Champions exist in a
perpetual state of enlightened dissatisfaction, always looking for a new idea that will improve upon the current state of affairs.
Typically, they have a long history of pursuing new ideas, attempting breakthroughs, and
challenging the accepted.
Champions cannot command because their
authority is not positional.
Their authority comes from their vision, their energy, and their ability to touch the hearts of those who believe their vision is the reality the organization must achieve for more
than its future survival, that vision contains the organization’s thrival.
To be effective the champion needs a track record of success.
Yet down deep, most champions are
idealists; therefore they often tend to become overly optimistic.
Thus it is not ironic that the hallmark of real champions is
not how many successes
they have had, and they will have had many, but rather how they have dealt with
failure.
Failures should be the learning experiences that temper their idealism sufficiently to make them effective. Often the best champions will have at their side a seasoned realist or skeptic to provide balance and practicality to their idealistic vision.
Not surprisingly, many champions are entrepreneurial at heart, which enables
them to excel with broken tools and inadequate resources, under adverse conditions,
and with minimal organizational support.
Their
extraordinary results come from a blended potion of vision, persistence,
ability to learn from mistakes, a willingness to take risks and possibly fail, and an
abiding commitment to the greater good of all.
Breakthroughs are the way of life for champions, whose challenge of the status
quo is often regarded as unreasonable, are interested in creating new pathways, and
love to discover that which others have overlooked.
And most importantly, a champion always wears L. L. Bean Boots when
kicking butt!
“It's not whether you get knocked down,
it's whether you get up.”
-Vince Lombardi
