Stanford Cardinals QB Andrew Luck is the frontrunner to win this year’s Heisman Trophy as college football’s best player. In addition, he is basically a lock to be the top pick in next year’s NFL Draft.
Sports Illustrated does an incredible job of analyzing Luck’s leadership skills in their June 13th edition. The following are the key quotes and learnings that each of us can apply in our own lives.
- Application – “I guess you could equate it (architecture) with a game plan. You look at a defense, find out what (your team) has done before, find out what other people have done, look at the precedents, find out if there’s anything new or different to consider.” – John Barton
- Confidence – “He’ll raise his voice if necessary. But his leadership has more to do with this aura around him. When you’ve got someone that talented, poised and confident, the poise and confidence rub off.” – teammate Chase Beeler
- Makes Others Better – “With Andrew, the it factor is his knack for making people better. He wants his teammates to have success, wants them to get the credit. I’ve never seen anybody like him in that respect.” – HS coach Ellioitt Allen
- Self-Promotion – “The cool thing about Andrew is that he makes himself small, and builds up everybody else around him. Of course, by doing that, he makes himself huge.” – Jim Harbaugh
- Intelligence – “We’ve tried to teach our kids that it’s fun to stretch your mind, to challenge yourself intellectually.” – Luck’s mother Kathy
- Insight – “I had Andrew for AP literature his senior year. In the middle of the year, he turned in a critical essay on Hamlet that just….blew me away.” – Nate Nakadate
- Humility – “There wasn’t an ounce of hubris in him. He didn’t want to talk about how many touchdowns he’d thrown; he just wanted to do the work at hand.” – Nakadate
- Perspective – “He has a gift for seeing all these pieces at once, breaking them apart and putting them back together again…That’s what he can do on the field.” – Barton
- Class With Cruelty – “What he does on the field – he’s an assassin…Class with cruelty.” – Harbaugh
- Experience – “He’s very smart, very good at reading the field. It seems like he’s been in the league for six or seven years already.” – Monte Kiffin
- Balanced – “Andrew is a student, then an athlete. He came here for an education. He’s going to be a very good football player in the NFL. But after that, he’s going to be an architect.” – Barton
- Passion – “He loves it; he’s grown up with it. He sees the field; he anticipates. The ball gets out quickly. He knows what he’s doing and why he’s doing it.” – Mike Mayock
- Excellence – “Whoever gets him will be getting a franchise quarterback. The owner will love him because he’ll be the face of the franchise. The general manager will love him because he’s such a safe pick. And the head coach will him because he won’t get fired.” – Mayock
 As a leader, do you possess these 13 qualities? If not, which ones do you need to develop?
To get additional information on the leadership of Andrew Luck, check out these resources:
- 28 Heisman Quotes From Cam Newton & Andrew Luck On Leadership
- 7 Leadership Principles From Stanford QB Andrew Luck
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