With the USA, Canada, and Mexico being awarded the 2026 World Cup, it reminded me of leadership development and a recent movie I watched on Netflix: Pele: Birth of a Legend.
For someone known as the greatest soccer player of all time —I grew up in the 80s, when soccer was not as a big as it is today — he had to work very hard to gain the skills he showcased for Brazil in the 1958 World Cup. He wasn’t a “natural” born fantastic soccer player. Only through hard work did he become the legend we know today.
Pele was very poor, had no soccer shoes, and learned a lot of his skills on the streets of Brazil playing barefoot. He worked very hard to develop a “freestyle” of soccer that he was passionate about. He had a hunger to get better each and every day, and that drive created a style unique to him — one that would prove dominant when he finally made it to the world stage.
His ascension didn’t happen immediately, though. At one point in his career, he was forced to play a style that didn’t fit him. His coaches wanted him to play like everyone else. He was a cheetah in training, but they were upset that he couldn’t swim fast enough.
One quote from Pele about his development stood out to me:
“I don’t believe there is such a thing as a ‘born’ soccer player. Perhaps you are born with certain skills and talents, but quite frankly, it seems impossible to me that one is actually born to be an ace soccer player”
He followed that up with this:
“Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice, and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do”
Pele understood that you must develop your skills, no matter how much talent you have, if you want to succeed. That development takes a lot of hard work. Even leaders who take to management easily need to work hard to grow their skills. There are no natural born leaders — leadership is a skill we must develop through conscious effort, just as Pele developed his soccer talents through deliberate training.
Leadership Development Is Hard Work
We need to find that passion to grow, because the passion will help us through the difficult times. If you keep saying to yourself, “I’m not a reader,” “I’m too young to grow,” or “I’m too old to lead,” those are all excuses. You have time if you make it a priority to grow. Stop with the excuses and start growing.
The easiest first step is to read. There are so many studies and blogs (like this one!) on the power of reading, yet I read another statistic today that 27 percent of Americans haven’t read a single book in the last 12 months, according to Pew Research.
My challenge to you is to stop with the excuses and start growing yourself in the areas of leadership.
Bryan Thompson is a co-founder at friendsTED.
Source: http://www.friendsted.com/blog/friendsted-blog/pele-the-world-cup-and-the-hard-work-of-leadership/