Anson Dorrance and Sherri Coale discuss the teaching process, self-discovery, and having a book club. Dorrance says, "We're in the human development business."
Critical thinking requires acknowledgement of our limitations. Can you 'survive' knowing that you aren't the best player in the gym or the smartest guy in the room? That demands "ego control." Bill Russell said, "My ego demands—for myself—the success of my team."
One of the books that Dorrance's players must read is Michael Useem's The Leadership Moment. The book details examples of leaders who made a difference or tried like Wagner Dodge who set an 'escape fire' to halt the advance of an inferno. Quick thinking only reduced the size of the catastrophe.
In the introduction Useem says we must regularly ask four questions:
- What went well?
- What went poorly?
- What can we do better next time?
- What are the enduring lessons?
Our local volleyball team (Melrose, MA) reads a book as a team each year and advanced to the state Final Four for the ninth time in nineteen years. The team overcame an 11-14 deficit in the fifth set, winning by scoring the final five points. This year, the book is Jay Bilas' Toughness.
What books would you consider? In addition to Toughness and The Leadership Moment here are additional:
- Legacy by James Kerr
- Why the Best Are the Best by Kevin Eastman
- Ego Is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday
- The Captain Class by Sam Walker
- Great Teams by Don Yaeger
Here are a few quotes from "Great Teams"
Lagniappe. More on the 'negative step'