Leadership lessons from the soccer field: Messi missed it, and messed it!

It is said time and time again: “winners never quit, quitters never win”. This quote came to my mind after Argentina’s soccer player Lionel Messi announced he quits the Argentina National Team, after he, himself, missed a penalty kick, last Sunday at the finals of the 2016 Copa America against Chile.

It was a tough, tedious, hard moment for him. And only, he, and himself was at the rendez-vous with greatness.

There was him the kicker, the ball, and the goalkeeper. He and only himself kicked the ball which went over the crossbar in the cloud.

This second second of this missed opportunity brought disappointment, tears, and resentment. This was the 4th time in a row, he missed a final to bring a championship trophy to his country.

My reflexion is not about his missing this kick. It`s more about his decision to announce he quits. This is at this moment he messed it.

This is his legacy. This is the picture he left in my mind and maybe millions, and millions of people following him now, or will follow him years and years in the future.

“If you quit ONCE it becomes a habit.Never quit!!!”
― Michael Jordan

“I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.”
― Michael Jordan

“Never give up on something that you can’t go a day without thinking about.”. … “Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.”. … “Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.”. -Sir Winston Churchill

“It’s not over, until I win…”.  Les Brown.

“Quitting is not an option.” Orrin Woodward.

At the end, I add you don’t quit your passion, what you love, you only quit on yourself. And the consequence of quitting is harder than the at the moment failure, because you have to live with it the rest of your life.

Roosevelt