Today I watched a video conference conducted by Jeremy Goldberg, Co-Founder and President of LeagueApps. It featured primarily Michael Lombardi, NFL analyst, Co-Host of The GM Podcast, and founder of The Daily Coach and Shane Battier, former NBA Champion and Director of Basketball Analytics and Development at the Miami Heat. The subject of their conversation was centered on lessons learned from the world of sports about dealing with crisis and how those lessons could help 
today’s organizations deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. A complete one-hour video of the conversation is shown above.
Regular readers of this site know Michael is one of my go-to guys for leadership content. If you have not read his book Gridiron Genius: A Masterclass In Winning Championships And Building Dynasties In The NFL, do so today by clicking HERE. It is a must have for anyone in leadership. He is also a regular contributor to the online sports publication The Athletic. This is an incredible resource and they are offering readers of this site a FREE 30-day subscription. Click HERE to take advantage of this offer and enjoy their content.
The following are 39 Leadership Quotes And Lessons On How Athletic Organizations Are Dealing With The Coronavirus COVID-19:
Finding Opportunity In Crisis
- “Great moments are born from great opportunity.” – 1980 USA olympic hockey head coach Herb Brooks
Michael Lombardi
- “In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” – Albert Einstein
- “If you have the curiosity to look at this situation as an opportunity, you shift your mindset. You shift your focus. Most people just tend to complain about it.”
- “ABC’s Nightline program was created through crisis. It was born of the Iran hostage crisis.”
- “Sir Isaac Newton developed geometry while in quarantine. Don Quixote was written from a prison cell… What can I do today, tomorrow to better myself and the people around me?”
- “What’s the world going to be like in five years? Jeff Bezos keeps reminding us what’s going to be consistent in five years? What’s not going to change?”
Shane Battier
- “You don’t all of a sudden become a great leader right now.”
- “The great leaders throughout history are who they are consistently. It’s magnified during times of peril and crisis. So it comes down to what are your core values? What are your standards? What crisis does is let those core values and standards shine through. If you’re not living those from the heart, it’s very difficult to summon those right now.”
5 Principles Every Leader Does During Crisis From Michael Lombardi
- Common Sense – “Too often we find leaders without common sense. Their ego gets in the way of decision-making and they lose touch with reality.”
- Create Stability – “A leader’s words have to create stability. You have to give reassurance to the people that we’re going to get through this… Stability is created through words and actions.”
- Believe In The People – “You gotta believe in the people who are assigned to do their jobs… We have too many people speaking who don’t know anything about this disease. We have too many people giving opinions who don’t know what their opinions are… People want to hear what they have to do. People don’t want to hear they think they should do.”
- Preserve The Pride Of The Organization – “There’s great pride in America. There’s great pride in our flag. There’s great pride in how we come together and face adversity. We’ve got to talk about that pride every day.”
- The Leader Has To Care More Than Anybody – “Mayor Coumo and the medical experts haven’t slept in weeks. They care more than anybody.”
Additional Comments from Lombardi
- “We live in a world of crisis but no crisis is greater than what we face today. This is a worldwide crisis.”
- “Fear does the work of reason. We are fearful now and now is a wonderful time to reason with people and express what you want to do as a leader.”
- “The non-obvious is hard to find… What are the reasons why?.. We have to look at every problem through the non-obvious.”
- “The different between the 180 (Navy SEAL candidates) and ones the make is volume, the volume of work.”
- “Science has proven multi-tasking doesn’t work. Belichick and Coach K have the incredible ability to focus on the exact moment and live in that moment and work on that moment and not worry about what’s next.”
- “Stack days on top of each other. Volume is what kills us. The thought of volume – we can’t think of it.”
- “Strategy is doing something when there’s nothing to do. Tactics is doing something when there is something to do. You have to put yourself in both places. When strategy is needed, we’re not doing anything. We’re thinking. When strategy is needed, you have to execute the plan.”
- “Talent = mental toughness… The definition is mental toughness is doing what’s right for the team when it might not be right for you. Good teammates are mentally tough… What’s good for the company right now might not be good for you. What’s good for society right now might not be good for you.”
- “When we evaluate talent in the NFL, it’s really decision-making. The key to decision-making is to eliminate bias.”
- “I want to be around people who care more about the name on the front (of the jersey) than the name on the back. I want someone who’s going to honor the tradition and build a team. Talent alone can’t do that.”
- “If you’re Mike Krzyzewski you don’t have 15 players you’re over. You have 15 players and everyone that influences them. That’s your Circle of Influence. You have to work on those and that might be 150 people… Those five people who influence your player have to be worked on. Left alone, they become adversarial.”
- “Great players, great employees make your company and you have to honor those people.”
- “Marines fight for marines.” – Bill Walsh
- “The greatest virtue we ever get in life is curiosity. Never stop learning… You’ve got to learn something different every single day. Challenge yourself to learn.”
- “When you give what you know to other people it makes you grow… This is probably the best time of my life – giving out information to help people just get a little bit better.”
- “Anyone who is worried about tomorrow is wrong. We’ve got to get through today. We’ve got to behave in the moment and tighten down and bond together… We’ve got to be a family.”
Shane Battier Comments
- “When in doubt, count on the people who did it the best.” – Coach K (For more from Coach K read 24 Leadership Quotes And Lessons From Mike Krzyzewski – Chick-Fil-A Leadercast)
- “Lincoln led with kindness, sensitivity, compassion, honesty, empathy. Those were his weapons of choice to lead our country through its bloodiest conflict.”
- “When stress is the highest, you will always see me the calmest.” – Coach K
- “In times of crisis, we’re looking for strength.”
- “All people remember are the glory times. They don’t remember the tough times… It’s OK to be scared but don’t let the scare paralyze you.”
- “You gain tremendous strength through repetition.”
- “You never know when that rep is going to make the difference between success and failure.”
- “Be who you are but be the best version of who that is… That is the extra edge between champions and also-rans.”
- “The people who improve the most, and ultimately are the most successful, find every opportunity to get better.”
- “We’re in the greatest game now – the game of humanity and we’re all part of the team.”
What is one thing you learned from Michael Lombardi and Shane Battier which will help you lead your organization better?
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