Today I finished Jim Gray’s new book Talking To GOATs: The Moments You Remembered the Stories You Never Heard. This book is a compilation of Gray’s leadership lessons from interviewing some of the greatest athletes, politicians, and actors in history.
Utilizing the individuals profiled by Gray, the following are 27 Leadership Lessons We Learn From GOATs. First is the individual profiled followed by the lesson learned.
The keys to building relationships with GOATs or other high-capacity leaders:
- The ability to listen
- Like people
- Be interested in them
- Be curious
- Loyalty in relationships matter as much as ability.
- In relationships, honesty, integrity, and trustworthiness matter.
Now onto those featured in GOATs and what we learn from them:
- Mike Tyson – Take responsibility even during your worst moments.
- Muhammad Ali – The most beloved leaders are the most accessible leaders.
- Julius Erving – When you serve one high-capacity leader with excellence they will introduce you to other high-capacity leaders.
- Al Davis- Al used to say, “Don’t treat people the way you want to be treated. Treat them the way they want to be treated.”
- Jack Nicholson – Jack does not go into the players’ locker rooms because he doesn’t want anyone entering his acting trailer.
- Bill Walton – The power of generosity. He gives to 50+ organizations and charities in the San Diego area.
- President George W. Bush – The relationship between leadership and courage. He said, “If you’re afraid for your own life there’s no way you can lead a nation.”
- Hank Aaron – Integrity always has and always will matter.
- Pete Rose – Don’t ambush or embarrass GOATs in public. Treat them with honor and respect.
- Ben Johnson – Jim writes concerning Johnson, “someone else, somewhere else, was doing something else to try and circumvent one rule or another.”
- Tiger Woods – Love people because when you become unlovable (and sooner or later we all become unlovable), they will forgive you and love you back. If you have not shown them love, they will not show you forgiveness.
- 1996 Atlanta Olympics – Judgement is poor when decisions are rushed.
- 1996 Atlanta Olympics – David Brinkley wrote, “The news is what I make it.” Regarding the media, truer words have never been written.
- Tom Brady – From Tom we learn the value of the relentless focus on details and repetition. He said, “And if I’m a hair off on my mechanics, or my footwork, or I throw the ball low rather than to the outside shoulder, I’ll know I have to correct that, I have to get it right.”
- Don Shula – He always was a gentleman. He was also never satisfied.
- Michael Phelps – Leadership is lonely. Phelps dealt with anxiety. Gray wrote, “He had stared at the same black line at the bottom of the pool for most of his life, day after day, resolute to not only touch the wall first but to swim without making a single mistake. To swim perfectly.”
- Floyd Mayweather – He had incredible composure in the midst of crisis because of all the work he had previously put in.
- Bill Clinton – He had a vast knowledge and could take about anything. When Clinton spoke to you he never broke eye contact and had instant recall of history and world events.
- Jesse Owens – The power of a single moment. Years after winning the gold medal in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin in front of Hitler, Owens said, “It was a lifetime of training for just ten seconds. And those ten seconds ended up having a great impact on the world.”
- Gerald Ford – His greatest contribution as a leader was restoring public confidence in the presidency.
- Nelson Mandela – He was gentle and refused any special treatment while in prison. He always put the people before himself.
- Gene Cernan – Perspective. The astronaut said, “All of us can see the sunrise. But how many of us have been able to watch the earth rise.”
- Michael Jordan – The higher you go in leadership the less options you have. Examples – privacy, freedom.
- Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant – Dysfunctional organizations will not have sustained success.
- Ron Artest – The only difference between anger and danger is a “d”.
- LeBron James – The only thing that guarantees tomorrow will be better than today is personal growth. And few have demonstrated personal growth as much as James.
- Jerry Gray – Jim’s dad. True success is when those who know you the best love and trust you the most.
This was an enjoyable and make a nice Christmas gift for the sports fan in your family. Click HERE or on the image below to pick up a copy.
