Winning the NFL Way

HarperBusiness

Chapter One

A Winning Combination:
A Vision with a Strong
Game Plan

"Capital isn't scarce; vision is."
-- Sam Walton

"Setting a goal is not the main thing. It is deciding how you will go
about achieving it and staying with that plan."
-- Tom Landry

Corporate legends abound about CEOs who have a vision assuringfuture market dominance. I recall that one such mogul,founder of a retail apparel chain, experienced his vision on amountaintop in Colorado. Another visionary, the wealthy owner ofautomobile dealerships, was sailing alone at sea amidst a ferociousstorm that nearly capsized his boat, when his revelation came. Whilevisions of this nature enhance corporate folklore, I suspect they aredramatically exaggerated. I believe it more likely that a vision beginswith a vague idea that slowly evolves over time, repeatedly changingform before fully crystallizing.

When Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart, opened a small BenFranklin store in Newport, Arkansas, shortly after World War II, hisaim was merely to outsell his across-the-street competition. His goalwas to be the town's number one five-and-ten-cent store. When helost his lease in 1950, he moved to Bentonville where he opened Walton'sFive and Dime. Walton had no plans of grandeur -- the thoughtof becoming the world's largest retailer had not entered his mind.Walton just wanted the best five-and-dime store in Bentonville. Afterhe opened other small stores, he gradually upgraded his vision tooperating the biggest chain store in Arkansas. When one success followedanother, Walton refined and elevated his purpose. Sam Waltondidn't start out wanting to be the world's largest retailer, nor was ithis ambition to be the world's largest company. Yet, at the end of2003, that's exactly what Wal-Mart had become.

I have read the biographies of many Fortune 500 CEOs, and Idon't recall a single one who started out with a lofty vision of somedaybeing the top honcho. People who have low entry jobs are morefocused on their current position, and only after doing well do theyset their sights on advancement. They repeat this process as theyadvance up the corporate ladder. Having a grand vision of the futureis a good thing, but it's more realistic to establish a series of smallergoals, and as you achieve one, set your sights higher on yet another.Remember too, you can alter your vision as you go along.

So, rarely does one start out with a well-defined, giant-sizedvision. More often, an individual begins with an attainable vision followedby a series of still more attainable visions, and continuallyraises the bar with each achievement along the way. In the beginningstages, their visions are nothing more than abstract thinking. However,with a game plan, men and women implement such visions intosomething quite concrete. Think about it. Doesn't every success start in one's mind? More than 10 million copies have been sold sinceNapoleon Hill wrote Think and Grow Rich in 1937. In his classic book,Hill stated, "What the mind can conceive, man can achieve." Heespoused that every achievement begins with an idea.

For example, when our forefathers founded our nation in 1776,they didn't have a vision of America in the 21st century. How couldthey? They did, however, have a conceptual vision about the freedomthat future generations would enjoy. Likewise, when the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company was founded in 1911, a firm thatlater changed its name to IBM, founder Thomas Watson Sr. couldnot have possibly envisioned that his business would evolve intotoday's multibillion-dollar international computer company.

Certainly having a vision provides direction. The vision by itself,however, must be followed up with a game plan. And it is the gameplan that provides a road map for how to move forward to one's destination.Bear in mind that there is an important difference between avision and a game plan. Your game plan pertains to the specifics ofhow to achieve your vision. Hence it is about implementation.

In my case, there was no dream in the middle of the night. No lightbulb suddenly came on revealing how I could someday be a sportsagent for NFL coaches. In fact, nothing in my life remotely suggestedthis was my calling. I played varsity football for two years at SantaClara University, making football my number one priority. Thensomething happened to me in my sophomore year that replaced mythoughts of football. I took a history course taught by ProfessorGeorge Giacomini, a brilliant educator who made me want to be ahistorian. That's right, he made me. He was so excited about history that I figured, "If anyone can be so enthusiastic, so committed, andso passionate about something, I've got to know more about it."

I majored in United States history, and for the next 25 years, Itaught history to several thousand high school and junior collegestudents. If I have impacted a single student the way Professor Giacominiinfluenced my life, I will consider myself to have had a successfulteaching career.

I will spare you the blow-by-blow details of my first years out of college.Let's fast-forward to my life as a married man with childrenwhen I was teaching high school at Santa Teresa High School, a publichigh school in San Jose, California. At this point, I was also chairmanof the history department. Those were very good years for me.I taught history, which I loved, and to supplement my income I alsocoached football -- my second passion. I loved my work. There wasonly one hitch. With a growing family, we had to budget our moneyand watch every penny. To make ends meet, I opted to receive myteaching salary over a 10-month period, and I taught history coursesat junior college and high school during the summer months to supplementmy income ...

Excerpted from Winning the NFL Wayby LaMonte, Bob Excerpted by permission.
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