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.
