10 Inspirational Kobe Bryant Quotes on Winning and the Black Mamba Mindset

10 Inspirational Kobe Bryant Quotes on Winning and the Black Mamba Mindset

by | Leadership, Quote

As most of the world knows by now, Kobe Bryant passed away, along with his daughter “Gigi” and seven others last Sunday in a tragic helicopter crash. And like millions of sports fans, I was in shock which eventually led to an overwhelming sense of sadness.

It’s a little weird, but since Kobe and I graduated high school the same year, we both played basketball, and he took my celebrity crush at the time– the R&B singer Brandy– to his senior prom, I felt connected to him.

Over the years, we watched Kobe go from a boy playing with men to a man among boys.

I recently saw a highlight segment where he did this dunk that my brain could not compute. I don’t understand how he contorted his body in such a way and still dunked over someone who was pushing him away from the basket and while running full speed.

People love to mention how talented Kobe was. But the thing that was most insane about Kobe was his infamous work ethic. I’m not saying he wasn’t talented, but the real gift was his mindset — the Mamba mentality.

Sharing a story, Dwyane Wade said that during the Olympics when the other players were just getting started with breakfast, Kobe arrived with iced knees in a sweaty T-shirt and shorts after spending 3 hours practicing.

There are tons of stories like this about Kobe. There’s a lot we can learn from his life from both good and bad examples. I’ve written about Kobe before.

I’m going to write another post but for this one, I want to say that he wasn’t the type of person to rely on just his talent for success. He didn’t take anything for granted, including his talent or his natural abilities.

Somehow, Kobe never let all the praise and admiration he received from fans go to his head (for too long).

So, it’s just unexplainable that one of the best in the world, also worked harder than anyone else on the team.

Can you imagine how our lives would be different if we applied Kobe’s work ethic to all the major areas of our lives like marriage, health, finances, faith, our careers etc?

Well, Kobe applied that Black Mamba mentality on and off the court.

Below are some of the best quotes I found on Kobe Bryant’s work ethic and his desire to win.

  • “I’ll do whatever it takes to win games, whether it’s sitting on a bench waving a towel, handing a cup of water to a teammate, or hitting the game-winning shot.”
  • “Winning takes precedence over all. There’s no gray area. No almost.”
  • “People just don’t understand how obsessed I am with winning.”“Pain doesn’t tell you when you ought to stop. Pain is the little voice in your head that tries to hold you back because it knows if you continue you will change.”
  • “The moment you give up, is the moment you let someone else win.”“I focus on one thing and one thing only – that’s trying to win as many championships as I can.”
  • “These young guys are playing checkers. I’m out there playing chess.”
  • “The process of it [drives me to come back]. I want to see if I can. I don’t know if I can. I want to find out. I want to see. I’m going to do what I always do: I’m going to break it down to its smallest form, smallest detail, and go after it. Day by day, one day at a time.”
  • “There’s a choice that we have to make as people, as individuals. If you want to be great at something there is a choice you have to make. We can all be masters at our craft, but you have to make a choice. What I mean by that is, there are inherent sacrifices that come along with that – family time, hanging out with your friends, being a great friend. being a great son, nephew, whatever the case may be. There are sacrifices that come along with that.”
  • “I have nothing in common with lazy people who blame others for their lack of success. Great things come from hard work and perseverance. No excuses.”
  • “Christmas morning, I’m going to open presents with my kids. I’m going to take pictures of them opening the presents. Then I’m going to come to the Staples Center and get ready to work.”

During his retirement speech, Kobe addressed his daughters:

  • “Lastly our daughters, Natalia, Bianca and Gianna. You guys know that if you do the work, you work hard enough, dreams come true. You know that, we all know that. But hopefully what you get from tonight is that those times when you get up early and you work hard; those times when you stay up late and you work hard; those times when don’t feel like working — you’re too tired, you don’t want to push yourself — but you do it anyway. That is actually the dream. That’s the dream. It’s not the destination, it’s the journey. And if you guys can understand that, what you’ll see happen is that you won’t accomplish your dreams, your dreams won’t come true, something greater will. (Points to the rafters). And if you guys can understand that, then I’m doing my job as a father.”

Do you have a favorite quote from these?

My 20 Favorite Leadership Quotes From Martin Luther King, Jr

My 20 Favorite Leadership Quotes From Martin Luther King, Jr

by | Leadership

Once I heard the Rev. Jesse Jackson speak when he visited our office.  At the end of his short speech, there was a Q&A so I asked, ‘What’s one thing about leadership that you learned from Dr. King that we can apply in our lives?’

Without wasting a second, he said,

“Dr. King led from the front.”

On Martin Luther King, Jr day, it’s common to see his image and quotes all over the web and TV.  But as I see his image I’m reminded of what leading from the front means.

One of the common themes in the photos I see of him and in his speeches is that in nearly all of them, he’s leading a protest, he inspiring an audience, or he’s the first to get arrested.  Dr. King was a servant leader who never asked his followers do something he was unwilling to go through first.

Below are my favorite quotes from the Martin Luther King, Jr. Initially, my goal was to make a top ten, but it was impossible to leave out so many great quotes.

  1.   I have a dream.
  2.  There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe nor politic nor popular, but he must take it because his conscience tells him it is right.
  3.  Almost always the creative, dedicated minority has made the world better If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way. 
  4. A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus. 
  5. Everybody can be great … because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.
  6. Never, never be afraid to do what’s right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society’s punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way.
     
  7. Those who are not looking for happiness are the most likely to find it, because those who are searching forget that the surest way to be happy is to seek happiness for others. 
  8. Forgiveness is not an occasional act, it is a constant attitude.The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.
  9. We must accept finite disappointment but never lose infinite hope.
  10. People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t know each other because they have not communicated with each other.
  11. No one really knows why they are alive until they know what they’d die for.
  12. If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.
  13. All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.
  14. Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?
  15. If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.
  16. All progress is precarious, and the solution of one problem brings us face to face with another problem.
  17. Lightning makes no sound until it strikes.
  18. Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle.
  19. Not everybody can be famous but everybody can be great because greatness is determined by service… You only need a heart full of grace and a soul generated by love.
  20. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality.

One of the things that I love about leadership is that regardless of how much times passes by or the latest advances in technology these principles will always apply.  I wonder what the world would be like if more of our world leaders lived by these principles.

Do you have a favorite quote that wasn’t on my list?