Book of the day - Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success by Phil Jackson
I figure I might as well write a short review of Eleven Rings since I referred to it in my last book as having the same formulaic outline as Eat and Run by Scott Jurek. Not that the formulaic outline in how the book is structured in chronological order has a negative to it, but it’s something I’ve noticed in the last six months since I’ve focused on reading business biographies.
I’ll start by saying I’m a big Phil Jackson fan. I’m an even bigger Steve Kerr fan. In fact, Steve Kerr is my current most valuable business person I would love to read more about, but the amount of information is lacking. Now back to Eleven Rings and Phil Jackson. I’m not sure what to say about this book. It was worth reading, but It’s not abundantly clear what my takeaway was. Maybe it’s that Phil never stops. He never gives up. I don’t think Phil has the capability of slowing down and that’s how I relate to Phil Jackson.
Phil Jackson was also about winning with a team. Phil Jackson was all about the triangle offense. With Kobe and Shaq, it took the Lakers many tries before Kobe trusted Phil’s strategy and was willing to follow the plan, which Kobe could rarely continue doing, due to the need for fame. You can see the Golden State Warriors with Steve Kerr how strong friendships build winning teams. When looking back to the Chicago Bulls and Phil Jackson, Phil was able to handle the “air” of Michael Jordan. One of the greatest athletes ever, Phil channeled Jordan’s playing capability into a leadership role and friend of Pippin, Rodman, and Kerr to build a dynasty.
The same is true for business. One man can build a mildly successful product, but it will not scale. It takes a team playing the triangle offense, a family of trust and belief in others to build a business. It’s not about who’s the most famous, who’s the CEO, who’s the VP, it’s about working together and letting someone else take the game winning shot to build greatness.
