Vince Lombardi - The Lombardi rules: 26 lessons from Vince Lombardi-- the worlds greatest coach

If you believe in yourself and have the courage, the determination, the dedication, the competitive drive, and if you are willing to sacrifice the little things in life and pay the price for the things that are worthwhile, it can be done.

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. Its a state of mindyou could call it character in action.

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Copyright 2003 by Vince Lombardi, Jr. Printed in the United States of America. All rights Reserved. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

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The Lombardi Rules

A leadership book from a football coach?

My father, Vince Lombardi, was not a captain of industry. He didnt run a multi-billion dollar organization, and he never wrote books on business strategy. He was, simply, a very successful football coach. He tried to be other thingshe began his career teaching high school physics, chemistry and Latin, in addition to coaching football and basketballbut soon found his true calling lay in exhorting others to greatness on the football field.

As coach of the Green Bay Packers from 1959 to 1967, Lombardi took a ragtag group of players that had floundered at the bottom of the National Football League for years, andin only two seasonsmolded them into a championship team. The Packers won NFL championships in 1961, 1962, and 1965, as well as the first two Super Bowls in 1966 and 1967. His brilliance as a coach became legendary, and his fame quickly spread from Green Bay, Wisconsin to the rest of the country.

But how does this relate to business? How do Vince Lombardis winning ways on the football field apply to the corporate boardroom and the shopfloor to leaders who strive to make their organizations excellent? What does winning a football game have to do with closing a deal?

The answer lies less in what Lombardi achieved, and more in how he achieved it. My father was not only a great football coach; he was also a great leader.

It was his leadershiphis ability to motivate his players, to inspire them to surpass their own perceived physical and mental capability, and his incredible will to winthat brought the nickname Titletown, USA to a small industrial city in Wisconsin, and brought national renown to the man, his methods and his players.

Lombardi had definite ideas about the qualities and tactics required for effective leadership. In the Lombardi model, leadership starts with a simple premise: only by knowing yourself can you become an effective leader. Once you understand yourself, you can start to grow and write your character, building the crucial attributes of a leader, such as character and integrity. Once these are developed, the building blocks are in place for you to become a successful leader.

This philosophy is presented in this book through 26 lessons in leadership, following the model laid out above. These techniques helped my father and the Packers be #1 on the football field, and I believe that they can help you and your organization be #1 in your field.

And they can do more. Lombardis leadership model is about finishing first, but its also about being a person of character, finishing what you start, never compromising your goals, and giving everything youve got to achieve your goals.

Leadership rests not only on outstanding ability, but on commitment, loyalty, pride, and followers ready to accept guidance.

Ask others tough questions

Ask yourself tough questions

The Lombardi code is founded on the belief that you can only become a leader after developing your characterthat is, after building integrity, honesty, and commitment. The way to develop these attributes is through self-knowledge. You cant improve what you dont understand.

The first steps on the road to self-knowledge involve asking ourselves tough questions. For example: Is there an overriding purpose in my life, a purpose that is vivid and precise, a purpose I am committed to, a purpose that makes sense of everything I do?