By
Dr. Wilson Triviño
Weaving humor, wisdom,
and football tales, legendary sports icon
Bill Curry shared his philosophy of
leadership at a speech sponsored by Kennesaw State University’s
Siegel Institute for Leadership, Ethics, and
Character on April 21.
The coach masterly
brought together his audience like a team
when he asked everyone to look at their
individual hand.
Curry told a hushed audience that out
of “six billion individuals, no two hands
are alike, we are all unique.
There will never be anyone like us
and we need to find out what we want and
give it our all.”
Curry reminded us that
we all were four years old at one time and
at that age our world was surrounded by the
simplicity of spirit. As innocent children
we were comfortable in our own skin.
We were very curious about the world
around us.
Children live in the moment and are
certain to do something great.
We lose these beliefs as we grow up
in our harsh world and allow negative ideas
to shape our thoughts.
As a
Georgia
native, Curry grew up in
College Park,
Georgia and
remembers his curiosity of leadership began
by his reading orange bounded books at his
school’s library. These volumes contained
the biographies of the great men of the
ages.
Reading these stories led to the
origins of a life long quest to find out the
secrets of leadership.
Curry’s career in
sports has been sprinkled with greatness.
Not only was he a superb athlete, he
was able to play with some of the top
performers in football of the twentieth
century.
He is proud alumni of Georgia Tech.
Recalling his turbulent
relationship with Coach Lombardi, he painted
a scene when he went to visit the old man as
he lie on his death bed.
Curry had carried a grudge with
Lombardi because of his unorthodox harsh
treatment to him as a football player on his
team.
As he entered the hospital room, the
great coach had tubes and needles coming out
of his right arm, so he grabbed his left
hand.
Coach Lombardi squeezed his hand and
with those strong eyes focused on Curry.
Curry told Coach Lombardi how much
the coach had meant to him in his life.
Lombardi then tightly griped his hand
and told him that “it would mean a lot if
Curry would pray for him”.
That moment crystallized to Curry,
how faith was important to this man.
Curry’s formula for
success is captured in a forth coming book,
Ten
Men I Met in the Huddle.
Leaders have a purpose, they are
unselfish and honest. They have a toughness
to do the right thing.
They are smart, not necessary book or
I.Q. smart, but smart to work hard. Finally
eloquently paraphrasing Churchill, “leaders
never give up”.
These
universal truths are wise words from Curry
who has succeeded on and off the football
field.
Political Scientist Dr. Wilson
Triviño resides in Marietta,
Georgia and is a
speaker and writer for ABC Vision. A consulting
firm that focuses on leadership, change, and innovation. He may be
reached at abcvision@gmail.com
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