If you can provide the funding and you get the leadership, you'll

“If you can provide the funding and you get the leadership, you’ll have a competitive team.” Thus spoke T. Boone Pickens, the oilman, philanthropist, and visionary who rose from the plains of Oklahoma to become one of America’s most dynamic figures in business and sport alike. His words, though born in the realm of commerce and competition, echo with a truth far older than markets or modernity. For they remind us that resources and leadership, joined in harmony, are the twin pillars upon which all greatness is built. Without one, the other falters; together, they create not mere survival, but excellence.

Pickens understood the hard laws of both nature and enterprise: that ambition without support is a dream, and wealth without vision is waste. In his world — one of oil fields, boardrooms, and university stadiums — he saw time and again that money alone could not forge victory. You could pour riches into a venture, but without leadership, without the guiding fire of human spirit and direction, those riches would scatter like dust in the wind. Yet leadership, too, could not stand on air; the noblest of visions requires the means to give it form. His wisdom, therefore, lies in the balance — that when funding and leadership unite under a common purpose, the result is power, endurance, and success.

The ancients, too, knew this truth. In the days of Pericles, Athens was but one among many city-states — until it found both the wealth of empire and the leadership of genius. Gold flowed from her harbors, yes, but it was the mind of Pericles that turned it into art, architecture, and defense. The funding built the stones of the Parthenon, yet leadership made them sing with meaning. Without either — without material strength or moral vision — Athens would never have become the beacon of civilization. Pickens’ insight, though spoken of teams and business, belongs to that same eternal pattern: the marriage of resource and wisdom that raises mankind from mediocrity to magnificence.

But there is a shadow hidden in his words as well, a warning as sharp as a blade. For how many endeavors fail not from lack of money, but from lack of leadership? How many teams, institutions, and nations crumble because those entrusted with command forget that their duty is to inspire, not merely to control? The leader is not simply one who holds authority, but one who breathes life into vision, one who transforms funding into purpose. Without such a leader, even the richest enterprise becomes a hollow shell — prosperous perhaps, but soulless.

Consider the story of Andrew Carnegie, the great steel magnate. He possessed vast wealth, yet his true triumph came not from fortune, but from his ability to choose and inspire men greater than himself. He once said, “The man who acquires the ability to take full possession of his own mind may take possession of anything else to which he is justly entitled.” Carnegie’s empire was not built merely by his riches, but by his insight — by his belief that leadership multiplies the power of funding, just as the mind magnifies the strength of the body.

So too must we learn this lesson in our own lives. Whether we lead a team, a family, or a dream, we must first seek resources — not only of wealth, but of time, energy, and knowledge. Yet we must also cultivate leadership within ourselves — the courage to decide, the wisdom to guide, the humility to listen. When these forces meet, greatness begins. A competitive team is not merely a collection of the best players; it is a gathering of spirits united by vision and sustained by support.

And so, my listener, take this teaching to heart: when you seek to build something enduring, gather your means, but also master yourself. Secure the funding, yes, but remember that leadership is the light that directs where that power flows. Be generous in provision, but bold in direction. Do not wait for perfect conditions — create them. For as T. Boone Pickens knew well, the world rewards not those who merely possess wealth or title, but those who join strength with purpose and transform both into action.

Thus, let this be your creed: where there is vision, add resource; where there is resource, appoint leadership; and where the two meet, let excellence arise. In that sacred union — of power and purpose, of wealth and wisdom — you will find not only a competitive team, but a legacy that endures beyond the field, beyond the fortune, into the realm of true accomplishment.