One of the greatest leaders our nation has ever seen, General H. Norman Schwarzkopf Jr.
172 words he speaks in this video.
"People need to understand what leadership is all about. Leadership is not managing an organization. Organizations are made up of people. Leadership is motivating people. Leadership is about people. So, yes. You’ve got to be competent. There’s no question about the fact that you have to have competence to be a leader, but you also have to have character. Good leaders are men of competence and character. Many times character is more important than the competence side of the house. So I tell people that the secret to modern leadership is two rules. Rule 13: When placed in command, take charge. The leader is the person who is willing to take the responsibility. There are a lot of other people out there who are willing to do the job, but they don’t want to get hung with the loss when it happens. As a leader, you have to be willing to take the responsibility. You have to be willing to take charge. So, Rule 13 says, “When placed in command, take charge.”
I want to highlight the first five sentences. I believe this is the core of Dan Campbell’s leadership tactics. Dan has “it”.
- People need to understand what leadership is all about. Leadership is not managing an organization. Organizations are made up of people. Leadership is motivating people. Leadership is about people.
We have a leader of people (Dan Campbell), not a Head Coach of a Football organization.
The Lions organization is made of people…and everything that Dan Campbell has done since arriving in Detroit has reflected the wise words spoken by General Schwarzkopf.
Link to rule 14 for those who inevitably ask “what is the 2nd rule General?”
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He came onboard our ship and spoke during Desert Storm. I’m not one to believe in the mystical or super natural, but that guy had an energy around him. If he would have asked us to run through a steel bulkhead, we would have done it (and this was a group mostly made up of doctors, nurses and corpsmen).
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I got assigned as his armed escort for the day… where we were base at. It was an award for what I did during shield/storm. One of my top highlights of my 23 years in…
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Nice. I appreciate you, brother.
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That’s awesome. Thank you for your service btw
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Rule 14 - do the right thing. What is the “right” thing? Not always the easiest thing, not necessarily the hardest thing. But what’s the right thing to do?
One of the best bosses I ever had said those exact words to me. Do the right thing.
Words to live by. Thank you for posting this.
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Mannn, if I played a quote from Kierkegaard or Nietzsche on here as comment on Dan Campbell, I’d get laughed off. (cause that’s my field…)
Anyway - I agree. Leadership, as a topic, is compelling. Because we all are, to whatever degree. Your team, your office, your children, your students, your colleagues- The people-focus is – something I personally would like to be better at. But I’m not an extrovert so I have to struggle against my nature. For me, I get being charismatic - but for me, what I’m passionate about trumps your interest in it. If you don’t have the interest in what sparks me, I’m not interested in you. It’s charisma, but not for people, for topics. I’m an ideologue. -To be honest, that’s what Patricia was, too. Players (people) became martyrs to his ideals.
And yeah - getting back to Campbell - players modify his ideals. I agree. That’s the best kind of leader to be. A leader should have (people) adaptation, too. Rarely present in an ideologue.
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I am! 
All of us have different energy.
Ps. I legitimately find all the coaches compelling. I like Aubrey Pleasant. But I think this guy has HC written all over his persona:
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