This is a wonderfully practical post for all leaders. The following lessons come from some of the smartest leaders you can find. In addition to not only providing great insights, the principles taught can be applied in your life today.
- What Concerns Leaders from Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Sabin – September 9th edition of Sports Illustrated – “Even when you’ve called the right defense and your defense does everything right, that kind of quarterback (dual-threat) can still beat you by improvisation. It’s the stuff you can’t really plan for that always brings a high level of concern. I mean, it can drive you crazy as a coach.”
- The Importance Of Youth In Your Organization from Bill Polian ESPN 8/7 – “Keep it green and growing. Always be bringing in young talent. That way your team doesn’t get all get old at the same time.”
- Leaders Are Held To A Higher Standard from Bill Polian ESPN on Johnny Manziel 8/5 – “Quarterbacks are held to a higher standard because they are expected to be leaders.”
- The Importance Of Change from Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelley – Sports Illustrated 8/5 – Kelley told Peter King, “I’ve always been a ‘why’ guy. Like, I want to know why. And a lot of times the why is crazy. I understand it. I just always have been inquisitive. The only thing I won’t accept is because that’s the way we’ve always done it. I ask you: Why did you change from your old Monday Morning Quarterback format to a new one? Well, it wasn’t just for the sake of change. It was because you figured out why it was a better idea, and you thought it made sense.”
- Leading By Example from 49ers WR Anquan Bolden – Sports Illustrated 7/29 – “I was told to be myself from day one so I feel comfortable to speak up if I see something that can help this team.” Colin Kaepernick added, “That’s a grown man out there. He’ll help the young guys whenever they ask him something. He’ll tell them how he kind of works things, but he just has a savvy for the game that you can’t teach. He knows how to position his body to make a catch, he knows how he wants to stick and work routs. To me as a quarterback, that’s what you want. You want someone who knows, ‘All right, I need to be in this window in this amount of time.’ He’s going to be there and make sure he’s open.”
- Loyalty from 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh – ESPN.com 7/28 on cornerback Tarell Brown not receiving his $2 million bonus because of a paperwork error and attempting to provide a solution. Harbaugh said, “I feel confident knowing that the people involved, had they known anything, then they would have brought that to attention. Unfortunately, nobody caught it. That led to a real torpedo that nobody wanted to see happen.”
- Focusing On What You Can Control from Minnesota Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier and Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers – ESPN.com 7/28 on Greg Jennings negative comments about his former team.
Coach Frazier told The Pioneer Press, “We’re the Vikings and we want to talk about us, what we’re trying to get done. That’s where our focus has to be. There’s so much work to be done, and we don’t want to be looking at what’s happening with other teams, other teams’ players. We’ve got to focus on us.”
Rodgers added, “To me, I’m concerned with the opinions of the guys in this locker room and the guys we have here. It’s exciting to be able to be one of the leaders of this football team.”
After hearing from these great leaders, what practical things can you apply to your life and leadership immediately?
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