Duke University's head basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski has proved himself a leader both on and off the court. He's led the Duke Blue Devils to five straight Final Four appearances, culminating in back-to-back championships in 1991 and '92. He has received five National Coach of the Year Awards -- and many of the players he coached in college have gone on to NBA stardom! Now Coach K offers the insights he uses to coax peak performances from his team, relying on lessons he learned as a captain in the U.S. Army, sportsmanship, respect, and a genuine gift for leading with the heart.

While many books focus on developing managerial competencies, most leadership failures are the result of a failure in character, not a failure in competence. But, just like how you don't get in shape by reading a fitness magazine, you don't become a Leader of Character by reading a book on Character. You have to DO what you want to BE! Leaders of Character is a "workout plan" designed to develop six Habits of Character by providing small, daily exercises that strengthen your character muscles for the bigger character tests all leaders face.

Says Coach K: "In all forms of leadership, whether you are a coach, a CEO, or a parent, there are four words that, when said, can bring out the best in your team, your employees, and your family...I BELIEVE IN YOU.
These four words can mean the difference between a fear of failure and the courage to try."
In his previous bestselling books, Coach K has guided readers to success the way he has guided his teams at Duke University - - with the power of his inspirational words and phenomenal leadership skills.
But that was with college kids.....Now, Coach K has stepped up to take on an entirely new challenge - by volunteering to coach the US Olympic Basketball team. Comprised of some of the biggest NBA stars, Coach K had to work with huge egos and personalrivalries in order to create an American team that could win against the best competition in the world and restore Team USA to the gold standard of basketball.
This is more than a celebratory book - it's Coach K's first-hand account of how he dealt with such stars as Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony and all the rest to buy into his "total team" play. Half a book on basketball, half a book on management techniques, THE GOLD STANDARD captures Coach K's personal style and approach to getting different (and sometimes difficult) people to work hard and succeed in reaching a common goal.

This is a collection of short but extraordinarily powerful essays as to how Coach K of Duke inspires, motivates, and teaches his basketball players about the game of life, both on and off the court. For Mike Krzyzewski, the legendary head coach of the Duke University men's basketball team, certain words have special importance and force. Coach K used them every day to energize, motivate, and teach his players how to be winners on the court and in every aspect of their lives. Now, in Beyond Basketball, he offers 40 short, hard-hitting essays-each centered on an important keyword and illustrated with anecdotes from his personal experience-that will educate and inspire.

Before you can make that winning buzzer beater, you need to master fundamental skills in all phases of the game. The fourth edition of the best-selling instructional resource Basketball Skills & Drills provides the perfect blueprint for building the foundation that all well-rounded players and championship teams need. With complete coverage of individual skills and team play, you’ll find 103 developmental drills covering everything from stance and footwork to scoring plays and transitions. Enhanced with an online video library featuring 42 clips demonstrating the drills in action, you’ll have the optimal guide for mastering these fundamental skills: • Player positioning • Footwork • Moving without the ball • Ballhandling and court vision • Shooting • Perimeter moves • Post moves • Rebounding • Team offense • Team defense Recognizing that individual skills are effective only when used within the team concept, the book also covers team principles for both ends of the court. Tactics for offense, including special situations for out-of-bounds plays, will improve spacing, ball and player movement, shot selection, and scoring. Defensive tactics emphasize positioning, pressure, and various systems to apply in each zone of the court. At all levels of basketball, success comes with mastery of the basic skills. Basketball Skills & Drills is your best-selling guide to becoming that dominant force on the court.

Legendary UCLA coach John Wooden once said, "People say Morgan Wootten is the best high school basketball coach in the country. I disagree. I know of no finer coach at any level--high school, college, or pro."

Morgan Wootten has retired from coaching, but his knowledge of the game remains unsurpassed and keen as ever. "Coaching Basketball Successfully" contains a wealth of Wootten's timeless wisdom. And, in this third edition, Wootten adds even more value--the coaching experiences, methods, and tactics of his son Joe, a successful high school coach himself.

Loaded with insights, instruction, drills, and Xs and Os, "Coaching Basketball Successfully" is the best single resource on making the most of your program, team, and players each season.

College football fans need no introduction to Bud Wilkinson, but few of them know the great University of Oklahoma football coach as a devoted father. In "Dear Jay, Love Bud," Jay Wilkinson, Bud's younger son, shares forty-seven letters his father wrote to him while he was in college and graduate school. Spanning the early to mid-1960s, these letters reveal Bud's deep love for his son, as well as the philosophy and values that led to his remarkable success in sports and in life.

Beginning with the first letter Bud wrote when Jay left home, this collection shows a father guiding his son toward his own path while stressing the importance of service to others. The embodiment of the scholar-athlete, Bud mixes encouragement with intellectual discussions. When Jay reads American philosopher William James for a class at Duke University, his father, a serious student of literature, reads the book, too, and uses its insights to help Jay deal with the challenges of his freshman year. Bud writes about his own challenges, as well, including his debate over whether to accept the Kennedy administration's invitation to head the President's Council on Physical Fitness. Jay's comments about each of these letters provide context and further insight.

By the time Jay becomes a graduate student at the Episcopal Theological School, the correspondence turns toward religion and politics, as Bud reflects on the philosophical issues of the day and on his unsuccessful run for the U.S. Senate in 1964. His belief that the greatest leaders are not always the most popular made him an unlikely politician even then, but a wonderful role model and interlocutor for his son. Bud's thoughts on ethics in business and politics are as inspiring today as when he wrote them a half-century ago.

Foreword by Mike Krzyzewski, Duke's Men Basketball Coach

A celebrated coach reveals the secrets to building a fierce competitor

At age 26, Joanne P. McCallie, a.k.a. Coach P, began her career at Maine, where in the span of eight years, she elevated the women's basketball program to a very competitive team that outdrew the men's crowds, a rarity in college sports. Over her tenure, she created the Choice Not Chance (CNC) philosophy, training kids how to think and focus on making the correct choices in life. She imparted her passionate philosophy to all of her players and now brings it to her efforts as head coach at Duke. "Choice Not Chance"highlights McCallie's lessons for building a fierce competitor, such as "Going against the grain," "Never become satisfied," and "Enjoy the prospect of getting better daily."

The CNC philosophy is widely used by McCallie, her staff, and players, who are very active in the community speaking about "CNC."Joanne P. McCallie is head coach of the Duke Women's Basketball team and was the ACC Coach of the Year in 2010McCallie became the first coach in Division I history to be crowned champion in four different conferences, as well as the first coach in NCAA history to garner coach of the year accolades in four different leaguesA native of Brunswick, Maine, McCallie owns a career mark of 431-174 and is entering her 20th year as a head coach at Maine, Michigan State and Duke; as a coach and player, she has led her teams to 15 conference titles, 19 NCAA Tournament appearances, seven NCAA Sweet 16 appearances, five NCAA Elite Eight appearances, three NCAA Final Four appearances and three NCAA Championship game appearancesDuring the 2004-05 season at Michigan State, she won the Big Ten Regular Season and Tournament Championship en route to a National Championship game appearance. For her efforts she was named the Associated Press National Coach of the Year

McCallie has taught her teams to play with passion and fight hard for recognition, and her teams have achieved remarkable success. Apply her wisdom to your teams, your employees, and your own life.

Overlooking the Hudson River on the campus of the United States Military Academy at West Point are 12 granite benches, each inscribed with a word representing a key leadership virtue: compassion, courage, dedication, determination, dignity, discipline, integrity, loyalty, perseverance, responsibility, service, and trust. These benches remind cadets of the qualities that lead to victory and success, not just on the battlefield, but in all of life. With his signature enthusiasm and insight, Pat Williams shares the incredible stories of West Point graduates who exemplified these traits, from the Civil War to the War on Terror. He shows readers of all backgrounds how to develop these 12 essential virtues in their lives, whether they are in the corporate world, the academic world, the military, the church, or in some other sphere.