Continuing the blog piece of leadership lessons business can learn from sports.
In Part 1 we compiled some of the resources relating to rugby and the All Blacks, not only a phenomenally successful sports team, but also a successful business.
In this second part we have gathered together some other leadership resources from across a range of other sports with relevance to business. These are stories of success, endurance, leadership and team culture.
Overcome Mistakes Like an Elite Athlete by Marina Harris and published in Psychology Today. Posted August 3, 2023.
Offers a five-step framework to help you bounce back from everyday mistakes.
Will to win : New Zealand netball greats on team culture and leadership / McCarthy, Lana
“A fascinating deep-dive into the development of the Silver Ferns’ traditions, the evolution of team culture and the nuts-and-bolts of leadership at an elite sporting level. The 12 legendary players and coaches interviewed – including Lois Muir, Leigh Gibbs, Sandra Edge, Bernice Mene, Ruth Aitken and Casey Williams – candidly discuss the highs and lows of their careers, and of the Silver Ferns, the effect of the intense rivalry with Australia, coping with gut-wrenching losses, and the resilience of players and coaches. For the first time the perspective of these key actors is the subject of serious analysis, and the book is a real insight into the psychology of a women’s highperformance team. As such, it provides a practical guide for developing team culture and leadership for netball coaches at all levels. It also includes comments from Farah Palmer and Noeline Taurua on women in sport and leadership, and a brief history of New Zealand netball, including the gains and losses as netball moved into a semi-professional era, and the struggles for sponsorship and for media recognition, despite it being New Zealand’s most popular team sport.” (Catalogue) Also available as Ebook Libby
Sevens sisters : how a people-first culture turned silver into gold / Swannell, Rikki
“The Black Ferns Sevens have been the dominant force in the Women’s World Sevens Series since its inception in 2012, with five series titles, as well as claiming gold at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Their recent runaway success has been forged on the back of hard work and a family-like culture.” (Catalogue)
Blake leader : leadership lessons from a great New Zealander / Orams, Mark
“New Zealand lost one of its favourite sons when Sir Peter Blake was shot and killed in the Amazon in late 2001. Blake had become a icon after leading New Zealand to victory in the 1995 and 2000 America’s Cups, following earlier successes in the Whitbread Round the World Race and Jules Verne Challenge. His accomplishments demonstrate his skill at assembling, managing and leading winning teams. Blake: Leader is written by sailor and marine scientist Dr Mark Orams, who sailed around the world with Blake and worked with him at Team New Zealand and Blakexpeditions. In this book he looks at Blake’s successful style of leadership from a personal viewpoint. It mixes reminiscences and anecdotes from Orams and other sporting and business figures who worked closely with Blake with practical observations of how he chose and led teams. Break-out boxes and chapter summaries highlight key points and techniques that can be used by leaders and team members in a wide range of sports and business situations. Chapters include building a great team, being a great leader, encouraging a great work ethic and having a winning attitude. It also examines the unique New Zealand style of leadership demonstrated by other great Kiwi leaders and how Blake’s legacy can be taken into the future.” (Catalogue)
Chasing the cup : my America’s Cup journey / Spithill, Jimmy
“If Ben Ainslie manages to win the right to compete for the America’s Cup in 2017, Jimmy Spithill is the man he’ll be up against. Jimmy is the world’s most successful racing skipper, and at 37 has already reached legendary status. In 2013 he led Oracle Team USA to victory against New Zealand against massive odds, recovering from 1-8 to win 9-8 (the Wall Street Journal called it `one of the greatest comebacks in sports history’), and is the skipper for Oracle’s upcoming 2017 America’s Cup defence as well. This is his autobiography, and it opens with a young Jimmy in hospital about to have surgery on his leg, being told by the doctors he’ll never be much good at sport. This sparks a life-long determination to prove them wrong. He won his first race aged 10, and using a credit card to pay for travel he went on winning races all over the country, and then the world. He debuted in the America’s Cup as a skipper at age 20, and after a tough legal battle to free himself from his contract with the Young Australia team, he sailed in the next two Cups before becoming the youngest ever winner of the America’s Cup in 2010, as helmsman and skipper of BMW Oracle Team 90, only to win it again three years later in 2013. This book is far from the usual media-trained official account you often get, especially in the closed-off world of the America’s Cup. Jimmy’s open, honest style gives us a rare insight into what goes on in the head of an extremely focused man at the top of his game. It’s a rags-to-riches story of fierce determination, court cases, seasickness, crashed boats and cars, alcohol and winning against all the odds. And it all contributed to turning a quiet, bullied, water-loving blue-collar redhead born in Sydney into one of sailing’s biggest rock stars. A compelling read, with many lessons in leadership, teamwork and achieving your dreams, no matter how impossible they seem.” (Catalogue)
One life / Rapinoe, Megan
“Megan Rapinoe was four years old when she kicked her first soccer ball. Her parents encouraged her love for the game, but taught her that winning was much less important than how she lived her life. Here she reflects on the choices she has made, her victories and her failures, and embarks on a thoughtful and candid discussion of her personal journey into social justice. After the 2011 World Cup, discouraged by how few athletes were willing to discuss their sexuality, Rapinoe decided to come out publicly as gay and use her platform to advocate for marriage equality. In 2016 she took a knee during the national anthem to protest racial injustice and police brutality. Rapinoe discusses the obligation we all have to speak up, and the impact each of us can have on our communities. — adapted from jacket” (Catalogue)
Forward : a memoir / Wambach, Abby
“Abby Wambach has always pushed the limits of what is possible. Named by Time magazine as one of the most influential people of 2015, the soccer player captured the nation’s heart when she led her team to its recent World Cup Championship. Abby is a vocal advocate for women’s rights and equal opportunity, pushing to translate the success of her team to the real world. Now Abby recounts her own decisions, wins, losses, and the pivotal moments that helped her become the world class athlete and leader she is today. Abby’s book goes beyond the soccer field to reveal a person grappling universal questions about how we can live our best lives, and become our truest selves. Written with honesty and heart, Forward is a blueprint for individual growth and rousing call to action.” (Catalogue)
Leading / Ferguson, Alex
“After an astonishing career-first in Scotland, and then over 27 years with Manchester United Football Club, Sir Alex Ferguson delivers Leading, in which the greatest soccer coach of all time will analyze the pivotal leadership decisions of his 38 years as a manager and, with his friend and collaborator Sir Michael Moritz, draw out lessons anyone can use in business and life to generate long-term transformational success. From hiring practices to firing decisions, from dealing with transition to teamwork, from mastering the boardroom to responding to failure and adversity, Leading is as inspiring as it is practical, and a go-to reference for any leader in business, sports, and life.”–provided by publisher.” (Catalogue)
On leadership lessons from sports
“The world’s elite athletes and coaches achieve high performance through inspiring leadership, strategic choices, and mental toughness. Harvard Business Review has talked to many of them throughout the years to learn how their success can translate to business leadership. If you read nothing else on management lessons from the world of sports, read these 10 articles by athletes, coaches, and experts in the field. We’ve combed through Harvard Business Review’s archive and selected the articles that will best help you drive your performance–whether as a individual contributor or a leader. This book will inspire you to: – Improve your weaknesses, not just your strengths – Hold everyone to high standards–especially your stars – Find meaning in success–and in challenge – Take care of your body for sustained mental performance – Identify the right rivalries to bring out the best in you – Build your team from the bottom up – Understand where the analogy of sports and business doesn’t work– Provided by publisher.” (Catalogue)
The winning mindset : what sport can teach us about great leadership / Hughes, Damian
“In The Winning Mindset, Professor Damian Hughes, the acclaimed author of Liquid Thinking and How to Think Like Sir Alex Ferguson, draws on both his lifetime experience and academic background within sport, organization and change psychology to reveal the best ways to create a winning mindset in both personal and professional life.” (Catalogue)
The captain class : the hidden force that creates the world’s greatest teams / Walker, Sam
“Walker starts with one of the most hotly debated questions in sports: What are the greatest teams ever–particularly those that sustained success over a long period of time. He devised a formula to compare the achievements of teams from leagues all over the world, and after painstakingly profiling thousands of them, produced a comprehensive, unbiased list of the 16 best. Period. At that point, Walker became obsessed with another, more complicated question: What did these teams have in common? A genius coach? A transcendent superstar? A ground breaking system? Or was it all a matter of chemistry? A surprising pattern emerged: There was a very specific kind of leader at the center of these teams, a force that drove them to greatness, and they all shared eight specific characteristics. Who they are, who they are not, and the traits they shared will fascinate anyone who follows sports or is interested in building a team — and winning. Told through riveting stories of some of the most compelling and pressure-soaked moments in sports history, Walker not only brings these uncommon leaders to life, he presents a counterintuitive view of leadership–one that can apply to a wide spectrum of competitive disciplines, particularly business”– Provided by publisher.” (Catalogue)
Staying the distance : the lessons from sport that business leaders have been missing / Baker, Catherine
“Leadership can be hard. It can certainly be relentless. The pandemic has wreaked havoc on the well-being, health and sustained performance of many senior leaders, and yet strong leadership remains central to the performance of every single organization. Business leaders are very familiar with drawing lessons from elite sport, particularly around teams, leadership and high performance. But we have all been missing a trick. Day in, day out, sport has been showing us not only how to improve, perform and achieve, but how to do so on a sustained basis, consistently delivering results when it matters. This book shines a light on these unseen lessons, and provides a clear and practical roadmap for how to deploy them in the reader’s own leadership practices. With Catherine Baker’s unique view into world-class sport and top-level business, and with insights from top performers in both worlds, this book provides a fresh and dynamic take on how – consistently and over the long term – to bring out the best in yourself, and in those you lead.”– Provided by publisher.” (Catalogue)
If you need more information please contact the Prosearch team at the library. We can help you find information across a range of perspectives and resources. All enquiries are treated in confidence.
