Best Basketball Leadership Books
In basketball, as in life, there are certain qualities that make a great leader or team captain. However, whether you have innate leadership skills or are simply looking to enhance your own leadership qualities, we’re going to provide you with the best basketball leadership books that will help to take or enhance your leadership skills.
Still looking for more basketball books? Then you may check-out our list of the most inspirational basketball books!
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Running the Corporate Offense: Lessons in Effective Leadership from the Bench to the Board Room
Where to Buy: Hardcover, Paperback, Kindle
Before he became president and CEO of United Wholesale Mortgage and took his company to the top of the game nationally, Mat Ishbia was a member of Tom Izzo’s 2000 Michigan State national championship basketball team. More specifically, he was the guy at the end of the bench. But as Ishbia likes to say, “You don’t have to be a captain to be a leader.”
Running the Corporate Offense is packed with this and other learned principles for smart, empathetic leadership based on teamwork. Ishbia shares his personal strategies and tips, such as “no-meeting Thursdays,” as well as anecdotes from his playing days in East Lansing, demonstrating the universality of these practical approaches. This is an essential, accessible volume which proves that effective leadership truly translates from the bench to the board room.
John Wooden: The Inspiring Life and Leadership Lessons of One of Basketball’s Greatest Coaches
Where to Buy: Paperback
In John Wooden: The Inspiring Life and Leadership Lessons of One of Basketball’s Greatest Coaches, you will learn the inspirational story of arguably the greatest coach of the twentieth century, John Wooden.
Few coaches carry the same esteem as Wooden, known for not only being a highly effective coach, but also a mentor and friend to his players. Wooden consistently led by example by inspiring his players to build strong habits both on and off the court.
The influence Wooden had on the players he coached is evident, as many of his disciples have gone on to achieve great feats in their own respective careers.
Coach Wooden was able to lead his teams to ten national championships, including one run that spanned seven consecutive years. There are a number of key leadership principles that can be learned from Wooden, such as his Seven-Point Creed and Pyramid of Success.
Runnin’ the Show: Basketball Leadership for Coaches and Players
Where to Buy: Paperback
Runnin’ the Show spells out what it takes to be a real leader on a basketball court. How can a coach get the most from his players? How can a player make everyone around her better and do the little things that lead to championship performance? Leaders have to sell their dreams, get players to work together, inspire teamwork, and understand people, attitudes, and motivation. This is the last book Dick DeVenzio ever published and is a treasure for leaders in all walks of life.
Coach to Coach: An Empowering Story About How to Be a Great Leader
Where to Buy: Hardcover
Think about the coaches you’ve had throughout your life. Most likely, some were good, others not so good. Maybe one or two were great. One thing is undeniable: Coaches can influence your life in ways that can be negative or positive. A coach can either build you up or tear you down.
The world needs better coaches in all walks of life―if you’re a parent, a teacher, a co-worker, or a leader, you are also a coach. Which kind of coach do you want to be? Coach to Coach helps you answer this question and shares the secrets to bringing out the best in a person, both on and off the field.
For more than twenty years, author Martin Rooney has coached professional sport stars, Olympic champions, and business leaders to high levels of performance, analyzing thousands of real-life examples of what works and what doesn’t.
Reading like a simple parable, this engaging book gives you an easy-to-use yet highly effective formula for becoming a better coach for your teams, in your business, and in your personal life. Packed with valuable insights and expert advice, this appealing book helps you:
- Learn how to be a great leader by being a great coach
- Create positive lives for your children and the people you work with
- Inspire and motivate the people around you
- Turn your natural skills and talents into your own unique coaching style
- Use proven, time-tested coaching strategies to get results
Coach to Coach: An Empowering Story About How to Be a Great Leader is an ideal book for coaches, leaders, managers, entrepreneurs, educators, parents, and anyone wanting to bring out the best in those around them.
Raise the Game: High-Performance Secrets from the Best of the Best
Where to Buy: Hardcover
High achievers are at the top of their game because of the discipline they have during the unseen hours. They have made a commitment to establish, tweak, and repeat positive habits in everything they do. Raise Your Game examines the top leaders in sports and business and proves that success is a result of the little things we do all the time.
The basic principles provided in Raise Your Game are simple, but not easy. We live in an instantly downloadable world that encourages us to skip steps. We are taught to chase what’s hot, flashy, and sexy and ignore what’s basic. But the basics work. They always have and they always will.
Raise Your Game will inspire and empower you to commit to the fundamentals, create a winning mindset, and progress into new levels of success.