Kyle Shanahan explains how sometimes a leader is the only person in someone’s life willing to tell them the truth “My dad always said, ‘Just always be honest with guys.’ It’s something I’ve always done. I think it’s hurt me with probably two or three players in my career. Some people don’t like what you have to say.” “But I’ve also learned sometimes you’re the only person who tells them the truth. Some of these guys get so distorted. Uncles and agents and girlfriends or wives, they care about them, but they don’t know what the three-technique was supposed to do or what the coverage was.” “Not everybody knows the big picture. When you have to have that tough conversation, they know I’m not trying to hide from anything.” “I explain to them, ‘This is what I do. This is what I’m responsible for. I’m responsible for putting out the best team possible for the organization.’ If I don’t do that, my daughter might have to move schools again. I might have to fire this coach. I might have to cut this other player.” “It’s not a threat. You are running a business. You are still the boss. We all want everyone to get paid. We want everyone to be good. But you’ve got to remind people what your job is sometimes.” “I didn’t care if coaches yelled at me. I just knew when someone was teaching me and when someone was right. My biggest thing has been: I just want to teach people. Nothing’s worse than when you see coaches doing something based off someone else watching them.” “They raise their voice because the GM is out on the field, or the owner, or the head coach is right there, so they yell at that guy harder in front of the team to cover their ass. Players know that. Players are smart.”

Sam Presti defines the real goal of leadership “In this job as a leader, what you want to do is build teams that you wish you could have been a part of.” “We talk about our seasons as chapters. In order to best understand your story, you need to see it horizontally, not vertically.” “Every year, our goal is to repeat a process—not chase an outcome. The process is to position our team and organization so that, if we are fortunate enough to have things break our way, we can achieve ultimate success.” “What makes great teams lasting isn’t that they defeated their opponents. It’s that they also defeated the circumstances that stood in their way during their journey.” “We have a chance to be a team that makes our mark over time. But we will not make our singular mark every single time.” “That’s just not how this works. NBA history tells us there are no final victories.”

Michael Jordan says losing is not the opposite of winning, it is just another part of winning “I hate losing. It’s not even a question. But I have to respect losing…” “Because losing is a part of winning. You never just win. You’ve got to lose to win.” “Losing is going to hurt… To a point where you look at… How can I do things different? How can I change? How can I make this team better?” “Before you can look at someone else… You’ve got to look at yourself in the mirror. That’s how things get started. You’ve got to be willing to change.”

Mike Macdonald on every player's sixth sense: they know who's full of crap. “Players know. What do they know? They know who’s fake. They know who’s a good coach. They know who the best players are. They know what the organization is like. They just know.” “If you go around trying to fool them, shame on you. You have no idea. They’re living it. Their livelihood is on the line.” “There’s something to be said for authenticity in the process. If it’s a real, honest process, you’re not trying to fool anybody. You’re not trying to pull a fast one.” “You actually understand what’s going to work, how your industry works and what your customer wants.” “You’re not going to fool your customer. Whoever you’re serving is going to know. You can go into a company or a restaurant and feel it. Do they really care about the customer?” “That’s a real thing.”

Here's Pete Carroll in his endless wisdom with an AMAZING take on how to handle your haters, overcome adversity and manage self doubt on the journey to your own personal greatness: "They didn't know how great he was... maybe they don't know how great I can be either." In one of the lowest moments of his coaching career, Pete Carroll couldn't sleep. He'd taken a risk becoming the @Patriots head coach knowing the massive expectations would be hard to match and it wasn't trending the right direction in his 3rd season at the helm. He feared his young career as a head coach may already be over. At 3 a.m. that sleepless night, he turned on the TV and happened to catch a movie about Babe Ruth... In the scene, Boston fans relentlessly booed Ruth after he had been traded to the Yankees. It's in that moment, watching a fanbase annihilate the greatest baseball player of all time, in which Coach Carroll credits gaining a perspective that changed the remainder of his coaching career: "They didn't know how great he was... maybe they don't know how great I can be either." He made a promise to himself going forward, regardless of where he coached, that instead of changing who he was to satisfy the critics, he would double down on the standards, beliefs, and culture he believed would help his team succeed. He went on to win multiple national championships with @uscfb and a Super Bowl with the @Seahawks: 🧭 Most people can't evaluate potential, they can only evaluate evidence. Great leaders often see the destination long before anyone else does. If you constantly adjust your convictions to earn short-term approval, you'll never stay with an idea long enough for it to become extraordinary. 🌱 Build your organization around principles, not popularity. If your standards are rooted in serving others, developing people, and advancing the mission... NOT feeding your ego, don't bend simply because they're misunderstood. The greatest cultures are almost always questioned before they're respected. ⏳ History usually arrives late. The same people who doubt your vision today may celebrate it tomorrow. Your job isn't to convince everyone you're right. Your job is to keep becoming the leader your team needs so that the outcomes become positive and sustainable. Nobody knows how great you can become except you. Protect that vision. Stay true to your standards. Build it YOUR way. If your mission is bigger than your ego and your work consistently serves others, time has a remarkable way of revealing what criticism could never recognize.