If you lead a team, are a parent, or have ever been in charge of volunteers or mentoring someone else, this book will serve as an insightful and informative guide. Stephen B. R. Covert explores the successful strategies of leaders who have led their teams to victory by focusing on one principle at a time and detailing how they were implemented.
Published in August 2014, this book is filled with ideas for team leaders who want to improve their leadership skills. The author outlines the principles and practices he has used to lead the Clemson University Men's Cross Country and Track teams for 16 years. He discusses his approach in regards to building a winning team, motivating his teammates, and dealing with adversity. The author also covers off-season training programs that have been successful. He closes the book with advice on how to extend these principles beyond just running and track while also addressing issues of spirit and family.
The author discusses how each principle came to light as a result of his experiences and how he implemented it into practice. He focuses on a different piece of the puzzle each chapter while addressing the core issues behind being a team leader. He begins with the broad principles that provide a foundation for success, then moves to more specific player performance issues, and finishes with concepts that extend beyond running and track. The author emphasizes that these are not his principles per se, but instead principles he has adopted from others who have led successful teams. In addition, he states that he does not follow all of these principles at once because doing so would be impossible. Instead, he focuses on one principle at a time which allows for added focus and adjustment as necessary. He introduces each principle by outlining the context and situational details that led him to these principles. He then describes how he implemented them into practice in order to achieve success.
The book ends with advice on how to extend these principles beyond just running and track while also addressing issues of spirit and family. The transition from coaching athletics to coaching the whole person is generally a difficult one, but Covert believes that the principles outlined in this book can be extended from athletics to everyday life. Richard Haupt serves as an editor for this book.
This book was originally published under the title, It's Your Ship: Lessons in Spirit and Leadership for a Winning College Team, which is now out of print.
In this book, Covert uses the metaphor of a ship and explains how each person, rather than the captain alone, is responsible for the ship's success. His ideas are based on his experiences in leading Clemson University Men's Cross Country and Track teams for 16 years. He discusses how he led these teams to victory through dedication and hard work. Covert believes that there are three main things a captain must do: set an example for others to follow, empower others to make decisions, and teach others how to think. Without these three things being done successfully, it is unlikely that the team will be successful.
The author believes that in order to be a good captain, it is important to lead by example. He gives the example of a player who has the potential to do good things but lacks the maturity or self-awareness to do so due to poor coaching and/or lack of experience. The player may be "turned off" by the system that is in place and although he is technically able, does not have set goals or desire for improvement. In this scenario, it is difficult for others on the team to motivate the player because he lacks motivation and fails to see progress when he performs his best.
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