Rating: 
Summary: Useful, Insightful, Inspirational
Review: Bill Russell has never been called conventional. With the myriad of self-help, leadership and personal improvement books in the marketplace, it's hard to break through the clutter...RUSSELL RULES clearly does. This book, like the author, is a WINNER.As a woman, I was a little skeptical of the usefullness of the book, quite expecting a macho look at winning. A lot of kick butt talk and posturing. I read this book and found the lessons applicable within minutes with my family and other situations we all experience on a daily basis. The chapters on listening vs. hearing was particularly meaningful and are worth reading and rereading. He also introduces a very unique concept that is simple in meaning but powerful in reality; the concept of outside-in thinking. This book is for everyone and we are going to introduce it as the first book of its kind to our book club.
Rating: 
Summary: Incredibly Arrogant
Review: Bill Russell has to be one of the most arrogant and smug athletes of all time! I was required to read this for a leadership class in graduate school. After reading a few chapters, I couldn't bear to go on any further. Every few pages, Russell feels the need to remind you of his greatness. Russell maintains that he was always creative and curious as a young player, and that is why he succeeded. This sounds nice for his book, but I doubt he actually had such a mentality at time. His success has more to do with the fact that there were few men of his size and skill to match up with him. I have always heard people say what a bitter and arrogant man Bill Russell is, now I know what they mean!
Rating:
Summary: Bill Russell is insightful...
Review: Bill Russell is insightful and applies his attitude that made him the greatest basketball player ever to play the game to the attitude that can make one successful in life. I really enjoyed the book.
Russell was also, by far, the best TV "analyst" that has ever done NBA basketball games. I really miss his insights.
Rating: 
Summary: Bill Russell is a winner in every sense of the word
Review: Bill Russell takes the time to open up and share his views on winning, and for that I must thank him. We can all be part of a team and do the best we possibly can, but there are other factors that go into making a champion level product (whether in sports, business, or life). I particularly enjoyed his process for becoming the most dominant shot blocker of all time. By analysing what his opponent could do, using his imagination to visualize every scenario, and then training his body to respond in the most effective manner, Russell changed the way the game was played. But his most poignant point was too express that he did everything he did not to be the star, but to help his team win championships.
Rating:
Summary: A little pretentious, but entertaining reading
Review: I always find it a bit pretentious when a sports book is written or marketed to have general application to life (Rick Pitino's obnoxious Success is a Choice comes to Mind), but with that caveat almost anything Bill Russell has to say is worth listening to if only because of the man's profound intelligence, wit, insight, and unique perspective on sports and the world in general. Will this book change your life? I doubt it. But then again, if we read for entertainment and enrichment, this book well suits the purpose, and if you happen to be a sports fan or better yet a basketball fan, so much the better as Russell provides much material about the golden age of basketball and the wonderful Boston Celtics before too much money spoiled it.
Rating:
Summary: Incredibly Arrogant
Review: I found this book interesting for what Russell had to say about playing for the Celtics and how he personally played the game of
basketball. As far as lessons on leadership, I believe that what Russell and David Falkner (Russell's ghost writer) offered were
mere platitudes that I have read in a hundred places before. If you want to learn about Russell's basketball career, read this book. If you are looking for leadership lessons, particularly as an entrepreneur and parent (the book's targets), go elsewhere.
Rating: 
Summary: Insights about the Celtics, Platitudes about Life
Review: I found this book interesting for what Russell had to say about playing for the Celtics and how he personally played the game of
basketball. As far as lessons on leadership, I believe that what Russell and David Falkner (Russell's ghost writer) offered were
mere platitudes that I have read in a hundred places before. If you want to learn about Russell's basketball career, read this book. If you are looking for leadership lessons, particularly as an entrepreneur and parent (the book's targets), go elsewhere.
Rating:
Summary: Incredible Insightful Ideas That Can Be Applied Anywhere
Review: I found this to be one of those books that was very hard to put down. It is filled with incredible bits of wisdom that he generously shares. He also applies his life on the basketball court to real life situations and makes for a very valuable research. I would recommend getting this book and reading it a few times for all the insight that it provides.
Rating:
Summary: Incredible Insightful Ideas That Can Be Applied Anywhere
Review: I found this to be one of those books that was very hard to put down. It is filled with incredible bits of wisdom that he generously shares. He also applies his life on the basketball court to real life situations and makes for a very valuable research. I would recommend getting this book and reading it a few times for all the insight that it provides.
Rating:
Summary: Read Second Wind Instead
Review: I was severely disappointed by this book. First off, I am a huge admirer of Russell, on and off the court. I have loved his writing in the past, his book "Second Wind" is probably my all-time favorite. I admire his courage, his humor, his stubbornness. I still think he was the best NBA color commentator ever!!! But this book is awful. Part of it is the whole genre, that successful sports figures and organizations can teach executives and companies the secrets of success. There is only so much you can say on the subject, and it has been said too many times and often by people who should keep their mouths shut. Just off the top of my head, Mike Jarvis who was fired mid-season by St. John's University is an example of that. That said, there are four other drawbacks with the book. First off, it is incredibly repetitious. His 11 points can be easily condensed into 4 or 5. Midway into the book, I felt it would make a decent magazine article but it was stretched out terribly. How many times do we have to hear about how he and KC Jones were such students of the game. By harping on the lessons learned on the Celtics, Bill goes against much of what he has said in the past. I have heard him many times state that winning and losing has nothing to do with character, it has everything to do with who has the better players. If you can reconcile that with the premise of this book, you have me. Another issue is his plugging of the National Mentoring organization. I agree with the virtues of mentoring, but the whole plugging seemed like Russell trying to justify to himself the reason for writing the book. Finally, I firmly believe that you are as good as your record says you are. Russell often says that winning is the only measure. But away from the Celtics, Russell was not much of a winner. He was involved with the Sonics for a few years and had a brief period of success with them. But after a period of subsequent failure, he left by mutual agreement. He was bored and sick of the job and they weren't asking him to stay. He subsequently took a coaching job with the Kings that was even more disastrous. So if Russell has all the lessons of success from his Celtic days, then why couldn't he repeat them outside of Auerbachland? If you were to look for ex-players who have repeated their stardom off the court, you can look at Jerry West or Bill Sharman. The book is not a complete loss. To those unfamiliar with Russell and the Celtics, there is some good information. Plus Russell makes some interesting comparisons between Wilt's style and his own. But overall, the book is a disappointment to me.
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