Good guys can get great results.
When I ask his peers if they’ve ever met someone who doesn’t like Kerr, they profess to be stumped, though Ron Adams, the Warriors’ philosophically-inclined assistant, says, “But wouldn’t it be interesting to find someone who did?”
The players are the show.
The moment the players see you making it about you, not the team—when the coach gets the endorsements and poses for magazine covers and hosts a radio show—you lose them.
It's not what you know but how you treat people.
"The people to me who are the most powerful leaders are the ones who have great talent in whatever their field is, great conviction in their ability to teach it and act it, but an awareness and a humility and compassion for others.”
Value your people.
‘Does he really care or is he just making sure I feel valued?” In the end, U’Ren has decided, maybe it’s irrelevant.
Everyone is different (a mantra from Ray Dalio's "Principles")
"He has this feel for exactly what each player needs."
He gets it.
Take his commencement speech at the University of Arizona, in 2004. The terms that figure most prominently include team, family, coach, cultural differences, opportunity, kids, and understanding.
Be yourself if it's good enough.
Your approach has to reflect your identity. “Give me one of your core values," Carroll said to Kerr.
Kerr thought for a moment. “Joy.”
"OK, joy,” said Carroll. “That has to be reflected in your practices every day.”
Ticker shock. What makes Kerr tick?
By the way, the four core values Kerr came up with in 2014, the ones he still writes on the whiteboard occasionally? Joy, Competition, Compassion, and Mindfulness.
Beating makes a dead horse.
“The older you get the more you realize you can be great technically—but people have to be ...cultivated mentally, emotionally, because things have got to be enjoyable, especially in sports, because you’re criticized all the time.”
Culture wins..."Fight for your culture every day."
"So he built a culture to where, one man down, the next man has to step up. And it’s not just on him, it’s on everybody to come together and empower that next man..."
Simple not easy.
You want to lead like Kerr? It’s easy. Just be humble and grateful, curious and self-aware. Communicate, value family, and empower others.
