There's a wonderful biography of Vince Lombardi by David Maraniss, the Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter at the Washington Post (When Pride Still Mattered: A Life Of Vince Lombardi
).
). After the Green Bay Packers captured the first-ever Super Bowl, Maraniss writes, Coach Lombardi, as tough a coach as there was on the American sporting scene, found himself in high demand as a speaker to executive audiences, who wanted him to translate his principles for victory on the gridiron to success in work and life. In what became a recurring message to corporate America, he set out seven principles of competition and leadership, most of which you'd expect from the greatest football coach of all time. But his most important principle was also the most surprising: Love is more powerful than hate.
"The love I'm speaking of is loyalty, which is the greatest of loves," Lombardi told his audiences. "Teamwork, the love that one man has for another and that he respects the dignity of another...I am not speaking of detraction. You show me a man who belittles another and I will show you a man who is not a leader...Heart power is the strength of your company. Heart power is the strength of the Green Bay Packers. Heart power is the strength of America and hate power is the weakness of the world."
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