I’m a week into a new book called “Above the Line: Lessons in Leadership and Life from a Championship Season.” Urban Meyer is a high-achieving college football coach who sheds a ginormous amount of leadership and life lessons in this book. I’ve been chronicling some of them through my AM Excellence Videos, but wanted to dive a bit deeper into one of the concepts from today.

Urban talks in detail about the role leadership plays in developing culture. He says, “culture is what we believe, how we behave and the experience our behavior produces for each other.” He goes on to say, “Your team, business or organization will perform to the level of leadership you provide.”

In his book Extreme Ownership, Jocko Willinck says it another way, “There are no bad teams, only bad leaders.”

Digest that one for a minute.

Regardless of how hard or soft you say it, assuming that accountability will end any and all discussion of who’s fault this or that was; it will place the responsibility on yourself, who, in the end, is the only person you control.

The Spartans say it another way, “Come home with your shield, or on it.” Their leadership created their culture.

Create a culture of excellence by living a life of excellence.

Spaniard