Lombardi on Character

Hi! Welcome back.  Today I’d like to continue with some excerpts from the Lombardi Rules a great short book written by the late coach’s son Vince Lombardi Jr.  Vince Jr. writes “Character is the first requirement of Vince Lombardi’s leadership code.  Combined with good habits and competence, character creates the building blocks for leadership.”

Character Lombardi writes “ is derived from older words that mean engraved and inscribed.”  “Character is founded on unchanging principles.  It is your underlying core…it is solid and resolute.”  He goes on to say that “character is a series of decisions and choices that you make as you grow and mature.  Character is not something that is handed to you; it must be forged through years of hard work and discipline.”  And I’ll add defeats as you learn to bounce back from those setbacks great and small that everyone in life experiences.  Character is unique to each individual. 

Lombardi also writes that “as a leader, you can’t build a team, department, or company that’s a whole lot different from yourself.”  As I reflect on that statement and think back over my work life and those individuals that I worked for I must admit I believe that’s true!  Perhaps one of the reasons that many older workers are having such a hard time finding employment these days is that the leaders that many companies have today don’t reflect the values that older workers were brought up with or learned to incorporate over the length of their careers?

“The Successful man is himself.  To be successful, you’ve got to be honest with yourself.”

                                                                                                                                Vince Lombardi

“Bad habits are eliminated not by others, but by ourselves.”

                                                                                Vince Lombardi

As a business owner how do you react to this post?  Do you believe as Lombardi and I do that “as a leader, you can’t build a team, department, or company that’s a whole lot different from yourself?”  How do you inject your character into the fabric of your business?  I’d love to read your comments, if you have one please free feel to post one here and thanks for reading my blog until next time all my best!  Jer.