Coaching for Teamwork: Winning Concepts for Business in the Twenty-First Century

Rating:
Summary: A Winner!
Review: Vince Lombardi has written one of the very best leadership books I have ever read. It is thorough, well-researched, and full of great quotes, stories, and personal anecdotes about coaching and leadership. This book was the result of Lombardi's many years of personal observations and experiences with both positive and negative coaches and leaders in law, politics, football, writing, and speaking. Lombardi's writing style suggests that he wrote this book to pass on what he has learned, and not merely to try and impress the reader with his superior language and clever catch-phrases.

The book is neatly organized into four chapters: coaching for teamwork, the winning coach, the winning team, and constant reinforcement. Lombardi closes the book with a reflective conclusion and a modest suggested reading list.

Most interesting to me was Lombardi's description of coaches: "Coaches...know they belong on the sidelines. Coaches know they can't play the game, know that only the players belong on the field of play, and that only players can actually win the game. Coaches don't do things, they see that things get done - things that ensure the players are totally prepared mentally and physically. Coaches seek to create an environment within which their players have the greatest opportunity to succeed. A coach knows she is only as good as her players, so her first priority is not to seek to personally duplicate the talents of her players, but rather to provide for them the things they can't provide for themselves - direction, authority and the freedom to do their jobs."

To further solidify the coaching-leading connection, Lombardi states, "The leader of the future is the coach. Listening, communicating, teaching, challenging, directing, delegating, motivating players on the field - while she remains on the sidelines."

Lombardi simply wrote an extraordinary book for ordinary people who wish to learn about coaching and leadership, or for any leader who wants to refine his or her coaching and leadership skills to be effective in any teamwork environment. If you thought coaching was only for organized and competitive sports, this book will show you that it really applies to the game of life.

Rating:
Summary: A Winner!
Review: Vince Lombardi has written one of the very best leadership books I have ever read. It is thorough, well-researched, and full of great quotes, stories, and personal anecdotes about coaching and leadership. This book was the result of Lombardi's many years of personal observations and experiences with both positive and negative coaches and leaders in law, politics, football, writing, and speaking. Lombardi's writing style suggests that he wrote this book to pass on what he has learned, and not merely to try and impress the reader with his superior language and clever catch-phrases.

The book is neatly organized into four chapters: coaching for teamwork, the winning coach, the winning team, and constant reinforcement. Lombardi closes the book with a reflective conclusion and a modest suggested reading list.

Most interesting to me was Lombardi's description of coaches: "Coaches...know they belong on the sidelines. Coaches know they can't play the game, know that only the players belong on the field of play, and that only players can actually win the game. Coaches don't do things, they see that things get done - things that ensure the players are totally prepared mentally and physically. Coaches seek to create an environment within which their players have the greatest opportunity to succeed. A coach knows she is only as good as her players, so her first priority is not to seek to personally duplicate the talents of her players, but rather to provide for them the things they can't provide for themselves - direction, authority and the freedom to do their jobs."

To further solidify the coaching-leading connection, Lombardi states, "The leader of the future is the coach. Listening, communicating, teaching, challenging, directing, delegating, motivating players on the field - while she remains on the sidelines."

Lombardi simply wrote an extraordinary book for ordinary people who wish to learn about coaching and leadership, or for any leader who wants to refine his or her coaching and leadership skills to be effective in any teamwork environment. If you thought coaching was only for organized and competitive sports, this book will show you that it really applies to the game of life.

Rating:
Summary: Father and son reunion
Review: Vince Lombardi, Jr. comes to grips with many of the ideas which his father made famous while coaching the Green Bay Packers in the early 1960's. Numerous outstanding quotations supplement the metaphors of war and football which the younger Lombardi integrates throughout this work. Valuable as a source in either the business or coaching world, this book will be very accessible to a wide range of readers. Organized, thorough and concise.

Rating:
Summary: Father and son reunion
Review: Vince Lombardi, Jr. comes to grips with many of the ideas which his father made famous while coaching the Green Bay Packers in the early 1960's. Numerous outstanding quotations supplement the metaphors of war and football which the younger Lombardi integrates throughout this work. Valuable as a source in either the business or coaching world, this book will be very accessible to a wide range of readers. Organized, thorough and concise.