100% Vince Lombardi Style

Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.

“You’ve got to be smart to be number one in any business. But more importantly, you’ve got to play with your heart, with every fiber of your body. If you’re lucky enough to find a guy with a lot of head and a lot of heart, he’s never going to come off the field second…
Envision Vince Lombardi speaking directly to you, “play with your heart, with every fiber of your body” in the only way Lombardi spoke. Don’t those words strike an emotional response in you? Do you want to stay on the field or come off the field? You have a choice.

What would the best motivational, inspirational football coach say to his business associates? No doubt, the same words he said to his Championship football teams. Lombardi’s renowned and famous speech, ”What It Takes to Be Number #1 is applicable to all walks of life, in business, and in sports.

What kind of Compensation would Vince Lombardi reward his business associates if they followed his leadership? A Championship, right? That championship could result in winning notoriety, respect, credibility and it could be lucrative. I doubt Vince Lombardi would pay anything less than 100% to maintain his Championship team. If he’s going to spend 100%, then, Lombardi will have to come up with some criteria to assure himself of that Championship.

So what would Vince Lombardi look for in building his championship business team? Sports Championships are the result of exhibiting certain characteristics towards a task of building one cohesive unit working together. There is very little variation between Championship Sports teams and Business teams.

What kind of team characteristics were shared by Lombardi’s teams?

1. Commitment – is “can’t” or “cannot” in your vocabulary or do you say “let’s find a way?” Or do you find excuses like “I don’t have time”, “I don’t have the skills”, “I’m never going to be the person who is up on stage sharing his success story”?
2. Discipline – do you stay the course? Are you ready to roll up your sleeves, dig your heels in and get to work?
3. Excellence – do you strive to be the best?
4. Mental Toughness – do you crumble when you step outside your comfort zone? Do you allow negativity to creep in at the first sign of pain? Who promised easy anyway?
5. Consistency – are repetitions a part of forming good habits?
6. Passion – do you love what you do? Do you get excited doing what you do?
7. Faith – it’s so easy to have faith in others, do you have faith in yourself?
8. Results – do you recognize your results?
9. Integrity – do you perform and represent yourself with integrity? Do you follow through on said intentions?
10.
Lombardi quote about passion is “There’s only one way to succeed in anything, and that is to give it everything. I do, and I demand that my players do.” Being the motivator, Vince could empower us to commit, be disciplined, exude excellence all to avoid coming off the field. After all, we don’t want to miss out on being a part of that Championship, losing out on notoriety, respect, credibility and in particular the 100% reward.

100% is a very powerful concept. It means complete. There is no more. Ask yourself what 100% means to you? Is 100% your motivator? Are you ready to embrace all the characteristics which make up a championship team? Vince Lombardi used winning a championship as motivation with the promises of notoriety, respect, credibility and of course monetary reward. What made Vince the consummate leader was to balance the personal motivations of each of his players and knowing when to push beyond self imposed limits.

What is your motivation to become a champion? Some people are only money driven while others are driven by the notoriety of success. Many people are happy with a balance of both with a splash of personal satisfaction. To be a champion, you need to reach beyond your comfort zone. Let me leave you with the following questions…

Are you ready to be on Vince Lombardi’s team?

Are you ready to reach 100%?

More importantly, are you ready for the 100% reward?