I partnered with my friends at MOAA to publish an abbreviated version of this leadership guide; however, I’m sharing the full-length article to expound upon the concepts I presented. In this guide, I assess Coach Tony Dungy’s leadership model and explain how it is applicable to our role as leaders.

I originally wrote this with my Marine Corps colleagues in mind; however, I quickly realized that the leadership nuggets within are beneficial for all branches of service, experience levels, backgrounds, and industries. Take what you can from this guide to develop your own leadership style, philosophy, beliefs, and values.

The contrasting leadership experiences.

On January 14, 2002, Coach Tony Dungy was fired as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Head Coach.¹ Although he had achieved several noteworthy accomplishments, he found himself hauling his personal belongings from the Raymond James Stadium to his vehicle in the rain. Contrarily, on February 4, 2007, Coach Dungy hoisted the Vince Lombardi trophy over his head in the rain after defeating the Chicago Bears to become the Super Bowl XLI champions.² Throughout his tenure as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL), Coach Dungy applied a leadership philosophy he developed as a byproduct of his upbringing. His strict adherence to his leadership philosophy was the renewed vitality that enabled his perseverance during the aforementioned contrasting experiences and ultimately led to a successful coaching career. Coach Dungy’s leadership philosophy transcends industries, and leaders should study and apply his tenets to ensure sustained success in any operating environment. 

Leadership: The art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.

According to Coach Dungy and numerous other sources, Dwight D. Eisenhower once said, “Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.”³ Coach Dungy applied several leadership tenets throughout his coaching career to do just that. Leaders must: create a clear mission, communicate a compelling vision, influence culture while confronting mediocrity, and encourage loyalty and faithfulness throughout the organization. Of all the aforementioned tenets, the foundation of the leader’s success lies in his or her ability to develop a clear mission and compelling vision without losing sight of the present.

Coach Dungy’s overall mission was to shape, nurture, empower, and grow his organizations’ members to become champions and professionals on and off the field. He sought to achieve this mission by focusing on fundamentals and seemingly minor details that, if ignored, would lead to “death by inches.”⁴ Similarly, leaders develop a clear mission and vision to enable their success in their respective industry.

Leaders develop and convey a clear mission and compelling vision.

A clear mission statement and a compelling vision are critical enablers for successful business operations. A clear mission creates a mental image that describes the ideal end state while a compelling, inspirational, and believable vision provides context and meaning to the work the troops or employees are doing. Ultimately, the mission and vision encourage each member of the organization to conduct independently aggressive yet unified efforts to achieve a desired end state.

The Dungy Leadership Affect

Leaders use a clear mission and compelling vision to prioritize sustainable results over instant gratification. This prioritization inevitably creates a culture of long-term excellence where extraordinary performance becomes the norm. This is where Coach Dungy thrived as a coach. From 1996 to 2002, Coach Dungy created a relatively successful Tampa Bay Buccaneers team by influencing the culture. He immediately recognized that each player’s performance on and off the field was a direct result of the culture at that time. When Coach Dungy arrived, the players had what he described as a “fragile mindset,” often expecting negative results and consequently meeting their expectations.⁵

Coach Dungy revolutionized the culture by capitalizing on his team’s strengths, paying close attention to detail, doing the ordinary things better than anyone else, setting and maintaining a high standard of performance, and not accepting mediocrity.⁶ Similar to that of a highly functioning business or military unit, Coach Dungy created a culture of professionalism, respect, and a commitment to the greater good of the collective group of individuals that make up the organization.

Like Coach Dungy, successful leaders quickly confront mediocrity. Former Commandant of the Marine Corps, General David H. Berger, said it best in his Commandant’s Planning Guidance:

Confronting Mediocrity.

Military organizations have longtime used a concept called “maneuver warfare” where separate entities conduct skillfully and choreographed acts to achieve a common goal. The concept of maneuver warfare requires that each entity’s independent actions align to the Commander’s vision to accomplish a shared mission. If any of these entities fail to adequately accomplish their respective tasks, they jeopardize the overall mission. In concurrence with this concept, leaders must encourage everyone in their respective organization to quickly address and correct mediocrity to achieve and maintain consistently successful results.

Accountability requires loyalty and faithfulness.

Members of any organization will only hold each other accountable when loyalty and faithfulness are prevalent. Coach Dungy used this to his advantage. For example, he earned his staff’s loyalty and faithfulness by allowing them to bring their families to the facilities and by fighting to keep their jobs–even when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were not winning as many games as the organization’s leadership believed they should. In turn, the coaches worked tirelessly to ensure the Buccaneers’ success. Although Coach Dungy was fired in 2002 for failing to win a Super Bowl during his tenure, many, including former Tampa Bay Buccaneer Head Coach Jon Gruden, argue that the Buccaneers’ subsequent Super Bowl championship in 2003 can be attributed to these coaches’ efforts.⁸ Their loyalty and faithfulness contributed to their ability and willingness to prioritize their organization’s success.

Similarly, members of any organization are fully vested in the organization’s vision and overall success. This loyalty and faithfulness gives members the desire to innovate and exceed expectations to determinedly accomplish the mission without direct supervision.

Albeit successful, this dynamic creates a catch 22. Leaders can only earn loyalty and faithfulness through consistent results and high performance, but it takes loyalty and faithfulness to get consistent results and high performance. Great leaders solve this conundrum by demonstrating genuine care and creating a “people first” culture.

The “people first” leader.

Coach Dungy is one of those great leaders who ultimately amassed 148 wins with only seventy-nine losses throughout his coaching career, and he was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2016.⁹ He would not have accomplished such amazing feats without maintaining an unwavering dedication to his leadership philosophy. Consistent adherence to the aforementioned leadership tenets will ensure a leader’s success regardless of whether the leader is facing an adversary with superior equipment or personnel, or if the leader is attempting to transform an organization’s losing culture. By applying Coach Dungy’s leadership philosophy, leaders can achieve sustained success in today’s operational environment, and effectively lead others in any clime and place.

Notes

¹ Pasquarelli, Len. 2002. ESPN NFL. January 15. Accessed October 23, 2021. https://www.espn.com/nfl/news/2002/0114/1311487.html.

² Hamilton, Brian. 2007. Chicago Tribune. February 5. Accessed October 21, 2021. https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/bears/cs-070204bearsgamer-story.html.

³ Dungy, Tony. 2011. Mentor Leader. Carol Stream: Tyndale Momentum. Carol Stream: Tyndale Momentum., 32

⁴ Dungy, Tony. 2008. Quiet Strength: The Principles, Practices, and Priorities of a Winning Life. Carol Stream: Tyndale Momentum.

⁵ Dungy, Tony. 2008. Quiet Strength: The Principles, Practices, and Priorities of a Winning Life. Carol Stream: Tyndale Momentum.

⁶ Dungy, Tony. 2011. Mentor Leader. Carol Stream: Tyndale Momentum. Carol Stream: Tyndale Momentum., 158

⁷ Berger, David H. 2019. Commandant’s Planning Guidance: 38th Commandant of the Marine Corps. Washington D.C. : Headquarters United States Marine Corps.

⁸ Cannizzaro, Mark. 2003. Gruden Tips Cap to Dungy. January 27. Accessed 10 25, 2021. https://nypost.com/2003/01/27/gruden-tips-cap-to-dungy/.

⁹ Hall of Fame Village. 2016. Pro Football Hall of Fame. August 6. Accessed October 23, 2021. https://www.profootballhof.com/players/tony-dungy/.