Key to Winning
For those of you who watched the BCS National Championship I’m sure you were impressed by the underdog Florida Gators’ performance against the nation’s best defense, Ohio State Buckeyes, with it’s Heisman trophy winner, quarterback Troy Smith. Florida iced Ohio State in a stunning 41-14 victory!
Well, my conclusion about this (and a huge lesson for leadership) is that there are two i’s in winning. The two “i”s in Florida’s huge win are Chris Leak and Tim Tebow, their twin quarterbacks who have come to be known as ‘Leakbow’. Chris Leak was named the MVP of the game. Florida’s coach, Urban Meyer, deserves lots of praise for his spread option offense and what he has done to develop these two quarterbacks. Great job Florida! (Now, I have friends in Ohio too. It’s been an excellent season for the Buckeyes. Great effort!)
Let’s apply this to leadership. There are two “i”s in winning. Michael Jordan once said that “there’s no “i” in team but there is in win”. For the Gators to win they had to rely on their two “i”s. For you to win as a leader in 2007 you will need to discover and develop the two “i”s that will produce a winning combination. No single initiative, quality, person, idea or other factor will bring you the ultimate level of success you are destined for in 2007. You’ve got to find the winning combinations that will guarantee you victory. Start thinking outside the box. Coach Meyer employs a twin-quarterback system. This is unheard of in football because of the tension that always develops between people competing for the same job. You’ve got to find a way of aligning any competing ideas, people or resources into one unit that fits and works together.
The key to winning therefore is in having an arsenal of ideas, initiatives, strategies and resources and then knowing when to use which. You’ve got to have a bag of tricks up your sleeve, so to speak. You have to build your organization or business around a solid vision (spread offense), have a driving mission (winning the title) and execute both the vision and the mission flawlessly (twin-quarterbacks). In between doing all of this, you will continue with the planning process we have been talking about in my recent blogs. If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail. You were born to win. Find your “i”s and develop them!
