#Leadership Lessons from Top Sports Coaches

Sports managers advising business ?In America, such feats from a sports team manager find their way not only onto the sports pages, but equally into the learned journals of major MBA schools, business conference keynotes, leadership development books, videos and the like – all testifying to the cross-relevance of the many sports analogies with business performance and success.

Giovanni Trapattoni

I have always been a supporter of Italian soccer team Juventus. One of their great coaches was Giovanni Trapattoni. Juventus won many trophies under his leadership and Trapattoni proved his coaching system by going on to winning championships with other teams in different countries. One of the most celebrated managers in football history, Trapattoni is one of only two coaches, alongside the Austria Ernst Happel, to have won the league title (10) in four different countries (Italy, Germany, Portugal & Austria). Alongside the German Udo Lattek he is the only coach to have won all three major European titles. Also, he is the only one to have won all UEFA club competitions and the World Cup Club title, also having the record of UEFA Cup wins (three).
Charisma, Optimism & Belief ?First and foremost, there is a genuine charisma about the man. His press conference quips and sideline histrionics exude a quiet and unpretentious vibe of invinceability.

The words of hardened professional, Richard Dunne, on the eve of the game between Ireland & France in Paris really exemplifies how Trapattoni steels and shields the players with a God-like belief:
“Our manager is a winner, always has been, that’s what we’re following, whatever he says goes, really. Everyone listens to him. He’s told us all the way through that we’re hard to beat, we’ve proved that. We’ve just got to believe in what our manager does for us tomorrow night, he’s been telling us all week that we can win, and that we will win. We’ve got 100 per cent faith in our manager’.
Anticipation & Learned Optimism ?Doubtless, there is some innate component to Trapattoni’s optimism; but, there is also a real sense that a sizable proportion is very much of the learned variety – by making a habit of overcoming the odds so often in his own life.

In his own playing days, such was the sublime skills of Pelé, Eusébio & Johan Cruyff that each was pretty much deemed unmarkable.
Yet, all three found Giovanni Trapattoni impossible to negotiate, not because of any physical attention he meted out, but because of his exquisite timing of interceptions and tackles. In this respect, as a player his anticipation was deemed his greatest asset.

God is in the Detail? And, in a way, it would appear that it is this same sense of anticipation that informs much of his pre-match optimism.

Some of his favourite quotes are:
Non dire gatto finche non ce l’hai nel sacco (don’t say cat until you have it in the bag).
“I always say that in addition to being a coach, I'm also a priest. I go to each player's room and say who is playing and who isn't. I talk and explain. It's a little like confession.”

In his press conferences, he constantly underlines that it is the small things that decide games. ‘I am like a hammer’, he once said – meaning that he strikes again and again at whatever small detail needs to be corrected.
Gianni Agnelli, head of the Fiat empire, and Trapattoni’s boss at Juventus for 10 years, sums him up with 3 telling adjectives: intelligent, exact, prepared.

Watch this interview with the man himself:

John Wooden

I first learnt about John Wooden when listening to Tony Robbins interview him on one his Power Talk tapes.
John Wooden was an American basketball coach. His record of winning the NCAA Championships 10 times with the University of California, Los Angeles college team is unprecedented.
Because of that, he is considered one of coaching legends of history with his outstanding leadership and coaching ability.

He was UCLAs head basketball coach and won 664 games in 27 seasons, with an 88 game unbeaten streak, and four perfect 30-0 seasons. He won countless awards and honors for his unprecedented achievements.
Despite his tremendous success, Wooden never asked for a raise for his $35,000 per year.

John Wooden was awarded with several awards and honors, including:

1. 2006 founding class, College Basketball Hall of Fame?2. 6 Time NCAA College Basketball Coach of the Year?3. Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2003?4. Basketball All-American in 1930, 1931, 1932

and many more, including several buildings that were erected in his honor.

John Wooden had a Seven Point Creed which his father gave to him. I believe that it is this creed that guided Wooden through his life and made him the success he is today.

1. Be true to yourself.Don’t spend your life trying to be someone else. But be true to who you are, your hopes, dreams and fears.
2. Make each day your masterpiece?Give your best in every single thing that you do.
3. Help others?.Give back, because you’ve received much as well.
4. Drink deeply from good books, especially the Bible?Learning should be a lifelong process, and read from good books.
5. Make friendship a fine art?Friends are essential in your journey to success and significance.
6. Build a shelter against a rainy day?Always remember a backup plan, because things almost never go according to plan.
7. Pray for guidance and give thanks for your blessings each day?Live with a thankful heart toward God.

Best Quotes from ?John Wooden Leadership

A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment.
Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out.
What you are as a person is far more important that what you are as a basketball player.
Winning takes talent, to repeat takes character.
You can't let praise or criticism get to you. It's a weakness to get caught up in either one.
Be prepared and be honest.
It's not so important who starts the game but who finishes it.
Ability is a poor man's wealth.
Adversity is the state in which man mostly easily becomes acquainted with himself, being especially free of admirers then.
Never mistake activity for achievement.
The main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team.
It isn't what you do, but how you do it.
It's the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen.
The worst thing about new books is that they keep us from reading the old ones.
There are many things that are essential to arriving at true peace of mind, and one of the most important is faith, which cannot be acquired without prayer.
Consider the rights of others before your own feelings, and the feelings of others before your own rights.
Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.
Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be.
Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.
If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?
If you're not making mistakes, then you're not doing anything. I'm positive that a doer makes mistakes.
Success is never final, failure is never fatal. It's courage that counts.
It's what you learn after you know it all that counts.
Material possessions, winning scores, and great reputations are meaningless in the eyes of the Lord, because He knows what we really are and that is all that matters.
Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming.
Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful.

Fabrizio Poli  is an Aviation Analyst & Managing Partner of Boutique Aviation Company Tyrus Wings. He is also an accomplished Airline Transport Pilot having flown both private Jets and for the airlines. Fabrizio is also a bestselling author and inspirational speaker & has been featured in the Bloomberg, Chicago Tribune, Daily Telegraph, Wealth X, Financial Times, El Financiero and many other Media offering insight on the aviation world. You can tune in weekly to Fabrizio's business Podcast Living Outside the Cube available both in video & audio. Fabrizio & Geoff from Tyrus Wings also conduct a live video conference on blab.im called "Airplane Talk" every Thursday, where people can jump in and ask questions about the fascinating world of aviation.

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