Book Review-Let Them Lead By John U. Bacon

I don't know who got me interested in this book, but I was drawn in through the sports aspect of it.  The author of this book coached hockey at the Huron High School in Ann Arbor MI, he was an alum. He is also a well-known business book writer. Which gave me pause because I am not generally a fan of that genre. Nothing against John U Bacon but I am wary of  leadership books written as if leadership can be taught by taking short cuts,  recipes and formulas. I am of the belief that just reciting superficial recipes and formulas is not just inadequate, but it is defrauding the readers as they seek wisdom from the business book genre. 

I had never read any of John U.  Bacon’s other books so I didn't know what to expect, but the title intrigued me as I also believe that the best course to take as a coach is to train my players to take charge, to train them to be leaders. I jumped into this book despite my own misgivings. I hoped  to gain some insight into the mind of the author through  reading the stories and hoping to harvest ideas for my own coaching.  

He first got my attention when he quoted one of my favorite bands, Yes, in the very beginning of the book, I know, it doesn't take much. But as I read, I started to be drawn into the narrative. His descriptions of his teams, their travails ,and how he managed to get these players to buy into his program were familiar and I sympathized, as I had similar experiences in coaching. His emphasis on having achievable vision, convincing his players to buy into that vision, and coaxing them into playing the leading role in creating their own legacy is a philosophy I share. As the title suggests, the main theme in this book is to convince the reader that the leadership and motivation to achieve a vision resides with the players, the people who have the most skin in the game. As I read, I began to understand where the author is coming from. And my admiration for him grew overtime as I started to delve deeper into book. He laid out his lessons succinctly by letting the reader know the main points that he wished to convey at the beginning and end of each chapter. He did so without commenting on how hard it was going to be nor by answering the question of “How does one achieve these lessons?” This kind of presentation bothered me a bit, as that is exactly the reason for my antipathy towards the business genre. But I was somewhat placated by the narrative and the vividness of the stories that he told. While I am still not completely convinced that this is the best way to communicate the lessons, it is the most entertaining way to do so, especially in this case. This is the generally accepted structure of the business book, lay out what needs to be said, illustrate the points with anecdotes, and then expect the readers to piece together what needs to be done without having been shown how. What helped the author is that he is a very good storyteller; that is more than half the battle: convincing your audience by giving them a great story.

The book is separated into three parts: First, second, and third year; each with its own tagline: Changing the Culture, Building Trust, and Giving Control. Each part is again split into a number of chapters, each chapter dealing with a particular lesson which falls under the theme of the parts.

What made the lessons palpable and memorable was the narrative, and the fact that  he was able to get the players as well as his assistant coaches’ perspectives to flesh out his stories and make the stories whole. I appreciated that effort because prevented the key component, the stories, to becoming a soliloquy from him, one that had become rose colored through the years. Those statements by the players and assistant coaches were powerful testamentsbecause they weren't just statements from young kids, they are statements from grown men who had lived a life beyond their teen years, players who had time to think and appreciate their experience from the  perspective of having hindsight.

The haplessness of the team that he inherited is laid out in full in the beginning of the book. They were winless for a couple seasons, they had little tradition, they had little school pride; in fact  the players resorted to gallows humor to obscure their own embarrassment. The first two parts of the book describes the drastic steps the author took to start the transformation.   He had only two rules: work hard and support your teammates, they are the only two rules he needed. Even though they are simple, the power of those two rules can be applied in any situation; they were simple but all encompassing.

The third part of the book is where he makes the case for the title of the book. The first two parts sets the stage for him and his coaching staff. Part three would not be successful unless they were successful in parts 1 and 2. There is a connecting theme in all three parts of the book.

There are many things to like about this book:  the unwavering commitment to a vision and to a set of principles, the stories that the author chose to illustrate his points are very well thought out and brilliantly written. It seemed that just about every vignette from every chapter brought me to tears because these snapshots of the team’s journey together emphasized the pertinent lessons as well as tore at my deeply help beliefs. Through his description of the players and their interaction, the reader can sense that there's a love that he has for his players as seen through his eyes and told through his voice that is more than just a coach-player relationship.

One of the lessons late in the book was: all the credit goes to the other people. He told a famous story about Herb Brooks, during the 1980 Olympics when USA team beat the Russians. Brooks made sure he left the celebration to the players because the moment belonged to the players and went back to the locker room to weep his own happy tears. This perfectly illustrated the point that the feats are accomplished by those who had the most skin in the game and it is best for the coach to stand in the darkness of backstage, no loess joyous but out of the limelight.

This book was remarkable, I truly enjoyed it.  It has been my habit to take notes in the nonfiction books that I am working on so that I can come back  I can condense my notes into a cogent review because I can use it for my own coaching. I chose not to do this when I started reading this book because I just wanted something to read to inspire me, to motivate me, and to make me excited about coaching; and I was sure that since the author’s philosophy seemed to be so in tune with mine, that what I could learn would not be enough for me to note. My own hubris in not taking notes was a bad mistake. I am now having to go back through the book to mark those pearls of wisdom.

I believe that this is a book that needs to be read for all coaches in all sports at all levels.

The part of the book that I most enjoyed was when he talked about his former players and the pride with which he recited their accomplishments after that seasons that they played for him. He recounts them like they were his own children, which really is why we all coach.

John U. Bacon had an idea, and that idea was that it is best to let the players lead themselves because that is when true leadership reveals itself, it teaches the young what being a leader involves, and it is a selfless act of altruism. He also speaks of the hardships and difficulties that his approach entails, that the work is not easy, but worthy of the effort. In the end, I learned from John U. Bacon, despite my bias against business books, mainly because he tells a great story and he does not sugar coat the arduousness of the journey.