Ten Non-Football Books to Read This Summer
These are 10 Non- Football Books I would recommend for Summer Reading. I’m not saying read all ten but a suggested list. There is a book review on each of these in my book “Little Things That Win Big Games”
1.”Good to Great” by Jim Collins – A great book with great ideas about bringing your program to the next level. I love the Flywheel Principle.
2. “Grit” by Angela Duckworth- Should be required reading for all coaches. The importance of Grit in the winning equation.
3. “Martin Luther King on Leadership” by Donald T. Phillips – Dr. King’s leadership ability is far greater than his great ability as an orator. He was also a great strategist who led from his heart.
4. “Mindset” by Carol Dweck – Carol is a great proponent of a Growth Mindset which is about work ethic & the desire for continuous growth.
5. “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen R. Covey – A classic – The Main Thing is to Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing – a must read.
6. “Wooden on Leadership” by John Wooden – John Wooden embodied all the attributes of great leadership. It took him 14 years to become an overnight success. He won 10 National Championships & never talked about winning.
7. “The Talent Code” by Daniel Coyle – an interesting book on the importance if “deep practice” which Is a big part of the reason why some succeed & some fall by the wayside .A great way to improve your practices
8. “The Powell Principles” by Oren Harare- Colin Powell was always an inspiration to me because he grew up a short distance from me. He certainly didn’t grow up with a Silver Spoon in his mouth, yet became a great leader. He could “Walk the Walk”
9. “Moneyball” by Michael Lewis – The story of Billy Beene the GM of the Oakland A’s – a low budget team competing in the high budget world of Major League Baseball. Beene had to have a totally unconventional way of approaching the game. He couldn’t “out-Yankees” the Yankees. In my life I also had to develop my own style of play that only we could win at and that gave birth to The Triple Gun – the scheme that made stars of guys nobody wanted.
10. “David and Goliath” by Malcolm Gladwell – Everyone has to face their “Goliath” in their lives. Everyone was petrified of the Giant Goliath except David. David was confident because he was not going to fight Goliath’s fight, Goliath was going to fight David’s fight. I’ve used this principle in every underdog situation I’ve coached in.
These are my suggestions- -these books are all summarized in Little Things that Win Big Games