Vince Lombardi on Leadership: Life Lessons from a Five-Time NFL Championship Coach

by Pat Williams, Jim Denney

VINCE LOMBARDI’S LEADERSHIP
• Envision a successful future ― then chart a course to get there.
• Communicate your vision with passion and conviction.
• Know the people you lead; find out what motivates each one.
• Lead with character and integrity.
• Inspire confidence through your competence and success.
• Lead boldly, act decisively, don’t second-guess yourself.
• Don’t just be a boss ― be a servant to your people.

Genres: Leadership, Business

226 pages, Paperback

First published August 26, 2015

About the author

Patrick Livingston Murphy Williams was an American sports executive, who served as senior vice president of the Orlando Magic. Williams began his career as a minor league baseball player, and later joined the front office of his team. In the late 1960s he moved into basketball, with his biggest achievements being the 1983 title of the Philadelphia 76'ers and being a partner in the creation of the Orlando Magic.

Reviews

[Andrei Nechifor · Rating 3 out of 5]

I will start with some disclaimers. I am a big Green Bay Packers fan, a NFL enthusiast and I have been watching the league for 15+ years regularly. My knowledge about the rules I consider it to be above average. I am also a NFL history buff and memorabilia collector, I currently have player cards from the past 30 years. Prior of reading the book, I knew who Vince Lombardi was and what he represented to the American football league.

About this book, I found it to be sloppy written, repetitive and it is mostly a collection of quotes, with some conclusions drawn by the writer. Even though I knew some of the names, it was still hard to follow each name, position, job or reason to be in the book. What I missed most was some kind of story telling that could unite the book. There were some glimpses of stories which I enjoyed, but the overall feeling was impatience - going through the bad stuff to reach the good stuff.

So what I found to be good about it? The idea is nice, the subject Vince Lombardi is generous enough and I agree that in order to be an effective leader you should/could train all sides of leadership. Also I enjoyed reading about something that it's not IT industry and trying to find similar situations that could happen today in the office. For example, identifying underperformers was one of the topics that came into my mind, an area in which Vince Lombardi was top notch. Vince Lombardi had the opportunity to meet icons (like general MacArthur), speak with them and be influenced by them. Another opportunity for him is that he was close to innovation, Red Blaik platoons - different teams for offense and defense. I immediately thought of Bezos, Amazon's forming years, how fortunate he was to live in that age.

Some takeaways from the book are already on my to do list for the future (like cultivate a voice that demands attention - I know I am a soft-spoken person) or in the list to be reconsidered soon. For the latter, I have communicating enthusiasm, doing simple things well in opposition of doing complicating things poorly and having fun while doing it. My biggest takeaway was realizing the responsibility that we have to shape the minds of our people, to build teams that transcend time, to become role models and influencers. The example in the book was about a good prospect (Heisman trophy winner, best from college) who had a couple of bad years under a previous coach, demotivated and thinking about quitting, but then he met Lombardi, which transformed him into one of the best.

[Cheryl · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you're looking for a biography deifying someone who in today's world would be a polarizing figure, without acknowledging as much, and you have at least a passing interest in the NFL, then go ahead and read this book. However, if you're looking for a book guiding you toward being a better leader, this may not be for you.

As an NFL fan with knowledge of Vince Lombardi and the players of the time I was able to get through the book without too much trouble. But what I was hoping would be an interesting deep dive into Lombardi's leadership style ended up being quote upon quote and anecdotes from former players.

If autobiographies or NFL play structure are your thing give it a try, but if you're looking to get more than a cursory overview of leadership, maybe pass this book by.

[Roy Peek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent reinforcement of the Lombardi leadership traits. For all leaders / coaches very simple rules to serve by, read the book and follow this ideas and the leadership concepts will allow you and your teams to succeed.

[Fintan Ndinya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book on leadership and teams.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Typical leadership book with tips on being a good leader but really had some good Lombardi stories. Some I didn’t even know. Wish I could have seen his coaching style in person.

[GabrielL · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you want to find out the secrets of the greatest coach of all time? Well, they aren't secrets, they are the way he lived his everyday life, and that's just what this book describes. The GoodReads description above for this book didn’t do it justice, so I will try my best to do just that here. Honestly, if the description was all I had to go by, I would never have picked this book up. I will admit that I knew barely anything about coach Vince Lombardi, except that he coached my home state team, the Packers, and is pretty much legendary. I learned so much more from this book, not just about his football career, but also about his religious life, his young life, and his values. “After accepting the position in Green Bay, the first thing Lombardi did was go to church and pray” (Williams 28). If you are a person who admires Lombardi, like so many do, this is a book that could really help not just your leadership skills, but also your day to day interactions. The story is filled with testimonies from prior players and people who knew Vince, which just further authenticated the information. As former West Point player, Karl Kuckhahn, said, “Coach Lombardi was always excited and energetic, and his excitement was contagious. . . [He] was a good coach, a good fellow, and we all admired him. He praised us a lot. But we had to work hard for him every day, because he’d make us practice and practice a play until we got it right” (Williams 98). Vince Lombardi was probably the greatest coach of all time, as shown by his career with the Green Bay Packers. The Packers hit an all time low in 1958 and athletes dreaded getting drafted by them. At the end of that year, the Packers’ executive committee fired the existing coach and hired Lombardi. “The new training and practice regimen was strict and physically punishing-and it paid off during the 1958 football season. In game after game, Lombardi’s Packers proved themselves to be better trained and better conditioned than their opponents. The 1959 Packers finished with a record of 7-5, and Vince Lombardi was named Coach of the Year in an AP poll of sports journalists” (Williams 26). The book did get a little dull, but then the author started describing part of Lombardi’s life in detail, and you realize the legend had a human side like you and me. If you enjoy a biography, or just a good story with some advice sprinkled in, this would be a great book for you.

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love anything about Lombardi and I appreciate the effort and encouragement in all of Pat Williams' work!