A great Liverpool Football Club Manager called Bill Shankly once said "Football is not a matter of life and death - it is far more important than that"
The English Premiership Football (Soccer) Season got underway this weekend and my team Manchester United started off with a great win at Everton by two goals to nil.
At the beginning of each new season there is always great optimism among fans that their team will have a fabulous season and end up in May as winners of one of the competitions.
Of course only a few teams can win trophies at the end of the season and so success has to be measured by achieving a good position in the league table or maybe getting to the final of a knock out competition.
It always makes me realise that taking part is the important bit and not everyone can be a winner if you define winning as taking home the trophies.
This is also true in life methinks and certainly true in business.
Sure it is fabulous to aim high and I think we always should aim for the highest possible goals in our life and our work.
If we do not achieve them but work hard then we should be proud of that which we have achieved. Not everyone can be a winner but everyone can always do their best and aim high.
I will of course be hoping to see my team Manchester United up there at the end of the season challenging for all the top trophies.
With Wayne Rooney and Ruud Van Nistelroy getting United off to such a great start on Saturday the show is well and truly on the road.
In the meantime back at grass roots level of football. I am starting a comeback this season at 53 years of age after a retirement of a few years - no kidding :-)
If I stay the pace I will keep you up to date with progress of my new team
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2 comments:
One of our legendary football coaches--Vince Lombardi of the Green Bay Packers in the 60s--said "winning isn't everything, it's the ONLY thing." Many business leaders think this is the attitude they should take into their work. I'm also reminded of the quote by the unknown (to me) author that "it is not enough that I succeed, all others must fail." I think those attitudes are fine in sports, but business success more often arrives when the leaders work to create a bigger pie rather than create the best method for acquiring all the pieces of the existing pie. I'm reading a good biography of Henry
Ford right now, and it is very evident that Ford's enormous success came as a result of his philosophy of service to the common man.
Thanks for that Mike
One of my heroes is Sir Alex Ferguson - Manager of Manchester United Football Club.
He was a worker in the ship yards in Glasgow, Scotland before playing football professionally in Scotland and after finishing as a player he went on to become the most successful manager ever in British football. His book 'Managing my Life' is well worth reading.
Sir Alex came from a very ordinary working class background - he had no formal management training and yet now a legend in sporting history - known all over the world as a great manager and leader.
Simplicity is definitely the key my friend :-)
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