I recently read “Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success” by Phil Jackson and Hugh Delehanty. Below are the quotes I found most interesting. As always, if you like the quotes, please buy the book here.
“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 those other factors matter.” (4)
“I discovered the more I spoke from the heart, the more the players could hear me and benefit from what I’d gleaned.” (12)
“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.” (12)
“If your primary objective is to bring the team into a state of harmony and oneness, it doesn’t make sense for you to rigidly impose your authority.” (13)
“You can’t force your will on people. If you want them to act differently, you need to inspire them to change themselves.” (13)
“When I had the players sit in silence, breathing together in sync, it helped align them on a nonverbal level far more effectively than words. One breath equal one mind.” (18)
“When the mind is allowed to relax, inspiration often follows.” (22)
“Satchel Paige said, “Sometimes I sits and thinks, and sometimes I just sits.”” (23)
“The most we can hope for is to create the best possible conditions for success, then let go of the outcome.” (23)
“I often reminded the players to focus on the journey rather than the endgame, because if you give the future all your attention, the present will pass you by.” (91)
“When I let him solve the problem himself, he was more likely to buy into the solution and not repeat the same counterproductive behavior in the future.” (96)
“At its heart, mindfulness is about being present in the moment as much as possible, not weighed down by thoughts of the past or the future.” (99)
“The mast nodded. “To hear the unheard,” he said “is necessary discipline to be a good ruler. For only when a ruler has learned to listen closely to the people’s hearts, hearing their feelings uncommunicated, pains unexpressed, and complaints not spoken of, can he hope to inspire confidence in the people, understand when something is wrong, and meet the true needs of his citizens.” (101)
“The most effective way to deal with anxiety, I’ve discovered, is to make sure that you’re as prepared as possible for whatever is coming your way.” (102)
“John Wood used to say that, “winning takes talent, to repeat takes character.” (110)
“John Heider stresses the importance of interfering as little as possible. “Rules reduce freedom and responsibility,” he writes. “Enforcement of rules is coercive and manipulative, which diminishes spontaneity and absorbs group energy. The more coercive you are, the more resistant the group will become.” (121)
“Mindfulness is remembering to come back to the present moment.” (137)
“It’s more fun to be a pirate than to join the Navy.” – Steve Jobs (149)
“Instead of expecting them to be somewhere else and getting angry and trying to will them to that place, you try to meet them where they are and lead them where you want them to go.” (156)
“Everything is in flux. Until you accept this, you won’t be able to find true equanimity.” (168)
“There’s nothing like a humiliating loss to focus the mind.” (300)
“I tried to convey to him that the best way to get off the emotional roller coaster is to take the middle way and not get too high when you win or too low when your game fails you.” (303)
Liked the quotes? Please buy the book.
