“It takes a number of critical factors to win an NBA championship, including the right mix of talent, creativity, intelligence, toughness, and, of course, luck. But if a team doesn’t have the most essential ingredient – love – none of these other factors matter.” (4)

[Love, in this context = “the intense emotional connection that great warriors experience in the heat of battle.”]

“The so-called universal principles that appear in most leadership textbooks rarely hold up. In order to shift a culture from one stage to the next [the five stages of leadership outlined in the book Tribal Leadership], you need to find the levers that are appropriate for that particular stage in the group’s development.” (8)
 

The Jackson Eleven

-“The basic principles of mindful leadership that I’ve evolved over the years to help transform disorganized teams into champions.”
 
#2: Bench the ego

“After years of experimenting, I discovered that the more I tried to exert power directly, the less powerful I became. I learned to dial back my ego and distribute power as widely as possible without surrendering final authority. Paradoxically, this approach strengthened my effectiveness because it freed me to focus on my job as keeper of the team’s vision.” (12)

 
#3: Let each player discover his own destiny

“Most players are used to letting their coach think for them. When they run into a problem on the court, they look nervously over at the sidelines expecting coach to come up with an answer. . . I’ve always been interested in getting players to think for themselves so that they can make difficult decisions in the heat of battle.” (13)

 

Unlike most coaches, Jackson rarely calls timeouts when the other team goes on a hot streak, he wants his players to figure a solution out on their own

 

“My approach was always to relate to each player as a whole person, not just as a cog in the basketball machine. That meant pushing him to discover what distinct qualities he could bring to the game beyond taking shots and making passes. How much courage did he have? Or resilience? What about character under fire? Many players I’ve coached didn’t look special on paper, but in the process of creating a role for themselves they grew into formidable champions.” (14)

 
#9: Sometimes you have to pull out the big stick

“In the strictest form of Zen, monitors roam the meditation hall, striking sleeping or listless meditators with a flat wooden stick, called a keisaku, to get them to pay attention. This is not intended as punishment. In fact, the keisaku is sometimes referred to as a ‘compassionate stick.’ The purpose of the blow is to reinvigorate the meditator and make him or her more awake in the moment.” (21)

 

[after talking about the bizarre and harsh practices he’s organized] “I like to shake things up and keep the players guessing. Not because I want to make their lives miserable but because I want to prepare them for the inevitable chaos that occurs the minute they step onto a basketball court.”

 
#11: Forget the ring

“Obsessing about winning is a loser’s game: The most we can hope for is to create the best possible conditions for success, then let go of the outcome.” (23)

 
 
Meditation tips:

1. Sit with your spine straight, your shoulders relaxed, and your chin pulled in, ‘as if you were supporting the sky with your head.’

2. Follow your breath with your mind as it moves in and out like a swinging door.

3. Don’t try to stop your thinking. If a thought arises, let it come, then let it go and return to watching your breath. The idea is not to try to control your mind but to let thoughts rise and fall naturally over and over again. After some practice, the thoughts will start to float by like passing clouds and their power to dominate consciousness will diminish.

Napoleon Bonaparte once sent a staff officer to find a replacement for a great general that died. The officer returned several weeks later and described a man he thought would be perfect for the job because of his tactical and managerial skills. When the officer finished, Napoleon looked at him and said, ‘That’s all very good, but is he lucky?”

“Former UCLA head coach John Wooden used to say that ‘winning takes talent, to repeat takes character.'” (110)

“When the pecking order is clear, it reduces the players’ anxiety and stress. But if it’s unclear and the top players are constantly vying for position, the center will not hold, no matter how talented the roster.” (122)
 

Phil was the centerpiece of the team, and I was an extension of that centerpiece.

-Michael Jordan

 

The great lesson…[is] that the sacred is in the ordinary.

-Abraham Maslow

 

Work is holy, sacred, and uplifting when it springs from who we are, when it bears a relationship to our unfolding journey.

-Wayne Teasdale, “A Monk in the World”

 

It felt as if we were part of something really important. We felt like the good guys because we were trying to play the game the right way. It was as if we were a part of something bigger than the game.

-John Paxson, former Bulls player under Phil Jackson

 
“[Jared Dudley] was always thinking: How do I want to play and how do I need to change?” (138)

“Today they beat us. But we are not defeated.” (148)

“Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.” (173)
 

To be trusted is a greater compliment than to be loved.

-George Macdonald

 
“I always welcomed debate, even if it disrupted team harmony temporarily, because it showed that the players were engaged in solving the problems.” (251)
 

An unexpressed anger creates a breach in relationships that no amount of smiling can cross. It’s a secret. A lie. The compassionate response is one that keeps connections alive. It requires telling the truth. And telling the truth can be difficult, especially when the mind is stirred up by anger.

-Meditation teacher Sylvia Boorstein

 
“The soul of success is surrendering to what is.” (334)