What It Takes to Achieve Extraordinary Success

Published on January 27, 2013

The winning team of the Super Bowl Sunday will be awarded the Vince Lombardi Trophy, named after the famous Green Bay Head Coach who brought respectability and championships to a small city in the mid west.

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In reading up on Vince Lombardi, one realizes his road to success was not as smooth as one would think. It was littered with obstacles, rejection and challenges. Green Bay was the only city that gave him a chance to be a head coach in the NFL. But when he got his chance, he knew he had to make the best of it because there was no guarantee he would get another chance. When opportunity knocks, grab it.

In one of Lombardi’s earlier meetings with his new team he told them:

We are going to relentlessly pursue perfection. Even though there is no such thing as perfection, our pursuit of it will ensure we achieve a measure of excellence.

That is the attitude of a person who is most likely to come out on top. He was relentless in his practices and criticism of his players. He would not settle for ordinary effort and sloppy play. He wanted crispness and perfection.

Failure was not an option. Mistakes were not tolerated. This is all exemplified in what has become known as Lombardi Time. Depending on the player or coach you talk to, Lombardi time meant you had to be anywhere between 5 and 15 minutes early to a meeting. If not, you were late.

As a leader, sales executive and influencer in life, how well do you hold yourself to the discipline and accountability it takes to be not just a one-time champion, but a champion that repeats over and over. Vince Lombardi was a five time champion winner.  If you like what you are reading and want to automatically receive our blog via email, click  here: Subscribe Via Email. 

Great companies know that getting to the top is only the beginning. Staying on top is when the real challenges begin, especially with everybody waiting to knock you off.

Not accepting defeat, holding oneself accountable and relentlessly thinking of new creative ways to out play your competition, this is what separated Lombardi from all of his peers.

Yes, his temper and relentless criticism was hard to take if you played for Lombardi. There is no real balance on doing it right without having challenges of your own in some areas. Yet when Lombardi was laying on his death bed (colon cancer), the majority of his star players and coaches flew to Washington DC’s Walter Reed Hospital to say goodbye to the person who greatly impacted each and every one of their lives.

You see, Lombardi didn’t just coach football players. He prepared men for life and today they are successful outside of football, thanks to the life lessons learned from that irascible man.

Anyway you look at it, Lombardi was a success that will live in infamy and with a Super Bowl Trophy named after him.

Thank you Vince for teaching us all what it takes to be successful. 

Read some great examples of how companies have outplayed their competition in the CEO Bestselling Book Lead, Sell or Get Out of the Way