I’ve got a book recommendation for you this week! It’s Trillion Dollar Coach by Eric Schmidt, Jonathan Rosenberg, and Alan Eagle. The book is about Bill Campbell, a former football coach turned executive coach, out in Silicon Valley.
As I started reading, I was expecting an explanation of complicated and sophisticated coaching and leadership techniques. What I found was the coaching points and the leadership points are simple and basic. They are what most of us know and just don’t execute on well enough. We try to make these concepts more complicated than they really are (just like I did).
The book addresses a topic that I try to live by each day – putting people first. We know that people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care, and listening is a great way to show you care. The book states that it’s about coaching them hard, giving them feedback both the good and also the tough love feedback that needs to be heard. A great coach doesn’t mean you don’t have a tough conversation with somebody. The more you care about a person, the tougher conversations that you may end up having. But you also need to know when to encourage, letting someone know that you believe in them and then holding them accountable.
It’s really all about leading with people first in everything that you do. Again, the concepts are not complicated, but still very effective. Remember to always prioritize the truth behind the concepts and don’t overcomplicate. Don’t lead with numbers. Work with people, help them, coach them, develop them and know that at the end of that, the numbers will be there.
It’s a very easy read and I highly recommend it. Let me know what you think!
