Best Advice: What I Learned by?Studying the Greatest Coaches in Sports

In this series, professionals share the words of wisdom that made all the difference in their lives. Follow the stories here and write your own (please include the hashtag #BestAdvice in the body of your post).

In an alternate reality, I wish I could become a professional NFL football or NBA basketball coach or manage a Major League Baseball team.

This is obviously very unlikely. So I've done the next best thing. I have spent much of my professional life studying the work habits, leadership principles, philosophies and strategies of some of the greatest coaches in sports. My mission is to pull together a patchwork of applicable lessons that I can incorporate into my own work — and maybe even teach others.

Why professional sports coaches?

For one, I am inspired by their incredible work ethic. If you're not a sports fan, it might surprise you to learn just how many hours coaches and managers put in not just during the season but during the offseason as well.

Second, their success is measured really only by wins and losses. Further, they must compete and win in the face of incredible scrutiny from the media and the fans on social media.

Finally, many of them are truly selfless. They have to constantly adjust to get the most out of their players since they don't suit up and get to play. And there are significant age differences as well in some cases.

Here are five of the best pieces of advice I have culled from some of the greatest coaches of all time. The either come from documentaries (I highly recommend NFL Film's terrific "America's Game" and "A Football Life" series) as well as many of their books.

• John Wooden: Never mistake activity for achievement — The legendary UCLA basketball coach, who won 10 NCAA championships, would do well today in a world with endless email and tweets. His Pyramid of Success is timeless. And so is this maxim. Busyness does not equal business.
• Tom Coughlin: Be willing to change — When Coughlin joined the New York Giants as head coach in 2004, he demanded players show up for meetings and practices five minutes early. Otherwise he fined them. This earned him the nickname "Colonel Coughlin." However, the hardline approach didn't work initially and only when he fully changed, did the Giants go on to great success, winning two Super Bowls in dramatic fashion.
• Bill Bellichick: Ignore the noise. Do your job. — It's hard to argue with the success of "the hooded one." Two of his maxims are "ignore the noise" and "do your job." Simple, yet effective. And his players not only repeat these mantras, but they live them as well.
• Phil Jackson: Have a simple system and follow it. — Phil Jackson won 11 NBA titles with a dedication to a system of play that’s now in use throughout the league, the Triangle Offense. Part of the appeal, despite its critics, is that it’s very simple. The adherence to The Triangle reminds me to always see media as an ecosystem, rather than as channels.
• Joe Torre: Win and lose with grace. — The Hall of Fame manager won, in part, because he was a class act. Tony LaRussa, a competitor who knows a thing or two about success too, said of Torre: "Tip your cap when you get beat, but when you win, you don’t show anybody up."

These are just some of the greatest pieces of advice I have picked up from pro sports coaches. There's too many more to name from Jon Gruden, the late Bill Walsh, LaRussa and more. But if you're a sports fan, these stories are a constant supply of models worth emulating and others to avoid.