I recently started thinking deeper about leadership and the culture we want to instill here at The College of New Jersey. One of the activities I decided to try was to look through every book I have read on leadership development, culture building, and teamwork and pick out my Top 3. This activity helped clarify what I truly care about as a leader and helped formulate some clearer ideas on what to emphasize on a day to day basis.
My 3 favorites were Legacy by James Kerr, The Barcelona Way by Damian Hughes, and Gridiron Genius by Michael Lombardi.
Legacy is an overall look at the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team. If you have never heard of them, they are the most consistently successful team in any sport in history. No matter the coach, the current roster, or the rest of the Rugby world, the All Blacks win and they win big. I cannot suggest this book enough if you are in leadership in any field. If I had to pick the single most impactful book in my coaching journey, it is without a doubt Legacy. It is a complete look at the All Blacks culture from start to finish. Extra Credit: Do not be afraid to binge the All Blacks documentary on Amazon Prime called “All or Nothing: The New Zealand All Blacks.”
The Barcelona Way is a fantastic look into FC Barcelona and how Pep Guardiola helped change their culture upon taking over as their head coach. Guardiola is now the head coach at Manchester City and has been a winner at all of his coaching stops. This book gives you actionable ideas to help you implement the culture and leadership systems you want to install on your teams. Once you have the vision of what you want your culture to look like from Legacy, check out the Barcelona Way for ideas on how to bring your culture from a vision to reality.
A key piece to any business or sports team culture is recruiting and retaining talent. For that reason, Gridiron Genius by Michael Lombardi had to make the list. Lombardi is a former NFL executive who worked with Bill Walsh and Bill Belichick, two of the most successful NFL coaches to ever walk the sidelines. He has great stories on how to hire, what great leadership looks like, and in particular, what a leader should focus on in order to surround himself with great talent (and use that talent properly!). If you read the first 3 chapters, “The Organization,” “The Coach,” and “Team Building,” there is no way you aren’t hooked.”
Once you have a vision of what your culture should look like, ideas on how implement that culture, and strategies to recruit talent, you are well on your way to success. Funny that as a basketball coach, my three favorite books are about a rugby team, a soccer team, and an NFL executive.
As Dr. Seuss says, “The more that you read, the more things that you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”
