Customer Reviews

The Gold Standard: Building a World-Class Team

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I like the book. As a corporate director of human resources, I am continually looking at various books for business and leadership advice. More often than not, I find the real gold nuggets embedded not in management books but tomes covering a wide array of genres. For me, this is one of those books. Most management books are simply repackaged repeats of the same drivel so we must look outside of own arena.

Yes it is almost entirely related to basketball and a bit ego-stroking but that is okay. In addition, when Mike Krzyzewski does delve into managerial advice, it is obvious he "knows not of what he speaks". Nevertheless, there are many management lessons that we can take from the book if we will look at the base content. My favorite chapters were:

* Time to understand context
* Time to cultivate leadership
* Time to adapt internally

If a person can forge an entire group of ego-maniacs into a cohesive team, then I am willing to listen and hopefully learn.

For those who like relating sports to business, I would suggest reading Phil Jackson's book, Sacred Hoops: Spiritual Lessons of a Hardwood Warrior There is a certain Zen flakiness to it but then again we are looking for those nuggets.

I hope you find this review helpful

Michael L. Gooch, SPHR - Author of
Wingtips with Spurs

This book by Coach Krzyzewski is a very good read about Basketball and the Olympics. But, it was the inner story that I found fascinating.
There is a short episode about Colonel Brown and a few soldiers he brought to talk to the Olympic team. Injured soldiers. Heroes.
This was remarkable. Just remarkable.

The book was well written and interesting, but the inner story about the soldiers and this Colonel was incredible.

It shows Coach K's humanity and his kindness, and it shows the courage that these soldiers live with every day.

Well worth the time.
Randy

As a basketball fan, I found this book to be an interesting, in-depth look at the 2008 gold-winning Olympic basketball team...the team that brought honor back to USA basketball.

As a teacher, I found this book to be informative about team-building, bringing people together to achieve a common goal.

A great read!

The service on this product was incredible. I was using this book for research and it was delivered a week earlier than I thought which helped me make my timeline!

Purchased for my wife who is a coach and a big fan of Duke and Coach K. She read it right away. She enjoyed the book and is ordering another of Coach K's books.

As a basketball fan and a coach I found this book interesting and really enjoyed reading about the things that happened behind the scenes. I do like how the book is setup and the way it was written. It was great to read how the NBA players were and gave me a different view of them.

I bought this book for my thirty-something son-in-law for Christmas. He had requested it. He was very excited to get it and read it through in the first few days after Christmas. He enjoyed it very much and definitely recommends to others in our family and in his business.

The item came in new condition like listed; however, I had purchased the item for a Christmas gift on dec. 10th and didn't receive it till after Christmas!

The Gold Standard: Building a World-Class Team is self-indulgent at times, but is essentially a well-told story of Team USA's quest for gold in basketball at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Written by Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski, the book gives readers a behind-the-scenes look at team building. Coach K writes about himself, members of the team, his philosophy and approach to putting the team together, and a few details of games played at the Olympics. The Coach writes that there are "losers, winners, and champions". This book is none of those things; it is just okay.

This is as someone said a self-congratulatory expose about the 2008 USA Olympic basketball team with team dynamic tidbits thrown in. Nothing new and nothing in enough depth to sound convincing. My guess if you wanted to know how the team was put together and turning points for the team this book might be of interest. It is not worth your time if you are purely looking for content on team- building. Basketball fans only!