30 Practices Of Leaders Who Are The Best Of Their Generation: Leadership Quotes From Tom Brady

August 25, 2013 0 Comments

There is a select group of leaders who rise above the rest and transcend their industries and define their generations.  Christianity has transcendent leaders like Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, Andy Stanley, Beth Moore, and Mother Teresa.
The business community has Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Donald Trump.  Sports offers us individuals like Michael Jordan, Nick Saban, Michael Phelps, and Henry Aaron.
One of my favorite leaders in sports is Tom Brady, the now legendary quarterback of the New England Patriots.  Because of his team’s three Super Bowl championships, he is the greatest pro football player of his generation.
Recently Brady sat down with Fox Sports 1′s Michael Strahan for a very revealing interview.  As I listened to his comments, I gleaned 30 practices leaders can do to potentially become the best of their industry within their area of discipline.
The following quotes from Brady provide 30 Practices Of Leaders Who Are The Best Of Their Generation:

1. Leaders Who Are The Best Of Their Generation Love Their Job – “I love the game.  I can’t imagine doing anything else at this point.”
2. Leaders Who Are The Best Of Their Generation Have Focus – “I don’t have an interest in anything else.”
3. Leaders Who Are The Best Of Their Generation Have A Strong Family Life – “It’s made me a better teammate.” – On having children
4. Leaders Who Are The Best Of Their Generation Appreciate Their Industry – “My appreciation for the game is the highest it’s ever been.”
5. Leaders Who Are The Best Of Their Generation Have Proper Priorities – “You have your priorities and your make your priorities.  My family is 1.  Then football is 1A.  When it’s family time, it’s family time.”
6. Leaders Who Are The Best Of Their Generation Find Balance – “When I’m playing football, I’m nowhere else.  I’m in the present…How do you find balance?  You live in the present.”
7. Leaders Who Are The Best Of Their Generation Are Authentic – “On the football field is the only place I can truly be my authentic self.”
8. Leaders Who Are The Best Of Their Generation Respect The Competition – “Everyone at this level is the best.”
9. Leaders Who Are The Best Of Their Generation Build Strong Organizations - “You’re talking about some of the best athletes in the world playing a sport they’ve been playing a very long time with the best coaching, the best schemes, the best innovation, the best science.”
10. Leaders Who Are The Best Of Their Generation Place Team Success Over Personal Success – “It’s about team success.”
11. Leaders Who Are The Best Of Their Generation Continually Improve – “I’m still trying to find ways to get better.”
12. Leaders Who Are The Best Of Their Generation Let Others Think About Their Legacy – “I don’t think about it much at all.” – On his legacy
13. Leaders Who Are The Best Of Their Generation Work Hard – “I didn’t realize how hard it was to do that.” – winning 3 Super Bowls early in his career
14. Leaders Who Are The Best Of Their Generation Have Battle Scars – “The hardest loss was to you guys.” – The Giants in the Super Bowl ending their undefeated season
15. Leaders Who Are The Best Of Their Generation Properly Compensate Their Team – “It’s hard to keep a team together because the more you win, the more your guys are going to get paid.”
16. Leaders Who Are The Best Of Their Generation Value Accomplishment Over Activity – “The thing that’s most important for me is to win.”
17. Leaders Who Are The Best Of Their Generation Develop A Decision Grid – “Everyone wants to be the most – to be appreciated the most, to be paid the most, to be loved the most, that’s not always life.  You want to win the most.  That’s my priority.  That’s #1 so the decisions from there are pretty easy.”
18. Leaders Who Are The Best Of Their Generation Remain Consistent - “He’s very consistent.  He shows up to work everyday, his expectations the same.  He never lets up.  He coaches me the same way he coached me my second year.” – on head coach Bill Belichick
19. Leaders Who Are The Best Of Their Generation Are Humble – “If he can yell at me, he can yell at anybody.”
20. Leaders Who Are The Best Of Their Generation Must Have Personal Excellence – “I don’t put myself in a position where the coach has to use me as an example.”
21. Leaders Who Are The Best Of Their Generation Maximize Every Single Moment – “You don’t take weeks off.  You don’t take days off.  You don’t take periods off.  You don’t take plays off.  That’s how he feels you get the best out of your football  team.”
22. Leaders Who Are The Best Of Their Generation Forget Past Success – “They don’t care what you’ve done in the past.  They don’t care.  He doesn’t care.  The other players don’t care.  The owner doesn’t care.  The only person probably holding on to it is you.  None of that matters because if you want the best out of yourself, you have to keep pushing.”
23. Leaders Who Are The Best Of Their Generation Must Have Some Luck – “I’m been really lucky to be a quarterback whose been in the same system.  We run plays in practice I’ve literally run a thousand times.”
24. Leaders Who Are The Best Of Their Generation Are Proactive Rather Than Reactive - “Because we know what we want to do and have an idea where we want to go, we can make the defense react.”
25. Leaders Who Are The Best Of Their Generation Anticipate – “Offensive football teams can be really good when we start anticipating.”
26. Leaders Who Are The Best Of Their Generation Are Overly Prepared – “What do I see when I come up to the line of scrimmage?  I see everything.”
27. Leaders Who Are The Best Of Their Generation Read And Study – “Through the course of film study I get tips.”
28. Leaders Who Are The Best Of Their Generation Develop Their Teammates – “If you trust your teammate is going to do his job, those are the best teammates to have.  It frees you up to be 100% focused on what you have to do.”
29. Leaders Who Are The Best Of Their Generation Continually Make Adjustments – “We practice so many times that at the point of execution, subconsciously 90% of it is already done.  So 100% of our brain can focus on the 10% of the adjustments.”
30. Leaders Who Are The Best Of Their Generation Do So For Others – “Why do I want to be the best?  I want to be the best for myself but I want to be the best for the guys I play with too cause it’s not about me.  It’s their journey too and I’m part of their journey.  And why can’t I do everything I can to help them out to.”

Practice these 30 things and you may be the best in your generation also.  What do you think of Tom Brady as a football player and leader?