Posts by Fran Tarkenton

When I decide to do something, I fully commit to doing it. If I think that something is worth doing, then it is worth doing right, giving it my full attention and best effort. It might succeed, it might not—but I want to give it the best I have. As a quarterback, the time to…

As a small business owner, it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of an average day. Especially when work piles up in and around the office, entrepreneurs don’t always take the time to consider the long term impact of what they’re doing. Here are a few things to keep in mind that will…

A paradox: I think one of the best signs that someone has a good chance to be successful is when they know how to deal with failing. I learned more from losing than I ever did from winning, and my greatest successes have all come about because of the things I learned from things that…

If you’re a business leader, you have a responsibility to embrace failure. Most people—especially leaders, executives, managers, CEOs, administrators, chairpersons—avoid failure, both word and subject, as they would day-old sushi or French opera. Failure, it seems, is not a fit topic for polite conversation. For that matter, neither is doubt, fear, uncertainty, or lack of…

An organization includes a whole group of people, from employees to partners to other forms of support and even customers. But entrepreneurs are often natural DIYers, self-starters who tend to go it alone. To get from one to the other, a business owner has to learn how to glue a company together. One of the…

I don’t think I’ve ever had an original idea in my life. Every idea I’ve ever had, all my learning, has come from other people—from what I’ve read, what I’ve seen, and what I’ve heard. And I think that’s true for all of us. The notion of the great genius who sits down, thinks for…

I don’t think anyone can do it on their own. It’s why I talk so much about team. But it’s not just a question of doing everything yourself. To most people, that much is obvious. There are only so many hours in a day, and we are still only able to be physically present in…

One of the many lessons I learned playing football that has completely translated into my life in business is that success doesn’t happen by accident; it takes a lot of hard work. Every player on the team has to work hard and learn all the fundamentals, the blocking and tackling, catching, reading a defense. And…