The Right Way and the Knight Way

I am a huge fan of Coach Bob Knight's candor and insight.  What you've heard about him and his character aren't the same.

In his new book The Power of Negative Thinking, he shares a lot of wisdom.  And the old saying, "Seek wisdom not praise," certainly applies.  Sharing a few quotes from the book illustrates the real Knight.

"Coaching is leadership, and leadership is leadership, whether in a gym, an office, a classroom, or a family."

"It's not the development of your offense or the development of your defense that will make you a consistently winning team; it's the elimination of mistakes-"

"Before you can inspire your players to "win", you have to show them how not to lose.  In basketball, bad fouls top my list of bad habits."

"Success is a grind.  It's perseverance; it is operating at a high level of performance on a constant basis."

"That's how teams win: by playing to their strengths and away from weaknesses. I made this into a simple doctrine: The shooters shoot, the passers pass, and everybody plays defense."

"One of the toughest situations for any leader or coach or investment advisor is letting of a bad decision that you don't want to rescind because you made it."

Great outcomes come from great processes; quality comes at the intersection of positive attitude, great choices, and high effort.  If you're doing your job as well as it can be done, everyone won't agree with you...but they should respect you.