Michael Lombardi on learning from Bill Walsh, the brilliance of Bill Belichick, winning in the NFL, and Building Championship Teams

The Highest Level Podcast with Evan Burk

Michael Lombardi is a former NFL executive, author, and podcast host. His football career spans over 3 decades, where he served as an NFL executive with the San Francisco 49ers, Cleveland Browns, Philadelphia Eagles, and Oakland Raiders. He is the Author of the book Gridiron Genius, co-founded and writes for the daily newsletter “The Daily Coach”, and hosts his own podcast "The GM Shuffle".

In this conversation, Evan Burk speaks with Michael about learning football from Bill Walsh early in his career, Bill Belichick’s ability to simplify the complex, and how leaders can find the right players when building a team.

Get Evan’s book, Finding Intangibles, to learn about how high-performing teams are built and the hidden character traits that drive all elite performers and organizations.

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Buy Evan's book, Finding Intangibles

EVAN BURK is an author, speaker, former NFL coach, and podcast host who uses the sports world as his backdrop to engage audiences with thought-provoking lessons of leadership, team-building, and creating championship cultures. Learn more about having Evan come speak to your team by visiting his website, or email him at: [e-mail]

In this Episode:

2:00 | Learning football from Bill Walsh early in his career

4:30 | What defined Michael's early success

5:45 | Bill Walsh's Standard of Performance

7:45 | How Michael is still growing as a leader

9:00 | The simplicity of the system with Bill Belichick

10:15 | Admitting mistakes creates accountability

13:00 | How Belichick evolved as a leader over the years

14:45 | Belichick getting players aligned to the culture

16:30 | Finding the right players vs. collecting talent

18:15 | Assessing character in player evaluation

21:00 | Finding superb system players vs. star players

24:15 | How teams can build a resilient culture

28:00 | Understanding why you win and why you lose

31:30 | What makes writing so meaningful?

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Full Episode Show Notes

Connect with Michael Lombardi on Twitter @mlombardinfl, read his book "Gridiron Genius", and listen to his TEDx talk "Leadership is Destroying Culture"