No Guts, No Glory

I was flipping through the endless cable stations one evening and came across some  80s’ movie. I stopped flipping just long enough to hear a coach say to a football team, “Remember: No guts, no glory!”.

This circa 1980’s movie summarized what I have been thinking more and more about leaders.Great leaders have guts. I mean guts in two ways.

First, great leaders have good instincts. They can read people and situations. They know what to do and when to do it on a gut-level.

The second meaning of guts is having courage. Real leaders have the courage of their convictions and are willing to go against popular and conventional thinking in pursuit of their vision.

“No guts, no glory.”  I am bringing back the phrase and will use as my mantra.