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Beyond Basketball
Coach K's Keywords for Success

by Mike Krzyzewski with Jamie K. Spatola
Read by Mike Krzyzewski



      "Spectacular achievements are always preceded by unspectacular work."
Sounds like advice from a pompous old uncle, until you learn the context: that quote in Beyond Basketball is from former Dallas Cowboy quarterback, Roger Staubach, who knew a thing or two about both spectacular achievement and hard work. Likewise, while words like communication and integrity might seem part of a standard good advice lecture, when they're being discussed by Mike Krzyzewski (aka Coach K), winner of more NCAA tournament games than any coach in history, you've got to think his thoughts on their part in success and achievement are worth listening to.

Coach K puts a word up on the locker room white board before each game. It's a sort of mantra, something for team members to think about, use as a focus to bring them back when they begin to loose sight of what the team is supposed to do, and draw on the unity of knowing their teammates will also be thinking about it. Words mean a lot to him, not the dictionary definitions of them, but the personal definitions and connotations - the stories and thoughts you associate with them, to give them further depth and resonance. In this book, he takes 40 words and tells us what they mean to him and why. The intention is to help readers build for success in their personal lives, business lives and lives as part of a team, such as Coach K's own Duke Blue Devils. Although he's best known as a basketball coach, this isn't a basketball book, except in providing numerous examples from his career, such as using a former player to exemplify grace under pressure or another as the will that brought a whole team success. One of my favorites was fundamentals, where he discusses how you can be the best in the business by merely doing the basics better, something I strongly believe and wish I saw more of. No excuses, no blame games, no all sizzle no steak, just getting things done and done as well as possible. Which segues into one of his other words...pride... or perhaps integrity, or...

This is a guide from a man known for leading others to success, to help you find ways to become a better person, boss, employee, and/or teammate. But, it is also a source of enjoyable stories and a lot of basic food for thought. At the end, Coach K encourages you to find your own words and meanings and stories, because there are always new ones out there or ways of deepening the resonance of existing ones. Recommended.

The Book

Hachette Audio
October 2006
Audiobook/3 CDs - Unabridged
ISBN 10: 1-59483-760-0
ISBN 13: 978-1-59483-760-9
Non-Fiction - Self Help/Personal Growth
More at Amazon.com
Excerpt
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The Reviewer

Kim Malo
Reviewed 2006
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© 2006 MyShelf.com