What It Takes To Be #1

Yes, Vince Lombardi was a great football coach. I don't believe that you can argue about that. But do you know what his philosophy about life and business was that propelled him to be such a success?

You see, what Lombardi expected was success. Nothing less! Success in his daily life. Success as a football coach - in his field of occupation - his business.

 He communicates such strong visions of excellence, discipline, commitment, and of course, winning. These are characteristics which we must develop to succeed.

1. Visions of Excellence: you must see yourself being the best you can be.
2. Discipline: you must have the fortitude to stick with your path.
3. Commitment: you must stay the coarse and not quit.
4. Winning: if you do the other three you can do nothing but win.



“Individual commitment to a group effort – that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.”

“Once a man has made a commitment to a way of life, he puts the greatest strength in the world behind him. It’s something we call heart power. Once a man has made this commitment, nothing will stop him short of success.”

“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.”

The above are quotes from Vince Lombardi

Pulling Together = Team

There are some great truths in this movie. In life as in business we live as a team. No one can totally be alone. We have a family which forms a team. We have friends which forms a team. If we have a job we have co-workers which form a team. In our business we form relationships with others which forms a team.

A team is a group of individuals that come together for a common purpose.  This cultivates trust, respect, unity and power within the team. A team gives strength to the whole group.

When teams form it allows each and everyone to accomplish more, where as along some may not be able to achieve much of anything. It is the power of the whole that leads to more satisfaction.

Virginia Burden says that "Corporation is the thorough conviction that nobody can get there unless every body gets there." In a team we all work together ensuring the success of member of the team. Now I know as well as you do that in business there will always be those that can't work within a team environment. The same is true in life so why would it be any different in a business. It wouldn't be! It can't be!

Each of us are individuals with our own strengths and weaknesses. Do you think that these strengths and weaknesses can actually keep someone from functioning within a team setting? Maybe if more businesses (people) worked within a team setting there would not be so many people that don't make it.

Think about a football team, a baseball team or even a family team. When all pull together accomplishments are always met. There is more stability. More cooperation. More sharing of knowledge and experience. Better communication between the members of the team.

"A group becomes a team when each member is sure enough of himself and his contribution to praise the skills of the others." ~~ Norman Shidle. Interesting thought! This means we must accept each member of the team as they are and if needed help them to grow and become more sure of them self. This is life!

As in the movie, the strongest geese always lead the rest, helping them along the way in whatever particular need they may have at the time. This ensures the success of the whole. It makes the flight from where we are to where we want to be so much easier and endurable.

Zig Ziglar said that "You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want." This is team work at its highest level.