“You cannot be great without the greatness of others.” Nick Sirianni’s words after the Philadelphia Eagle's Super Bowl win were powerful…
We love stories of individual brilliance. But lone geniuses are actually quite rare.
• Steve Jobs had Wozniak (and later Ive).
• Einstein had Besso and Grossmann.
• Bill Gates had Paul Allen and later Steve Ballmer.
• Even Edison had a team of 14 brilliant engineers.
Breakthroughs are rarely solo acts. I read something fascinating recently - a study tracking Nobel Prize winners over a decade found that solo breakthroughs have basically disappeared. What used to be "lone genius" discoveries (about 70%) have dropped to almost zero.
The best leaders don’t try to be the smartest person in the room—they build the room where collective brilliance thrives.
For the Eagles, Hurts, Barkley, Brown, and Smith are exceptional in their own right, but yesterday wasn’t about individual stars. It was about how they, their defense and their coaches, amplified each other and played together.
Maybe it’s time to redefine greatness. It’s not about standing above others. It’s about standing with them. It’s not about being the best. It’s about bringing out the best.
The Eagles’ second Lombardi trophy is more than just a proper vindication from their loss to the Chiefs two years ago —it’s a testament to Sirianni’s words in action: “You cannot be great without the greatness of others.”
True success isn’t about individual brilliance—it’s about creating an environment where everyone’s greatness can shine and then shining the spotlight back on the team in moments of victory.