Quality into the 21st Century: Perspectives on Quality and Competitiveness for Sustained Performance Book

One thing you must do in the face of adversity is to be honest with yourself, and with the people you're trying to lead. Acknowledge the difficult spot you're in and commence dig out out of it. Don't point fingers, don't recriminate, and don't make excuses. Stay positive and get to work. (p. xii)

Our comebacks began with positive energy on the floor, on the bench, and in the team huddles. They began with a belief that things would get better if we persevered through adversity, trusted each other and worked together. They began with a conviction that consistent effort, even against long odds, inevitably would turn the tide. The most important thing I did during those comebacks was build my players' self esteem. When people feel extraordinary, you get extraordinary results. When people feel feel ordinary, you get ordinary results. (p. xiii)

How do we create success in this microwave culture? For starters, you've got to be extremely thick-skinned. Criticism cannot affect you to the point that you deviate from your plan. You cannot let a day's problem, or a loss, allow doubt to creep in. (p. 60)

Every season, I sit down with my athletes individually and communicate with them - primarily by listening. I want to hear them articulate their goals and objectives. I want to know what they're playing for and why.What price are they willing to pay for success? What lengths will they go to in order to be extraordinary? What buttons can I push to help them get there? And most importantly, how can we mold a collective will out of these different people who arrive with different motivations? How can we create team chemistry? We try to make it clear that none of our individual goals and motivations can be met without buying into team success and achieving team goals. I have shown our players countless times that the straightest path to individual recognition is through team accomplishments. It's been more than 50 years since the Heisman trophy winner came from a losing team. Winning games always trumps individual stats when it comes to gaining glory. (p. 76)

A coach needs to communicate with his 10th, 11th, and 12th players as effectively as he does with his stars to make sure they understand their value to the team. (p. 78)

We must instill a belief with all our team members that everyone succeeds when one of us succeeds. There should be a sense of satisfaction from watching someone else excel, knowing that we all had a hand in it. (p. 84)

Most negative people don't realize that they're tearing apart the fiber of a team unless it's pointed out to them. Leave no doubt that the cynical behavior must change. There will be consequences for anything that undermines team chemistry. Let nothing fester. (p. 85)

Failure is okay if they own up to it and use it as fertilizer to make things better. I tell them excuses are a sign of weakness, and weakness won't be tolerated. (p. 90)

We spend a huge amount of time in our program working on building self-esteem. (p. 153)

Team Ego Concept: Bill Russell story where he skewers Celtics players who care more about themselves than the team, and then says, "Your ego is about points, rebounds, and assists. My ego came from the final score. My ego is team ego." (p. 155)