What Makes a Great Quarterback, Physical Traits or Leadership Traits?

3:10 left on the clock in the fourth quarter, your team is pinned on your own 8-yard line. As quarterback, you step onto the field, losing Super Bowl XXIII16-13 with 2/3 of the nation tuned in to the game. In this scenario, the greatest clutch quarterback in NFL History, Joe Montana, led his team on an 11 play-92 yard drive ending with a Montana to John Taylor pass in the end zone, winning the game 20-16. Was Joe Montana lucky or was it his leadership traits that guided his team to greatness?

Joe Montana grew up in Western Pennsylvania, developing into a two-sport star in high school basketball and football. Montana almost went to North Carolina State University to play both but he accepted a football scholarship to Notre Dame. Montana was not heavily recruited, he was the 7th string quarterback his freshman season. Montana studied game film, practiced hard and eventually led the Fighting Irish in back-to-back comebacks his sophomore season. The rest of Montana's college career was filled of leading teams to victory in high-pressure situations, including the 1977 National Championship. Although he was very successful in college, many NFL scouts doubted Montana's potential ability as an NFL quarterback.

What did NFL scouts miss while evaluating Montana's leadership potential? (He was passed over 81 times before he was selected in the third round by the 49ers.) First, they overestimated his perceived weaknesses: Montana was only 6'2" with average arm strength. Second, they underestimated his leadership skills as a quarterback. The following traits were attributed to Montana through his career: coolness under pressure, tremendous work ethic, great communication with teammates, willingness to share glory and the ability to develop talent in others. With 31 NFL 4th quarter comeback victories, a college national championship and four Super Bowl victories, Montana is an example that successful leadership traits come from not just what we are born with but how we choose to develop them.

The Importance of the 3rd Amendment

Imagine that you are at home with your family and all of a sudden you receive a knock at your door. On your doorstep are 6 to 8 members of the United States Army and they are expecting room and board for the evening. You are required to provide this for the soldiers because it is legislated by Congress and it is enforced by the armed troops on your doorstep. When the soldiers leave in the morning, you receive no payment for your services and it is possible that you will have to provide quarters for another squad of soldiers the next night. If not for the American Revolution and the Bill of Rights, this could be a reality today.

It seems far-fetched for us to imagine the scenario that I highlighted in the previous paragraph, however 240 years ago; this was common practice here in what was known then as "The Colonies." After the end of the French and Indian War, British Parliament decided to keep a standing army on the North American continent. To pay for this army, Parliament passed the Quartering Act of 1765. This act required colonists to house and feed the troops without compensation. The act and its sequel were met with great resistance in the colonies, eventually becoming one of the grievances listed in the Declaration of Independence:

"He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation.... For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us."

The newly formed nation was very suspect of the federal government created by the ratification of the United States Constitution. James Madison proposed to the first Congress a list of proposed amendments to the United States Constitution. Remembering the Quartering Acts that were imposed on the colonists, the Third Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified with the following language:

No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

The authors of the constitution knew firsthand the powers of an unchecked federal government. Forced to give up their private property rights, the colonists revolted, creating a government that would be forced to honor the rights of its citizens. Although the act has been litigated before a federal court (2nd Court of Appeals) only once, the rights given to us by the Third Amendment are just as important now as they were in the 18th century. Be thankful we live in a nation where soldiers have their own quarters and the only people that we have to allow to sleep and to eat in our homes are our own invited guests.

A Mom Serves An Ace

Retired from professional tennis, Kim Clijsters, the former #1 player in the world, has spent the past couple of years doing things that she felt was more worthwhile in life, healing her numerous tennis injuries, getting married, giving birth to a daughter and dealing with the loss of her father to Lung Cancer. Knowing the effort that parenthood requires, it would almost seem impossible to devote the hours of training that is required of any athlete that is competing on a world class level.

It was amazing to watch her go toe-to-toe with Venus Williams in the US Open, arguably the best woman's tennis player of her generation. What is even more amazing is that Clijsters was playing only her 11th professional match since she came out of retirement. Clijsters was playing in the open thanks to a wild card (sort of like a free pass) given to her by the Tournament committee. It is amazing that she has been able to advance to the Quarterfinals of the US Open, the first person in the 41 year history of the Open to achieve that level of advancement with a wild card invitation.

What is most impressive about Clijsters is not the fact that she was once a great tennis player that has made a heroic comeback. What is most impressive is her attitude towards the game and how it compares to the greater challenges and joys of life. Listening to her post-match comments and how poignant that she was in defining the match in relationship to her life was refreshing to hear from a professional athlete. To paraphrase Clijsters, "Tennis is a great game, but it is not everthing." Clijsters truly served an ace with her interview and should be an inspiration to moms and athletes everywhere.

Herding Cattle and Herding Cats, True Analogies for Leadership

Perceived or real, Americans tend to believe that leadership is lacking in our nation. An Alma College 2007 Study is fairly typical of American reactions to leadership in our country; poor ratings in all questioned areas. The lack of perceived leadership only proves the need for leadership training, but to train new leaders, we must determine the true definition of leadership.

Many people have their own thoughts and beliefs about leadership. Peter Northouse, a professor at Western Michigan and author of Leadership, Theory and Practice gives a working definition when he states "Leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal." Simple definitions help to clarify potential problems, but leadership is still an abstract concept. With concrete thinkers like myself, the definition can be more confusing than the concept that is being defined.

I recognized the benefit of using analogies to explain an abstract concept throughout my teaching career. Explaining a concept that involves moving a group brings to mind the romantic images of cowboys on cattle drives in the Old West. People many times have herd-like tendencies (watch what people wear to a sports contest.) Often people tend to have their own ideas that they want to pursue. For this reason, herding cats might be a better analogy.



Regardless of what group you are working with, the key is to get people to achieve a common goal. It is very telling that Americans have such little faith in our leadership that maybe we should teach new and existing leaders how to lead others to a common goal. If we are able to teach others how to "herd cattle" or "herd cats" or "herd the thoughts of people," we will be able to improve our perceived lack of leadership in America.