Vince Lombardi: Professional Football Coach

Vince Lombardi studied careers and played football at Fordham University. Vince went to play fullback but he got switched to the line and became a guard (Roensch). The reason Vince got the fullback job taken away was because he slow. He went up against very big defensive lineman and could beat them.His sophomore and junior years he couldn't play due to injuries (Roensch). Now Vince’s senior year he gets to start. The Fordham team Vince’s senior year was the best it has been for very many years. Vince was a part of the seven blocks of granite and only gave up 1 rushing touchdown the whole year and came in the game against NYU. The

Leadership. After going to West Point and being mentored by General Douglas MacArthur, Lombardi understood that leaders were born, not made. He believed leaders were justified through their hard work, and the same can be said about football players.

Taking it back,as it may sounds lombardi in reality he also faces the reality of facing rivals of other teams which also brings out the competitiveness in himself for his team to win.Every time a football player goes to ply his trade he's got to play from the ground up - from the soles of his feet right up to his head”Being the top alpha is the only rule Lombard sets for his team, he doesn’t need players who thinks having second place is okay only the mindset that being number one is the only place is the best. Players who keeps their head up and never down is the one he wants, he doesn’t need players that won’t push their boulders in order to win. Being a coach may be a hard position but Lombardi was that coach who was there to keep pushing his team. Lombardi may have been a coach that was harsh only wanted commitment and want his team to be number one,not second. A lesson is that there are options,you want to win you go give it your all but if you think it’s alright to be second place there isn’t any place for that just only first place.

This paper will highlight the areas that made Vince Lombardi a visionary and ethical leader. These traits include understanding diversity, practicing transformational leadership, critical thinking, and ethical leadership.

When asked who is the greatest coach to lead a NFL team to the Super Bowl, Vince Lombardi’s name would be mentioned. He took the worst team in the NFL and transformed them to be the best. His team succeeded to win 6 divisional titles, 5 NFL championships, and 2 back to back Super Bowls. Vince Lombardi was both a visionary and ethical leader by leading his team through a new way of systematic thinking and obstacles. In this essay, I will state claims on how he became a visionary leader. Two core concepts came to play while researching his life. The first was how he displayed inspirational motivation while guiding his players to the Super Bowl and painting a vision. Secondly, he displayed team dimensions by knowing how to balance a team and also earning mutual respect. Later, I will state claims on how he was an ethical leader. First, he used reflective thinking, system 2 in critical thinking by using some decision making no one has ever used to ultimately win the Super Bowl. He also used the Three P’s (principles, purpose, and people) concept in the ethical leadership lesson on how he used those three principles to reach a common goal and display excellence in all we do. Additionally, I will tie his visionary and ethical leadership styles into my personal relevance and use some examples. Finally, I will conclude with a summary of the main points and end with a couple of quotes.

When using an authoritarian leadership style, close adherence to regulations and policies are the fundamentals of this leadership style. Workers are held to a specific standard, and the relationship is purely professional. In a democratic leadership style, the decision-making ability is shared. The superintendent relies on feedback from the foremen when making decisions.

Vince Lombardi Vince Lombardi was a great man, many say. He exemplified that American ideal that greatness can only be achieved by hard work and discipline. However, Lombardi’s life was far from perfect. He did not begin his career as the head coach of the great Green Bay Packers of the 1960’s; hardly, as he began as a lowly assistant at a run down Catholic high school, just scraping by.

Coaching professional football was Vincent Lombardi’s lifelong goal. His passion and drive laid the foundation for his visionary leadership; when he signed on as the head coach and general manager for the Green Bay Packers he had a clear vision for the future (Buckman, 2002).

Grojean, Resick & Diskson (2004) suggest that leaders are responsible for facilitating their follower’s to become capable and guide them to improving their capabilities and strengths. Differentiating between different leadership styles can be done in a number of ways. It was determined that the traditional styles of leaders include authoritian (autocratic), democratic, permissive (laissez-faire) and bureaucratic (Viinamäki, 2009).

Authoritarian leadership style is where a leader has complete control and power over their team. They demonstrate their 'power' and 'control' by dictating policies and procedures, deciding what goals need to be achieved, and directs all activities to be done by the team. An authoritarian is usually most successful when things are going well or when in a crisis and decisions need to be made quickly.

Autocratic leadership, also known as authoritarian leadership is a leadership style characterized by individual control over all decisions and little input from group members. Autocratic leaders typically make choices based on their own ideas and judgments and rarely accept advice from followers. Autocratic leadership involves absolute, authoritarian control over a group. It can also be derived

Often times an authoritarian leader has full control of those around them, and believes to have complete authority to treat them as they want. An authoritarian leader would provide instructions without looking for inputs and superintend his or her nurses in a close manner. However, problems may arise if a nurse must wait for the manager's decision or direction before taking action regarding a patient. Although the authoritarian leadership style can be viewed as undesirable, it has proved to be very efficient in emergent and stressful situations. One of the key benefits of authoritarian leadership is the fact that decision making becomes much more simple and fast, as the leader doesn't have to consult or convince anybody. Basically authoritarian leadership can work wonders for the organization when decision making has to be quick and during some crisis.

According to the article “Authoritarianism, socioethnic diversity and political participation across countries”; “Authoritarians are more likely to display intolerant and punitive attitudes when they perceive a threat to the social cohesion of the in-group” (Singh). This identifies that authoritarian behavior occurs when someone does not understand when something goes wrong, that they are more likely to become very upset over the situation. “Stenner (2005), for example, finds that authoritarians become more intolerant and punitive when exposed to threats to the values and institutions that characterize the in-group, while non-authoritarians tend to become more tolerant and understanding” (SINGH). This quote establishes the actions of an authoritarian; identifying their respective lack of understanding if something goes wrong, and that they are unsure of how to cope with the situation that is placed in front of them. Authoritarian personalities play a role with prejudice, in that they are judgmental of others, they perceive themselves to decidedly be right, and do not allow themselves to get to know others. This theory is very significant to American society because it does not allow people to strive to their full potential.

Many have debated that authoritarian leadership is a pessimistic, negative, and discouraging view of others, however Martha Stewart’s use of this style enabled her to flourish in a competitive cutthroat environment.

There are two definite strengths of authoritarian leadership: efficiency and productiveness. These both impact the team positively, as team members will feel satisfied - having completed a task/accomplished a goal successfully. Generally, the more efficient and productive a team, the more likely they are to be successful. Authoritarian leaders are proficient at motivating others. This leadership style allows for fast decisions which can be a lengthy process in other leadership styles such as bureaucratic. This essentially allows the team to begin a project and complete it promptly. An example of where this leadership is most effective is in the Armed forces. There is a clear defined structure of ranks and roles within the regiment. There is one leader in charge (the general) who instructs lower ranks and gives orders. The sergeant does this without any input from lower ranks. Northouse (2012) states some “would argue that authoritarian leadership is a much-needed form of leadership– it serves a positive purpose, particularly for people who seek security above responsibility.” This supports the strengths of the authoritarian leadership