Leading with the Heart, Some Great Coach K Quotes

I've got some great books by coaches including John Wooden's "They Call me Coach" and Lou Holtz's "Winning Every Day". One of my favorites is "Leading with the Heart" by Mike Krzyzewski. No matter if you are a coach or a manager at a corporation or a teacher or any profession where you are called on to lead, Coach K's words will ring true. Here are my five favorite quotes from the book:

“One of the worst things anybody can do is assume. I think fools assume. If people have really got it together, they never assume anything. They believe, they work hard, and they prepare- but they don’t assume.”

As they saying goes. Assume, makes an ass out of u and me.

“People want to be on a team. They want to be part of something bigger than themselves. They want to be in a situation where they feel that they are doing something for the greater good.”

Watching the Olympics this summer, that feeling of team has never been more true. Watching Carlos Boozer, who hardly played in the gold medal game, cheering on his teammates, that's wanting to be a part of the team no matter what.

“A little negative thing must be dealt with immediately- before it becomes a big negative thing.”

In Buddhist tradition, they would call it chi. You don't want to have any negative chi because it disrupts the balance and harmony. Deal with things right away, don't let them fester and get bigger. Conflict resolution is one of the most important parts of being a coach.

“When you first assemble a group, it’s not a team right off the bat. It’s only a collection of individuals.”

So true. Teams are built over time, they don't just appear. That's why as coaches, it is also our job to build that bond, that chemistry. Team-building is as important as anything else we practice.

“Every team I was on over my four years at Duke, he coached differently.” Grant Hill

Be adaptable. Change is a good thing. That doesn't mean we should abandon everything that we've learned and used and worked successfully in the past. But that we should consider new techniques, new technologies and new ways of doing things. It's OK to experiment.

If you're a big Coach K fan like I am or thinking of that perfect gift for a coaching friend, then you can't go wrong with Mike Krzyzewski's 6-pack DVD Set. As always, please check out the X's and O's Basketball forum to talk hoops and exchange notes and ideas.