The Bowden Way: 50 Years of Leadership Wisdom [Hardcover]

Bobby Bowden (Author), Steve Bowden (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 25, 2001

As head football coach at Florida State, Bobby Bowden has won two national championships and compiled an astounding resume of all-time credentials. Filled with personal anecdotes, famous names, and fascinating stories, The Bowden Way promises to be the leadership book that will redefine the game.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Florida State's Bobby Bowden is one of the most successful college football coaches of all time. Unlike some of his coaching peers who use self-help books as a way to promote their own careers, Bowden makes a sincere and mostly successful effort to equate his years in a leadership position to what readers face in the anonymous workaday world. Presenting his thoughts with refreshing humility, he delves into time management, hiring and firing, management ethics, salaries, and promotions. Early in his career as a junior college coach, he dealt with a problem player by lying to him; Bowden was troubled by his dishonesty and vowed never to lie to a player again. Readers won't find any groundbreaking management theories here, but they won't find any shortcuts, either. Bowden's success as a leader has been predicated on hard work, honesty, and consistency with his coaches and players. Sometimes the simplest things are the easiest to lose sight of; Bowden helps bring them back into focus. Wes Lukowsky
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Hardcover: 274 pages
• Publisher: Taylor Trade Publishing (November 25, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1563526840
• ISBN-13: 978-1563526848
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #430,870 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More than football!, October 18, 2001

By 

R. Scott Ricks (Birmingham, Alabama) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Bowden Way: 50 Years of Leadership Wisdom (Hardcover)

I wanted to read the Bowden Way because I am a college football fan. What I found was that I needed to read it because I am a small business owner. I had always admired Bobby Bowden because of the success he had in creating a program at Florida State, a school that had very little, if any, tradition. For any entrepenuer the concept of starting with nothing and building success hits close to home. How to do this is the ultimate question, and Bowden lays everything on the table in his attempt to answer it. I equate most of the motivational books I've read to the majority of consultants I've heard. That is, academia who look at your watch and tell you what time it is. The Bowden Way does more than tell you that in order to be succesful you've got to be orginized. Bowden shows you what has worked for him in his fifty plus years of motivating a team. The book reads as if the Coach has asked you into his office, sat you down and said, "Okay son, having problems with your employees? Well here's what you do and here's what I'd say." As you read the book you will be amazed at the close relationship between running a dominant football program and a growing business, so there are numerous topics that will be dear to your heart. This book is a quick, easy and useful read, so much that I'm giving one to all of my project managers. And Oh Yea, its full of college football from an insiders point of veiw.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent, December 17, 2001

By 

kristie fuller (Birmingham, AL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Bowden Way: 50 Years of Leadership Wisdom (Hardcover)

i would recommend this book to anyone who has to manage people in any capacity...from managing your children to managing your employees...Coach Bowden has proven himself to be a true leader both on and off the football field.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Bowden Way, December 4, 2001

By 

Jeff Holland (Birmingham, AL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Bowden Way: 50 Years of Leadership Wisdom (Hardcover)

In The Bowden Way, Steve and Bobby Bowden combine to bring the reader practical, common sense approaches to issues every one of us face on a daily basis. Moreover, the content keeps you interested, is easy to follow, and is very linear in moving along from one topic to the next. Of course, with Bobby Bowden, there's always a bit of that geniune humor we've all come to expect. I would strongly recommend this book for any and all ages, football fan or not. It's a refreshing read.