In honor of Kobe Bryant, here are 20 life advice and leadership lessons from Kobe.
On Sunday, January 26th the legendary Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven others were tragically killed when a helicopter he was traveling in crashed amid foggy conditions just above Calabasas, California. Our deepest prayers go out to his wife and family.
Kobe is one of my favorite competitors of all-time. His work ethic, drive, attention to detail and focus are legendary and basically unequaled. His like may never be seen again. There is a YouTube video series called The Mind of Kobe Bryant which all leaders should watch to learn important lessons from Kobe. One of my favorite episodes is shown above – The Mind of Kobe Bryant – Life Advice.
The following are just a short list of his many accomplishments:
- 5-time NBA Champion
- 1997 Slam Dunk Champion
- Youngest All-Star starter in NBA history (18 years, 158 days)
- Part of NBA’s last 3-peat (2000-2002 with the Lakers)
- 1 0f 6 players to average 35.0 PPG in a season (2005-2006)
- 2006 and 2007 NBA scoring champion
- 2007 NBA MVP
- 60 points in his final NBA game (NBA record)
- 18-time NBA All-Star
- 2-time Olympic gold medalist
20 Powerful Lessons From Kobe Bryant
As we reflect on his leadership, the following are quotes from the video above which demonstrate the type of competitor he was.
- “It’s not about endorsements. It’s not about fame. You want your peers to respect you and appreciate what you do as a basketball player and man.”
- “You go to college to get a job.”
- “The struggle is always what is available to you now as opposed to what’s the right thing to do for years to come. The easiest thing we can do is what is right now.”
- “Dance beautifully in the box you are comfortable dancing in. Everybody’s box is different… It’s your job to perfect it and make it as beautiful a canvas as you can make it. If you have done that you have lived a successful life and lived with a Mamba Mentality.”
- “Whether you score 0 or you score 60 we’re going to love you no matter what.” – Kobe’s father Joe. To which Kobe responded with the next quote:
- “That’s the most important thing you can say to a child… That gave me all the confidence in the world to fail… From there I just went to work.”
- “Enjoy the moment. That’s really the most important thing – to enjoy the moment.”
- “Everything I’ve been holding as significant – the championships, the endorsements. Maybe that’s not the most important thing.”
- “It’s a man’s job to protect your family. It’s the man’s job to always be the anchor of stability for the family. In that aspect I failed miserably.”
- “Dreams, they should be pure… The more we mature the more responsible our dreams become and the more governors we put on ourselves to dream.”
- “Protecting your dreams, protecting your imagination, the more you do that the more the world seems limitless.”
- “I always practiced with a ball. I loved shooting too much.”
- “The true challenge is finding what comes next (after basketball) and what you love to do every bit as much and with as much passion.”
- “As athletes, we’ve been pigeon-holed into thinking we can only be one thing.”
- “I will never come back to the game… Ever! I’m here to show people we can do much more than that.”
- “I started thinking about it (what’s next after basketball) at age 20-21 understanding basketball’s not going to be there forever… The hardest part is figuring out what the passion’s going to be. I thought it was important to start at an early age so you could try different things.”
- “I was all about the game. The game completely consumed me. That was my focus 100% of the time.”
- “When I started playing the game everything was about trying to be the best… You get older and you start to learn it’s about the next generation. These championships do come and go… The most important thing you can do is pay everything you’ve learned forward to the next generation to come. That’s how you create something to last forever.”
- “Where did the time go? It’s perplexing.”
- “If you go out on the court and you’re executing things you’ve done a 1000 times before, and you have that dream, then that becomes possible.”
The #19 lesson from Kobe is so valid right now. Where did the time go? It is perplexing. Kobe, thanks for the memories. Once again, our prayers are with your wife and family.
This article about lessons from Kobe Bryant originally appeared here.
