6 Books (not about basketball) That Will Make You a Better Coach and Leader

With summer comes the opportunity for improvement as a coach and leader.

Here are 6 books that I recommend that, while they aren’t necessarily about basketball, will help you improve this off-season (and no, I’m not making any money off of these).

I’ve also included 3 quotes/takeaways from each of the books.

If you like what you see, head on over to Amazon and make a purchase!

The Only Way to Win (Jim Loehr)

• Without purpose, we can do nothing truly meaningful; our actions have no real point to them. Without purpose, everything is a struggle and we naturally expend the least energy possible. The most sacred thing we have as human beings is our sense of purpose. It’s what separates us from all other species.
• Most every goal we pursue impacts the people we care about — for better or worse.
• Storms bring us face-to-face with our fears, our values, our sense of right and wrong, and our moral compass. When things get harder, or when you make them harder on yourself, learning accelerates.

Atomic Habits (James Clear)

• With the same habits, you’ll end up with the same results. But with better habits, anything is possible.
• Habits do not restrict freedom. They create it.
• The road less traveled is the road of delayed gratification. If you’re willing to wait for the rewards, you’ll face less competition and often get a bigger payoff. As the saying goes, the last mile is always the least crowded.

Essentialism (Greg McKeown)

• The way of the Essentialist is the relentless pursuit of less but better. Essentialism is not about how to get more things done; it’s about how to get the right things done.
• It’s not enough to simply determine which activities and efforts don’t make the highest possible contribution; you still have to actively eliminate those that do not. Sometimes what you don’t do is just as important as what you do.
• Routine is one of the most powerful tools for removing obstacles. Without routine, the pull of nonessential distractions will overpower us. But if we create a routine that enshrines the essentials, we will begin to execute them on autopilot.

The War of Art (Steven Pressfield)

• I don’t think I can offer an adequate quote to describe this book.
• “The War of Art” is more about ditching “resistance” — the things that get in the way of us putting in the work to achieve our goals and dreams.
• While the other books on this list are more technical, this one is more abstract.
• With that being said, it may be the one I’d recommend buying most. Take that for what it’s worth.

Practice Perfect (Doug Lemov)

• Winning is less about attracting the best parts of the talent pie than about growing the pie. The degree to which we can improve people at every skill level quickly and reliably is the measure of our success at closing the achievement gap or any of a thousand other worthy objectives.
• Massive complex problems don’t always require massive complex solutions. In fact identifying simple, repeatable actions that can be quickly mastered can turn the tide on seemingly resistant social phenomena.
• The goal is not to be good at basic skills and then move on. The goal is to be great at the most important things.

The Slight Edge (Jeff Olson)

• No matter how much information there is, and no matter how good that information is, if the person consuming it doesn’t have the right catalyst, the catalyst that will allow them to APPLY that information effectively, then success will still elude their grasp.
• If “how to do it” were the answer, it’d be done. It’s how you DO the “hows” that’s most important.
• Successful people do what unsuccessful people are not willing to do.

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