The Gold Standard: Building a World-Class Team

This is a great book for any aspiring coach who is always looking for a few pointers on dealing with people. Although the book is about what transpired en route to the gold medal, it has a cool behind-the-scenes point of view and delves into the relational aspects of coaching and motivation. Anyone interested in sports history would enjoy this book, as well. This book gave me a new perspective on some of the superstars involved in the process, and mainly their selflessness.

Admittedly I'm a Coach K and Duke Blue Devil fan, so without question that biases my review. That said, I thoroughly enjoyed the book and I found several "leadership takeaways" that I can apply to my professional life as a military officer. The book was an easy read and what I enjoyed most was the picture Coach K painted of the relationships he developed both on and off the court with basketball royalty. I'm looking forward to Coach K's next book now that he has another Gold Medal and NCAA championship to add to his long list of accomplishments. What I hope to see in the near future is a book about Coach K from the prospective of his former players to include the NBA elite.

I really enjoyed coach K’s insight and perspective on building a team from the ground up and taking them through the paces to win the Olympic Gold. It was fascinating to read how deliberate coach K worked to build his team - co-creating standards, communication, trust. Knowing that the character of each man mattered as much as his talent. I recommend this book to leaders at every level - especially coaches and veteran players. The insights that coach K provides are great reminders for players and leaders to be deliberate and not miss opportunities to build and strengthen the team. I especially enjoyed many of the practice and pre-game rituals, as well as empowering players to have the space to lead. One of my favorite insights from this book is during the championship game, playing against Spain for the Gold. With a tight score and a few minutes on the clock, USA calls a timeout. In this moment, i was expecting coach K to explain a well timed strategy - but instead, he tells the team, “go play ball.”

Great detail on the team building of the 08’ USA mens basketball team. Also great for people wanting to be in the basketball world

Coach K's ability to relate to his athletes and the times are something I admire about him. I hope in my career I can continue to learn from Coach K and be half the coach he is. A true mentor and wonderful book to read to learn how to set standards for teams and organizations.

Great book for anyone that is a leader as a coach or business leader.

Reading it for a second time because it is a classic model for taking our highly paid, spoiled athletes and molding them into a TEAM. Coach K and his assistants do an amazing job. Excellent read.

This book is neatly set out in such a way as to highlight the importance of taking time to build excellence: utilizing time wisely is gold in building anything worthwhile! I would recommend this book to sports enthusiasts and anyone seeking advice on how to build teams.

Great for all sports fans and aspiring leaders

Coach K Well he is always been one of his kind :) A person we can all learn from