Coach K’s Keywords for Success
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Mike Krzyzewski and Jamie K. Spatola
Notes
As a leader and a career-oriented individual, you must take care not to allow one aspect of your life to so consume you that you neglect the others. Your family and friends are there to remind you when you need to “act now” on regaining some balance and when getting back on the right and healthy track is “badly needed.”
Communication must be taught and practiced in order to bring everyone together as one…constantly look for members of my team who can help convey the message.
Always surround yourself with individuals who will help to enable your courage when it is lacking from within…Another part of seeking and maintaining excellence is always surrounding yourself with others who have high personal standards.
Crisis causes people to think and act as individuals rather than as part of a team.
Developing a culture means having a tradition that maintains the standards you want to define your program.
…a home is about family, so we surrounded our home with family photos and items reflecting the accomplishments of our children. Your children must always believe that what they are doing and what you do as a family is the top priority..I have always shared my goals with my wife, Mickie, and she has been my most important teammate throughout our marriage and career.
…you can be the best in the business by merely doing the basics, better.
…be sure that you get on the right bus…When you are on a bus with good people, you and those people are mutually motivated simply by being around one another.
Standards define what is and is not acceptable for an individual or a team…The only problem would be if you allow a loss or a failure to change your standards. Keep your standards intact, keep the bar set high, and continue to try your very best every day to meet those standards.
For my teams, we emphasize five words, all of which appear in this book:
- Communication
- Trust
- Collective responsibility
- Care
- Pride