7 Leadership Lessons from Lamar Hunt Jr.

For the last class of the year, the Gregorian Fellows’ leadership class traveled to the Kansas City Chiefs’ Arrowhead Stadium, where they toured everything from the ninth-story press box to the underground locker rooms and stadium tunnel. But before they began the tour, the students heard from Lamar Hunt Jr., son of the founder of the Chiefs, founder himself of a real estate investment company and its associate charity, and current owner of the Missouri Mavericks hockey team. Hunt spoke on talent and faith in leadership. Some of what he said quotes:

1.  “We all have this drive within us to earn our own success … You’re not going to want anything handed to you. You want to add value to someone else’s life.”

2.  “There are two kinds of talents we all have. The first is a universal talent, and the second is a unique talent. The universal talent is this: Every single person here can make a difference in someone’s life.”

3.  “Your faith has to permeate your life.”

4.  “Everybody has a chance to be a leader; I don’t care what kind of work you do.”

5.  “Heroic leaders understand who they are and what they stand for. Heroic leaders explore new people and cultures and they have the capacity to love.”

6.  “There is no external switch for motivation; only an individual can motivate themselves. Heroic leaders elicit this.”

7.  “There’s a balance in any sort of leadership. There’s a time when you need to challenge and there’s a time when you need to support. Jesus is the master of this.”

The Gregorian Institute is Benedictine College’s initiative to promote Catholic identity in public life by equipping leaders (the Gregorian speech digest), training leaders (the Gregorian Fellows), defending the faith (the Memorare Army for Religious Freedom), and celebrating Catholic identity (the Catholic Hall of Fame).