
" PERSEVERANCE:"It's not whether you get knocked down.
It's whether you get up.
" "The spirit, the will to win, and the will to excel are the things that endure.
These qualities are so much more important than the events that occur.
" WILL:"The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will.
" "The spirit, the will to win, and the will to excel are the things that endure.
These qualities are so much more important than the events that occur.
" DISCIPLINE: "Mental toughness is many things and rather difficult to explain.
Its qualities are sacrifice and self-denial.
Also, most importantly, it is combined with a perfectly disciplined will that refuses to give in.
It's a state of mind-you could call it character in action.
" "Once you learn to quit, it becomes a habit.
" TEAMWORK:"Individual commitment to a group effort - that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.
" "People who work together will win, whether it be against complex football defenses, or the problems of modern society.
" If you would like to learn more about business and personal coaching and its benefits and how to apply the "lessons I learned" from Coach Lombardi to guide, facilitate and coach you, please contact Glenn Ebersole through his website at http://www.
businesscoach4u.
com or email Glenn at jgecoach@aol.
com
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