Quarterbacks play to win
Steve Young, 49ers 1987-99 QB on the leadership lessons of football
✓ Business needs to play more hurry-up offense. Run a bunch of plays and good things will happen. Huddle less (fewer meetings).
✓ A locker room atmosphere breeds teamwork (offices should have more open space).
✓ Football has a score. You’re in bounds, or you’re out (business is more difficult in many ways).
✓ Gut instinct is crucial. Play a little blind, throw the ball trusting the receiver will be there. Take advantage of a glimpse, a piece of information (perfect information is never available).
✓ Even at six-foot-two I couldn’t see my receivers over the defensive line. I knew Jerry Rice was there, I just couldn’t see him. I let it rip. When I started playing essentially blind I accelerated my success (an element of faith is important).
✓ Even in a blizzard, the best team wins most of the time (there’s an element of luck, but never count on it).
“Sound, practiced, accountable organizations win, and they win more when it gets crazy.”
✓ Call the play. Keep pushing forward. Don’t finger point. Overcome everything and never flinch. There’s always an excuse to make, but successful teams never open that door. It’s true in football, business and families (don’t have a defeatist attitude).
✓ If you make a mistake you say, “Fellas, I screwed up. I’m sorry, it won’t happen again.” (People forgive leaders who own up).
✓ If someone else is at fault, don’t lay blame on the field. Discuss it when the battle is over (review when things have calmed down).
Did you know?
• Steve Young is the great-great-great grandson of Brigham Young.
• Was once a contestant on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. He went out when he said a crucible is a vessel that can withstand high pressure. Correct answer: It withstands high heat
.• Lost a 3-point basketball shooting contest to Family MattersTV actor Jaleel White (Steve Urkel) during the 1993 NBA All-Star weekend.
Leadership expert Del Leonard Jones wrote the historical novel, The Cremation of Sam McGee built upon the poem of Robert W. Service. The novel is set in the 1898 heyday of yellow journalism and travels from Cuba to the Yukon. The narrator is a fabricating newspaper reporter working for William Randolph Hearst during the Spanish-American War and Gold Rush. The first chapter is here.
Jones has also edited Advice from the Top: 1001 Bits of Business Wisdom. The book focuses on the leadership advice of Fortune 500 CEO's such as Fred Smith of FedEx, but also gets advice from athletes, coaches, entertainers and artists like Wynton Marsalis.
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