Rating: 
Summary: More about basketball and coaching than leadership
Review: As one who is interested in leadership development, I was disapointed in this book. For those of you who are coaches of athletic teams this book will be usefull. For those who are looking at leadership for business, government etc, there are likely better books out there that cover the subject minus the glory of the Duke basketball team.
Rating: 
Summary: Valuable Resource
Review: Duke Basketball is a phenomenon among college sports. Under coach Mike Krzyzewski, Duke has three National Championships, six National Players of the Year, and nine Final Four appearances.
Krzyzewski has been named an 11-time national coach of the year and boasts an overall 637-227 record. The success of Krzyzewski and the Blue Devils is almost unparallel.
So what makes a team like Duke dominate? Coach K suggests in Leading With the Heart that success, whether on the court or off, comes through basic principles. He goes on, stating how the way he runs his basketball team, could be adapted to an office setting, committees, and for life in general.
Former Duke player who defined success, Grant Hill, appropriately wrote the foreward. Hill explained his admiration for Krzyzewski, accrediting much of his life success to the bond they shared. Hill said he chose Duke when he heard one of Krzyzewski's then-graduating seniors speak of the values his coach had taught him. These included: "commitment, toughness, honesty, integrity, collective responsibility, pride, love, and friendship."
Leading With the Heart suggests that many of these qualities are essential to being successful. Coach K states that "communication, trust, collective responsibility, caring, and pride" are five values that "make every team great." These represent what Coach K calls the "fist"-where the fingers also represent the members of the team. The characteristics and members form the team's identity and "any one fist can break any one finger" so all of the fingers or team players must work together.
The fist can also be adapted to a business situation. Every group, whether athletic or professional have goals and must work together to achieve these goals. Krzyzewski uses the fist to teach his winning principles, which add up to teamwork.
Although hard work is critical to be successful, Coach K also attributes most of his success to friendship, where he states, "friendships, along with love, make life worth living." Throughout the entire book, Coach K suggests many times how important being a good person with likable qualities is in society. For one thing, Duke Basketball players are friends on and off the court. Coach K believes this is important for the overall health of the team. But most importantly, players come back to Duke because of the relationship they have established with their coach. Coach K keeps relationships with his players long after they graduate. Numerous players come back to coach and to take in a few games from Coach K court, if they are not playing in the professional leagues themselves.
Success is not just the product you make, but what lingers around afterwards. Krzyzewski has life-lasting relationships with his players, which in many situations would outweigh the success on the basketball court.
If applied properly with the right attitude, the ideals in Leading With the Heart can be used in almost any situation. Although a college basketball fan can appreciate the book more, it has valuable assets for anyone involved in any type of organization.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Book Indeed
Review: First of all, I need to say that I am very biased towards Coach K. I am 18 and ever since I can remember I have been a huge fan. I picked up the book because of his name but I came away with a lot more than I had hoped for. Through his stories and the way he carries himself, I have a better understanding of the life I am about to enter. I was most impressed by the part about Jimmy V., the story of him made me realize just how great of a guy Coach K is and what it takes to be great like him.
Rating: 
Summary: leading with his ego
Review: from his profanity laced courtside tirades to his unfair treatment of players, coach k. has little credibility to be offering life lessons to the reading public.don't waste your time or money on this book.
Rating:
Summary: Inspirational
Review: I am a high school Athletic Director and Girls' Basketball Coach. I read Coach K's book and had a very difficult time putting it down. I found myself constantly stopping and writing things down. It had so many wonderful ideas, concepts and suggestions on how not only I can better lead my team each season, but how I can better lead the coaches I work with as an athletic director each day.This book has caused me to stop and rethink some of the things I do. I am currently re-evaluating some of my approaches to working with student-athletes, as well as, the way I lead the coaches in my charge. This book has also reaffirmed that some of the things I am currently doing are good ways of leading my players and coaches. I do not want to spoil the ideas Coach K has shared in his book. But, I am very excited about some of the things I am currently in the process of implementing in my daily interactions with my players and staff. This book is a must have for every coach and athletic director. It is a must read for anyone looking for suggestions on better ways to lead no matter what their profession. This book will make you think and generate ideas in your head to make yourself a more effective leader. I did not agree with everything in the entire book. I believe some of the ideas in his book are more related to coaching at the collegiate level and could not possibly apply to high school coaching. But, there certainly is something in this book for everyone. It is a great resource for everyone whether you are a CEO, college coach, high school or middle school coach, or someone unsure of exactly where they are going in life. This book will inspire any of those individuals. Coach K shares real life experiences. He talks about family, education, friendships, and coaching. He does not preach. He shares his experiences, his successes, his failures. It is an entertaining book as well as educational. The layout of the book is also very effective. The way the book is set up I can keep it on my shelf as a resource I can refer to at anytime. I plan to keep it in my office and refer to often. I do not feel I can implement all the ideas this book produced in my head in one season. I will continue to use this book to help me become the most effective leader I can be, the best coach I can be, the best athletic director I can be. I highly recommend this book. I was a Duke fan before I read this book. I have always enjoyed the way they played the game of basketball. I now understand why they play the game so well. I now understand why they have been so successful. I understand why Duke is one of the most respected programs in all of college basketball. They have an extremely intelligent, hard working, and caring individual leading them. He cares not only about winning basketball games, but about each individual involved in the Duke Family. I was a Duke fan before I read this book. Now I'm a Mike Krzyzewski fan.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book in all regards
Review: I graduated from Duke in 68 and am an avowed fan of Coach K.However, I've hit a rut in my reading recently, can't find anything that seems stimulatiing or interesting.I was afraid this book would just be another of those "smaltzy" rah rah type of books that coaches(and usually someone else write), but I was happily surprised. It is really worth everyones attention, whether to motivate a business person or anyone on how to live ones life. The usual blah blahing about excellence is pretty much left out, thank goodness, and the book is full of very helpful aphorisms about what priorities to put first and how to lead a wholesome and successful life,even if you don't have a jump shot.Coach K comes across as really honest and sincere.I can't stand phonies and really was pleasantly surprised by the book. Lots of real life anecdotes about games, players, situations and how to take defeat.Truly inspirational from a superb leader. For sports fans, look what he did with the team of mostly freshman this year, way beyond anyones expectations.He uses his heart a lot, but also his head.You can also read and skip around in the book, its not like a novel.Again, his repeated emphasis on how to deal with defeat and failure shows true wisdom, far beyond that of most college coaches. I remember the tonge in cheek defintion of a college basketball coach by a player once."you have to be a little bit crazy to base your career on someone else's jump shot." Coach K is crazy like a fox.
Rating:
Summary: This book is grueling to read....
Review: I have always been a big fan of books on leadership written by sports figures. They are typically a can't-miss mixture of storied histories with timeless principles of leadership and perserverance. However, Coach K manages to mess it up in this book. He constantly comes off as pompous and as though he has no real idea what lead to the success that he has had. In fact, he seems to dwell in cliches to cover up the fact that this is a naked attempt to profit from his basketball team's success. If you want to read a good book on leadership, keep looking because this is not a book you should waste your time on.
Rating:
Summary: Coach K, no way
Review: I would have to agree with Mr. Utz. This book may be good for bathroom reading. Well, maybe not so much for reading, but wiping your bum with the pages. It was like someone took a giant poo on each page. I would suggest more refined reading.... A Coach's Life (Random House Large Print) by Dean Smith.
Rating:
Summary: Leadership correctly
Review: Leadership is not given it is earned. I had been trying to figure out what was going on at my company when I came upon this book. This book spells out correctly why my company is not moving forward. Leadership from the heart gives the correct formula for every leader on how to lead and earn the respect of those he does lead. For those who are negative about this book are probably dictators who don't care for those they lead. Coach K does care and he shows how to be an effective leader by leading from a concern for the members of the team and how to create a unity of the team. People who don't think sports has any real life applications, have their heads in the sand. Every great leader I know was an athelete at one time in their life. That is why sports is stressed at the military academies. Coach K has some great stories from his days at West Point. The ability to win no matter the odds and and to get others to perform above their own abilities is something that is best taught in sports and then applied to the real world.
Rating:
Summary: More about basketball and coaching than leadership
Review: Let me first preface this by saying I'm a huge Duke fan...
now, let me tell you that if you are in any position of leadership, this is a must-read! Coach K's outlook on leadership is very positive and easy to work into any type of job. I even found things to use while teaching 2nd graders!
If you are anti-Duke, you may be put off to references to past players, but the leadership ideas are so valuable! If you have ever read Pat Riley's book on leadership and enjoyed it, you will definitely enjoy this one!!
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