Top 5 - Sports Books on My Bookshelves

Not sure why I thought about this but here are the Top 5 books about sports on my bookshelves (in no particular order).

The Education of a Coach by David Halberstam

A Flame of Pure Fire: Jack Dempsey and the Roaring 20's by Roger Kahn

Loose Balls: The Short, Wild Life of the American Basketball Association by Terry Pluto

The League: Inside the NFL by David Harris

Bottom of the Ninth by Michael Shapiro

Just missing the list were Sandy Koufax by Jane Leavy (because I liked the unheralded Bottom of the Ninth better), Gridiron Genius by Michael Lombardi and The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King by Michael Craig (because poker isn't a sport).

Also on my bookshelves but not making the list are Open by Andre Agassi and The Breaks of the Game by David Halberstam. I haven't had the chance to read either book yet.

You may infer from the list that I'm fond of both sports and history. You'd be correct.

Mike Lombardi's Ted Talk on Leadership

Well worth 15 minutes of your time.

Also I can recommend his book Gridiron Genius. Read it recently and really enjoyed it.

Gridiron Genius and Bill Walsh's Standard of Performance

Currently reading Gridiron Genius by Michael Lombardi. So far a very enjoyable read.

Early on Lombardi shared Bill Walsh's Standard of Performance and I thought these 17 tenets were worthy of note.

1. Exhibit a ferocious and intelligently applied work ethic directed at continual improvement.

2. Demonstrate respect for each person in the organization.

3. Be deeply committed to learning and teaching.

4. Be fair.

5. Demonstrate Character.

6. Honor the direct connection between details and improvement; relentlessly seek the latter.

7. Show self -control, especially under pressure.

8. Demonstrate and prize loyalty.

9. Use positive language and have a positive attitude.

10. Take pride in my effort as an entity separate from the result of that effort.

11. Be willing to go the extra distance for the organization.

12. Deal appropriately with victory and defeat, adulation and humiliation.

13. Promote internal communication that is both open and substantive

14. Seek poise in myself and those that I lead

15. Put the team's welfare and priorities ahead of my own.

16. Maintain an ongoing level of concentration and focus that is abnormally high

17. Make sacrifice and commitment the organization's trademark.

This Standard of Performance could easily be applied to any organization or even as a personal code of conduct.