While I was growing up, I was a fan of the late Vince Lombardi. Not only was he one of the greatest coaches ever, but he also finished his career with my Washington Redskins. He was also the man who is forever linked to the following words:
“Winning isn’t everything; it’s the only thing.”
There is an irony to this: Lombardi did not come up with that quote, and he didn’t mean it when he said it. For the record, the quote was actually attributed to Henry “Red” Sanders, the football coach for the UCLA Bruins in 1950. In 1959, Lombardi used the line to open the Packers training camp. According to the late James Michener’s Sports in America, Lombardi claimed to have been misquoted. What he intended to say was this:
“Winning isn’t everything. The will to win is the only thing.”
That certainly changes the intent of that quote, doesn’t it? It also gives you a little more insight into the nature of Lombardi. Look at that quote again. Lombardi, one of the most competitive and successful coaches in professional sports history, was really telling us something else: He was saying “effort is what ultimately defines success.” This is an important distinction because I think we often define out success by counting our victories.
To those who know me well, I am considered an intense person both inside and out. You may be surprised to know, however, that throughout my professional career, my reaction to either winning or losing has never been that different. As a young salesman, when I made a nice sale, I would celebrate with a bag of barbecue potato chips. That bag of chips symbolized victory.
But that wasn’t the only time I would reward myself with that bag of chips. When I worked hard on a sale by taking no shortcuts, by sticking to the book and giving it my all, yet I didn’t get the sale, I’d eat those chips. It was a struggle at first because I never wanted to get into a habit of rewarding failure. But I wasn’t rewarding failure; I was rewarding effort. To this day, I can forgive a professional loss, but what I can’t forgive is a loss knowing I didn’t do all I could to be successful.
We learned as children and were allowed to define success by our effort and our will to win. Much like Lombardi’s quote that took on a life of it’s own, so has the flawed concept that success should be defined solely by winning. Is it any wonder that so many people struggle in life with depression and the fear of failure? Personally, I believe this is a direct result of people elevating the act of winning to a life and death equation.
North Carolina’s Dean Smith, one of the most successful college basketball coaches in the history of the sport, (and coming from a Maryland Terrapin alumni, that’s not easy to admit,) said it best when he provided us with this quote:
“If you make every game a life and death proposition, you’re going to have problems. For one thing, you’ll be dead a lot.”
Let’s pay tribute to Vince Lombardi, and remember him for his real message. If we do, we can set goals and achieve results that are 100% controlled by our effort… just like when we were children. I think we would all be a lot happier with ourselves if we did – don’t you?
Great blarticle this week Rob. Great message. Don’t know how you can so consistently write these useful and informative snippets of self improvement.
thanks Rob! Always a pleasure reading these. I am all about rewarding the process as well, if you focus on rewarding your teams effort and process, the numbers and closed deals will follow (and the team comradery will increase – “win win!”).
cheers!
Rob, i suspect that this comment of yours was, in part, due to Lance Armstrong’s doping. (Not sure you knew it but Mike Hogan as you remember is a serious biking competitor, he and his fellow cyclists all knew Lance was doping.)
This morning I ask Page when was the last time you heard the once popular phase, “… not that you won or lose, but how you play the game.”
I am guilty of attributing that famous quote that you wrote about to Vince Lombard, so it is good to know that it was a misquote.
Your knowing, long ago, that effort is what should be rewarded is so apropos today, considering an entire generation of kids got told, “good job” for breathing.
As far as winning being everything in this society, I suspect that fame any money may be the motivating factors for cheating.
As for cheating, it has occurred to me, that when competitors see that they train “harder” than a fellow competitor who is beating them due to a little “help” I would imaging that a little “help” is hard to forgo ; when so much fame and money is at stake. When winning which is equated to fame and money is everything a little “help” will remain with us.
This BLArticle® was written before Armstrong’s announcement… but interesting timing.
This is spot on, Rob! All we can control is the amount of effort we put forth in order to achieve the desired outcome. We can never control the results of our efforts. We need to reward ourselves for doing the necessary work and use our effort as a measure of success rather than strictly the outcome. Of course, it’s always nice to celebrate the wins, too! A+ for effort on this BLarticle!
Rob, Nice article. I have learned along the way that losing in a struggle can be as good for you, in the long run, as winning.
If you win all the time how do you get better?
Not just in sports or business but also other pursuits in life. What fires you up more and gets you thinking deeper about doing better than failing at something you direct a lot of effort towards?
Rob,
Great BLArticle. I found your thoughts both insightful and full of inspiring information. No longer shall I view my efforts anything less than what they are… Win, lose or anything that’s found in between I know at the end of each day if we’ve given it my all, we’er a winnner.
Excellent Blarticle, as always. I must refer back to Peters’ comment – “If you win all the time, how do you get better?” WELL SAID, PETER JOLLES! This has become a society of invented self-esteem – “OMG, my childs’ team LOST!! He / She will be damaged for life! QUICK – give them a trophy for a job well done, so their fragile egos aren’t damaged…” And so, there is NO incentive to be bigger,better,stronger and more competitive! What bullshit is this? Most of us who blog with Rob came up in a society where we were NOT given rewards for just trying…we earned them. It high damn time these kids in this day and age learn the result of not winning. It happens – no one wins all of the time (as WE all know!) and dealing with failure is a part of life…and it makes everyone stronger and more resilient.
And sometimes rewarding a great effort with sugar wafer cookies is a great alternative to barbecue potato chips.
Rob – what I can’t understand – is how you keep eating all those ‘barbecued chips’……..
…..and still manage to stay so slim ‘n’ trim!!!
John M.
“C.T.”