Over 110 million viewers tuned in to watch the Super Bowl last February between the Giants and the Patriots. This Sunday the news is reporting that there will be a shortage of chicken wings because of the amount of wings consumed by these football viewers---young and old, male and female as they watch Super Bowl XLVII.
Football has become an important part of American culture---just like apple pie and red, white and blue. One of the great icons of football was former Coach of the Green Bay Packers, Vincent T. Lombardi. In fact, the “Super Bowl Trophy” was renamed in 1971 “The Vince Lombardi Super Bowl Trophy” because of his influence on the game.
Vince Lombardi had many great words and inspirational themes for his players that are just as applicable to our businesses or personal lives. He conducted grueling training camps and demanded absolute dedication and effort from his players. He believed that there was no room for second place. Although he was infuriated by a less than best effort from his players, he also recognized and had a soft heart for those that were giving their all but were not as talented.
One of Lombardi’s most famous speeches was “What It Takes to Be Number One”. It includes this famous quote:
“Winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all the time thing. You don’t win once in a while; you don’t do things right once in a while; you do them right all of the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing”
This speech applies to any individual or business just as much as it did to Lombardi’s team players. When you are in something that really matters, like serving your customers, you have to be in it with every fiber. As Lombardi says, “if you’re lucky enough to find a guy with a lot of head and a lot of heart, you are never going to come off the field second.”
As aviation service providers, we have to continually be asking ourselves: “Have we given it our all? Are we worthy of being that #1 service provider in our realm of competition?” Being first is not a sometimes thing. It is a constant effort to remain the best at what we do---serving our customers.
