Customer Reviews

What It Takes to Be #1 : Vince Lombardi on Leadership

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I am 16 years old and I play on my high schools varsity baseball team. I feel this book has helped my outlook on my sports career, because some of his quotes are so true. Everytime I wake up at 5:30 to weightlift before school I remind myself "The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender." Just reading this book made me realize what it really takes to be #1. You can't be a sissy, you have to work for what you want. Any athlete who needs something to motivate them should read this book.

Above the portals of Apollo's temple at Delphi one could find the words "Know Thyself". This injunction, as old as civilization, is the departure point for this thoughtful volume. Vince Lombardi Jr. has penned a gem of a book, a labor of love based upon the philosophies and actions of his famous father. It's about winning - through knowing yourself, building excellent character, and living with integrity. Vincent T. Lombardi is an icon. Living in Green Bay, I am reminded daily of his legacy. But this isn't just another rehashing of the Packer "glory days". Vince Jr. has applied his father's winning strategies to life, to leadership, to motivation, to building teamwork and developing winning organizations. On a personal level, the reader can apply the principles laid out in this book to developing a winning attitude, to asking the right questions to making better life decisions, to developing better focus and discipline, and to discovering your life's passion and jumping into it with enthusiasm. This is a fantastic book for students, for those trying to earn leadership positions, for successful business people looking to enhance the performance of their company, or for any intelligent person trying to improve their life and find their true way. My favorite thought from this book is "Chase perfection and settle for excellence along the way." Vince Lombardi's book will definitely get you chasing perfection, and make you want to RUN TO WIN!

I highly recommend this book if you are interested in any aspect of management or leadership or if you are looking for ways to refine your character and increase your personal and interpersonal effectiveness.

Vince Lombardi is arguably the greatest professional football coach of all time. His 10 year coaching record was 105 wins, 35 losses, and 6 ties. His legendary Green Bay Packers played in 6 World Championship games and won 5, including the first two Super Bowls, and his post-season record of 9 wins and 1 loss is unmatched. Today, the name "Lombardi" conjures up many images in the minds of those who knew the man, knew of the man, or have heard the many myths and legends about the man. Who better to tell and analyze Vince Lombardi's story than his son, Vince Jr.?

This book not only presents a balanced view of Vince Lombardi the man and coach, it also gives readers the "Lombardi Leadership Model" (self-knowledge + character + integrity = leadership) and other useful tools and insights for introspection and personal leadership development. Besides being a great biographical account of a very complex, often misunderstood, and highly successful leader in a public and highly competitive environment, this book is also a great guide to personal growth for any leader in today's chaotic environment and tomorrow's uncertain future.

I was really inspired by the leadership style of Vince Lombardi. I had heard a lot about him over the years. In this society that we live in where everything has to be done now with little or no effort, I found this book to be refreshing.

I enjoyed reading about a man of standards and discipline and a man that was able to take a loosing team to the top.

Once in a while a book comes along that you know when you read it will stand the test of time. "What It Takes to Be # One" is one of those books. Whether you are a parent, a teacher, a business leader, a student, or a coach this book will put you on the right course in making a difference in the lives of the people you touch. You have an opportunity to examine your vision, your values, and your habits. Vince, Jr. has done an excellent job in mixing his father's thoughts about life in with his own. I highly recommend this book to those in leadership positions or those who wish to be in leadership positions.

I have read several of Vince Lombardi Jr.'s books on leadership and this is his best book yet. The leadership style that Coach Lombardi developed intuitively during his career, is broken down and analyzed in a way that is useful in improving leadership skills whether one is business person, a social worker or a parent. The best part is that the message is is not just one of leadership skills but also one of inspiration! The passion that Lombardi brought to his coaching his contagious and after reading this book, I came away both informed and inspired!

To be honest,as a Hong Kong student, I didn't know who is Vince Lombardi before. Now, I am not only knowing how great he was as a football coach and I can learn something from his leadership model.

First of all, the author (Vince's son) uses lots of qutoation. Well, I am so impressed. This is because using Vince own word is much more easy to understand him and his model. Also, his word is very powerful such as " Winning isn't everything. It's the only thing" and " To master ourselves before we attempt to master others." These words inspire me a lot and I can always remember his philosophy.

Besides, I agree the idea of "Master Ourselves" and " Master Others". This concept is very close to Chinese thought. We have to behave ourselves, then we are able to lead others and affect others.

Thirdly, this book talks about self-knowlegde in the first part. Ususally , the book would stop after telling the importance of self-knowlegde. This book gives me more, the author teaches us several ways to know ourselves.

However, I am so disappointed to the summary because it doesn't included the most critical points of being a leader and what is leadership.

I found the book to be very interesting for 2 reasons; I am a Packer Backer from way back and have studied numerous leadership models.

I was not disappointed. The book does an excellent job at providing Coach's antidotal behavior and framing it into a Principle Based decision model. One that is useful not only in the Peer-Superior-Subordinate relationship, but also in one's personal daily life. For someone who was so successful and had transcended sport, I'm surprised that such an effort was not attempted prior to this book - but- the wait was worth it.

This book is better than any leadership book you'll be assigned from a Top Tier MBA school. This, is based on experience.

As Vince Jr. states in his book "How many diets does it take till you lose weight? Just one... the one that works for you." This could be the one book on leadership that works for you. Vince Jr. writes with the passion and authority of his father and manages to teach new lessons without rehashing the same old quotes. You find yourself embracing change, tension and stress as key elements to winning rather than losing. "What It Takes To Be Number #1" is Number #1.

The book is not at all what I wanted. It is more of a gift book than the actual book. It's a small inept version of the real thing. Verify the correct version before ordering would be my advice.