At the end of Sunday's NFL Super Bowl, one team will walk off the field with the iconic sterling silver Vince Lombardi Trophy.
The trophy was renamed for the legendary football coach in 1970 following his sudden death from cancer. Lombardi played to win and developed a reputation for his relentless pursuit of perfection.
To help get fired up for the Super Bowl, I looked up some of Lombardi's quotes on leadership, discipline, teamwork, and more to help inspire and motivate IT pros.
Here are 15 Lombardi quotes you might want to turn to the next time you need a little extra motivation to push you through whatever technology and leadership challenges you may be facing. Whether you're a football fan or not, I hope these remarks will leave you inspired.
On Leadership
"Leaders are made, they are not born. They are made by hard effort, which is the price which all of us must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile."
On Discipline
"Once you have established the goals you want and the price you’re willing to pay, you can ignore the minor hurts, the opponent’s pressure and the temporary failures."
On Teamwork
"Individual commitment to a group effort — that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work."
On Enthusiasm
"If you aren't fired up with enthusiasm, you'll be fired with enthusiasm." [Tweet this]
On Fulfillment
"I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle — victorious."
On Results
"Some of us will do our jobs well and some will not, but we will all be judged by only one thing — the result."
On Confidence
"Confidence is contagious. So is lack of confidence." [Tweet this]
On Commitment
"The quality of a person's life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor."
On Work
"The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender." [Tweet this]
On Commitment
"The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather in a lack of will."
On Excellence
"If you'll not settle for anything less than your best, you will be amazed at what you can accomplish in your lives."
On Overcoming Failure
"The greatest accomplishment is not in never falling, but in rising again after you fall." [Tweet this]
On Cooperation
"People who work together will win, whether it be against complex football defenses, or the problems of modern society."
On Teamwork
"Build for your team a feeling of oneness, of dependence on one another and of strength to be derived by unity."
On Leadership
"A leader must identify himself with the group, must back up the group, even at the risk of displeasing superiors. He must believe that the group wants from him a sense of approval. If this feeling prevails, production, discipline, morale will be high, and in return, you can demand the cooperation to promote the goals of the community."
Need even more inspiration? We still love this article from last year featured on the CIO Enterprise Forum, "What CIOs and other executives can learn from Peyton Manning and Shaun White."
