When Vince Lombardi joined the Green Bay Packers in 1959, the team had gone 11 straight seasons without a winning record.

Upon arriving at training camp as their new head coach, Lombardi made an immediate and indelible first impression.

After leading the players to a meeting room, Lombardi waited in front of a blackboard as the

player sat down.

He picked up a piece of chalk and began to speak.

Gentlemen, he said, we have a great deal of ground to cover.

We're going to do things a lot differently than they've been done here before.

We're going to relentlessly chase perfection, knowing full well, we will not catch it because perfection is not attainable.

But we are going to relentlessly chase it because in the process we will catch excellent."

He paused and stared, his eyes moving from player to player.

The room was silent.

I'm not remotely interested in being just good, he said with an intensity that startled them all.

Lombardi soon followed up with a clear-cut description of the specific thing they would perfect.

One play, one single running play.

Gentlemen, this is the most important play we have.

It's the play we must make go.

It's the play that we will make go. It's the play that we will make go. It's the play that we will run again and again and again.

This is the power of focusing on and perfecting one thing.

You wouldn't think there was so much to say about a single running play.

But John Madden described attending a coaching clinic where Lombardi talked about the power

sweep and only the power sweep for eight hours.

Through practice after practice, drill after drill, game after game, and season after

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