The first and last task of aleader is to keep hope alive.
John W. GardnerRead
Quarterbacks need to make their team better. If it's a bad team, they can even make a bad team better.
Interpretation
Quarterbacks have the responsibility to uplift and improve their teams, regardless of the team's initial capability.
In this quote, Fran Tarkenton highlights the critical role of a quarterback not just as a player, but as a leader who has the ability to elevate the performance of the whole team. Even if the team is struggling or lacks talent, a skilled and dedicated quarterback can drive improvements and inspire their teammates to perform better, indicating that leadership and influence can be more powerful than inherent ability.
In practice
This quote is perfect for a sports coaching seminar to emphasize the importance of leadership.
The first and last task of aleader is to keep hope alive.
A manager is not a person who can do the work better than his men; he is a person who can get his men to do the work better than he can.
No one intends to make serious mistakes. They come when you compromise your standards to be more accepted by others. You be the strong one. You be the leader. Choose good friends and resist peer pressure together.
Good governance never depends upon laws, but upon the personal qualities of those who govern. The machinery of government is always subordinate to the will of those who administer that machinery. The most important element of government, therefore, is the method of choosing leaders.
I used to say of Napoleon that his presence on the field made the difference of forty thousand men.
You must do as your people do. If my people are poor, I must be poor. People ask me, 'Why don't you find a personal coach or a private car?' I can't. Then I won't be part of my people.
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