Attitude is Everything

Over the past few weeks I have been reading a book based on a comparison of the lives of two greats in the world of soccer management, Bill Shankly and Sir Alex Ferguson. The latter was markedly affected by the former and the similarities in many aspects of their lives and careers is evident and highly interesting.

I could draw many, points from the book but the two that stand out and have a relevance to success and achievement are:

Their overcoming of adversity.

The use and impact of psychology particularly by Shanks.

Neither Ferguson nor Shankly had star studded careers as players. Shankly's was cut short by the war and Ferguson always seemed to err before realising truly great success. It is such frustrations that, for me, are part of the driving force behind them becoming such management icons.

Both were born in relative hardship and did not have anything like easy childhoods despite there being no apparent lack of tough love. As their lives progressed it is obvious that success was never handed to them on a plate. Hard work and determination are common traits laced into their histories.

Both managers recognised in Keegan and keane, in different eras of the game, players with philosophies mirroring their own and helped raise them to household names despite them being by their own admittance reliant more on attitude than natural gifts.

Another hero of mine as well as milions of others is Muhammud Ali. Here is a man who beat his opponents before they entered the ring by constant predictions of victory and self aggrandizement. The drip, drip of daily and weekly predictions and quips over and over again predicted the outcome of many of his fights and indeed the majority of his career.

Shanks used the same psychology weekly by telling his players the same message, that they were invincible and the best. He also used to, whenever possible, negatively influence the opposition with his own quips and jibes before games. When you hear story after story of Shanks doing this you realise how influential such programming was. Such things helped create a football club that dominated England and Europe for two decades.

So the message is clear: NEVER GIVE IN AND KEEP TELLING YOURSELF YOU ARE GREAT. It obviously works.