Vince Lombardi discusses the key principles of coaching and leadership. He emphasizes preparing thoroughly, building trust with players, constantly inspiring the team, and committing fully to excellence. Lombardi stresses teaching players, taking charge, and having the courage to lead through both success and failure. The overall message is that leadership requires dedication to continuous learning, developing others, and striving to be the best through passion, honesty and hard work.

1. Run To Win
Vince Lombardi on coaching and
leadership
By: Donald T. Phillips

2. Part 1
Starting out

3. First Prepare
• Study in detail team you’ve inherited
• Evaluate situation in terms of strengths and weaknesses
• Seek strategically to build a sense of pride in your team

4. Build your team
demand the best from everyone
change the losing attitudes
try to make team feel unique and wonderful- as if they are a special group
individual commitment to a group effort is what makes a team work
get team to mesh and gear smoothly
people who work together will win

5. know your stuff
be a student of your game
remind your team that you were once in their position
get to know every part of the machine
dont just tell players how to do something; teach them
how to do it
coach members of team to be attuned to all aspects of
the game, not just those that impact them individually
pay attention to details

6. develop a game plan
• make winning a part of the game plan
• make no little plans. Make BIG plans
• the reach should always exceed the grasp

7. ENCOURAGE INNOVATION,
IMAGINATION, AND CREATIVITY
In order to be creative, understand all the aspects of your craft-its history, its past
innovations, its details and nuances.
have a lot of little kid in you
write down a new idea wherever and whenever it occurs to you
visual education is much better than just talking to people
from success stems confidence
if you alter your personality just to accomplish something, your not being true.
You’re being dishonest
If you dont strive to innovate, someone else will come up with that better thing

8. if you stand still, you are not progressing and will not remain a leader for long
involve the members of your team in the creative process
part of the price you must pay for success is watching others steal your ideas
come up with new ideas that outdo your previous innovations

9. Part 11
building trust
“you’ve got to win the hearts of the people you lead”

10. Sell Yourself
• make every effort to build trust with your players so that your criticism will
be taken in stride
• ask members of your team to believe in you
• its more important to have the players confidence than their affection
• never tell your team anything you don’t believe yourself
• always tell your team the truth
• be responsible for a failure, after success let your team know you dont stand
alone
• be honest with yourself

11. Treat people as individuals
a team is made up of as many different individuals as there are positions
when it comes to details about your “players” keep keep your ear to the ground.
Remember little things that others might not notice
admit it when you make a mistake
inspire and motivate according to the personality of the individual
the amount that can be consumed and executed by a team is contro$ed by the weakest
link on it

12. Be color blind
have no sense of whose black, white, male, female, etc...
make every member of your team part of a family
any kind of separatism is bad
respect every persons dignity

13. Keep things simple
• Whenever possible reduce your explanation of complex matters to
two fundamental things.
• For more complicated subjects, present a visual image for the team to
concentrate on
• simplicity increases your chances of winning
• don’t encumber your players with a lot of rules. Give them the
freedom to act on their own under game situations.
• give directions as if you were talking to the least intelligent team
member
• simplicity is the sign of true greatness. Meekness is the sign of true
strength.

14. CONSTANTLY INSPIRE
stay attuned to varying moods, feelings, and performances of each member of
your team.
find some way to always keep your team emotionally up
the conditions have to dictate what you do or don’t say
appeal to a persons sense of pride
when you see an error being made don’t just sit there
leadership is based on the power to inspire

15. part 111
Routine

16. Take charge
expect full cooperation from your superiors, and give full cooperation in return
establish your authority with your team
as a leader be willing to use authority
if your going to exercise authority you’ve got to respect it
while most people shout to be independent, they also wish to be dependent
as a leader you must have an inclination, a commitment, a willingness to command
keep the members of your team at arms length

17. Learn, Teach, Practice
• have a genuine willingness to learn
• teach people to think for themselves. Inject enthusiasm and
passion into your organization. Make it fun
• dont assume everybody knows everything
• you cant travel faster than your slowest pupil
• negative experiences do not inhibit but rather contribute to the
learning process
• if you get bored teaching people get bored learning
• always be right in the middle of the action

18. • people learn by example and explanation
• when you see the gap between what people are and what they can
become, do everything you can to help close it.

19. RUN TO DAYLIGHT
encourage people to take action immediately, on their own, and without asking for
permission
tell your people what needs to be accomplished and let them do it anyway they want
as long as it gets done
cardinal sin is to be outhought
ask people what they think
teach people to think automatically in “game situations”
take a chance
be willing to give it one more try

20. have the will to win
never let your team slip into a defeatist attitude
if you could have won you should have won
winning is a habit, so is losing
once you establish success it makes the job fun and makes it
routine
the strength of the group is in the will of the leader
refuse to lose

21. Part 1V
Character

22. Have the courage to lead
✤ once you obtain a certain amount of success, it is inevitable that you will be criticized
✤ develop a thick skin to criticism
✤ put defeat behind you, if you can’t accept losing you cant win
✤ defeat is education
✤ there must be truth in the purpose and willpower in the character
✤ the measure of a man is how he meets his failures. The greatest accomplishment is not
it never falling but in rising again after you fall

23. Control your darker side
• when you do something wrong apoligize
• continued abusive behavior frightens people, causes resentment, leads to
arguments, engenders hate, and causes people to quit and walk away
• inject some humor when you sense that a mood change will help your team
• you cant be a cold fish when you lead, take your emotions with you if your
going to be involved

24. PREACH LOVE, FAMILY,
AND HEART POWER
talk straight with members of your team, tell the truth
be sensitive to the emotional needs and expectations of others.
show concern for your “players”
treat yourself as the patriarch of a large family who loves all his children
and worries about them.

25. Be willing to pay the price for
success
expect 100% effort at all times
success demands singleness of purpose. It is not a sometime thing; it is an all
the time thing
There are no shortcuts to success, the individual that tries to find them will
lose his way
leaders have to make the tough decisions that others are unwilling to make
whatever job you have, you have to pay the price for success

26. MAKE A COMMITMENT
TO EXCELLENCE
a leader must have character before he can instill it on others
a leader has got to get across to his team that feeling of truth, honesty, and
selflessness
be the same person no matter where you are
unless a man believes in himself and makes a total commitment to his
career and puts everything he has into it-his mind, body and his heart-
What’s life worth to him?
seek to raise the bar
make the effort to be perfect; thats what life is all about.