Coach Bryant on leadership

CrimsonProf

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Dec 30, 2006
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Hey guys, I'm likely taking a new job in a leadership position and I was wondering if anyone could recommend a few books on leadership that refer to Coach Bryant, or any other great coach for that matter.

Suggestions? Or maybe just some great CPB quotes?
 

dvldog

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You must study to be frank with the world: frankness is the child of honesty and courage. Say just what you mean to do on every occasion, and take it for granted that you mean to do right.

A true man of honor feels humbled himself when he cannot help humbling others

[T]here is no more dangerous experiment than that of undertaking to be one thing before a man's face and another behind his back.

R. E. Lee
 

judge9103

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Coach Bryant was a total manager and leader and he marshalled that quality into being the best coach ever. He would have been the best ever anything he tried. To read and take from his quotes would be of great benefit to anyone wishing to lead or manage.

The very best thing I have been exposed to that came from the Coach is
(paraphased) When we do great, they did great-when we do ok, we did Ok-when we suck, it was me and I did it. If this is practiced, respect will be forthcoming from those being lead and success is not far behind..
 

dennychimes76

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Aug 2, 2004
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Hey guys, I'm likely taking a new job in a leadership position and I was wondering if anyone could recommend a few books on leadership that refer to Coach Bryant, or any other great coach for that matter.

Suggestions? Or maybe just some great CPB quotes?
A few articles/quotes and a book:

Articles:
http://www.slate.com/id/2083025/

http://www.allbusiness.com/management/3876594-1.html

http://quotations.about.com/od/stillmorefamouspeople/a/PaulBearBryant1.htm

http://www.knowsouthernhistory.net/Biographies/Bear_Bryant/

http://uoleadership.uoregon.edu/resources/quotes

http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/4-20-2006-93982.asp

http://www.linezine.com/6.3/themes/QuotesFall01.htm

Books:

http://www.amazon.ca/Bear-Bryant-CEO-Richard-Truman/dp/1581735847

Best of luck with you new job and RTR
 

bayoutider

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Hey guys, I'm likely taking a new job in a leadership position and I was wondering if anyone could recommend a few books on leadership that refer to Coach Bryant, or any other great coach for that matter.

Suggestions? Or maybe just some great CPB quotes?
Make people want to work with you not for you. Praise in public and punish in private.
 

Alanbama27

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Sep 24, 2003
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The best leadership book I've read (and I've read most of them) is called The E-Myth Manager. It is a book that you will likely want to read more than once because some of the theories are almost 100% the opposite of what you've been taught over the years. However, it is a great, great book and makes unbelievable sense once you adopt the E-Myth way of thinking.

It is available at any bookstore and on-line through any book dealer.

This book doesn't have anything to do with Coach Bryant but frankly there wasn't much taught in terms of leadership or management from Coach Bryant. His leadership was evident by the many qoutes he gave and the most telling quote and the one that lends itself to leadership more than any other (IMHO) was this...Coach Bryant once said that he only hired people who were smarter than him at their jobs. He thought that if he was smarter than they were, he had no use for them. Basically he was saying to surround yourself with people who are better at what they do than you are at doing what THEY do. It doesn't mean that you can't be a great leader...it means that you need people you can trust to do their jobs and do it well. Everyone is responsible for themselves and for the ultimate success or failure of the team. It also says that just because someone is great at their job, doesn't mean they are a great leader, thus the need for great leadership.

Interestingly enough this correlates directly to the E-Myth Manager.

I hope this helps!
 

Alanbama27

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He wasn't asking for answers to every question..?
Since this is a football board I'm not going to engage you in a debate over the teachings of the bible and what they do or do not have to do with leadership. Suffice it to say that we would surely have different views either on what the bible says and/or what our definition of leadership is.
 

SavannahDare

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Jul 23, 2004
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Actually, it is. Everything starts, and ends, with God...
Way to hijack a thread, guys.:cool2:

As for the question at hand:
~ Never assign a task to someone else that you are not willing to do yourself.

~ Keep fraternization to a minimum, but try to encourage team-building type activities/get togethers, and always attempt to know as much as you can about your employees (without becoming overly familiar...this is a hard skill to master).

~ Always be the last one to take a break/lunch/go home/accept a bonus check, etc.
 

cbi1972

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Actually, it is. Everything starts, and ends, with God...
What part of the Bible explains to me how to develop a proof of concept for getting MicroFocus COBOL to communicate with an Oracle database?

I could really use His help with this.

Or maybe I should start by reading the product documentation.
 

moorav

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Dec 6, 2006
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What part of the Bible explains to me how to develop a proof of concept for getting MicroFocus COBOL to communicate with an Oracle database?

I could really use His help with this.

Or maybe I should start by reading the product documentation.
Well it does say 'seek and thou shall find' so the Bible is telling to you read the PL/SQL manual
 

dvldog

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What part of the Bible explains to me how to develop a proof of concept for getting MicroFocus COBOL to communicate with an Oracle database?

I could really use His help with this.

Or maybe I should start by reading the product documentation.
That sounds like planning. Not exactly the same as leadership IMHO.
 

cbi1972

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That sounds like planning. Not exactly the same as leadership IMHO.
I think some of our political and business leaders these days are following the example set by Moses.

Exodus 2:11 And it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens: and he spied an Egyptian smiting an Hebrew, one of his brethren.

Exodus 2:12 And he looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no man, he slew the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand.
 

dvldog

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I think the "do unto others" thing works well when leading re: your subordinates, your customers, your competitors, and your team mates.
 

Alanbama27

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I think the "do unto others" thing works well when leading re: your subordinates, your customers, your competitors, and your team mates.
While accurate that's a stretch. Do unto others works for everything in life when talking about dealing with others.

It remains my ever-so-humble opinion that the Bible does not teach leadership. It teaches many things, such as faith (blind or otherwise) it teaches us about judgement and judging others, but it does not teach leadership...which was the original point of the thread.

Too many people IMHO try to fit the bible's teachings into everything and frankly it is putting a round peg in a square hole most of the time and does quite a disservice to the actual teachings of the bible. It is also my opinion that most people read the bible but do little to understand it because they are to busy trying to read between the lines.

While I understand that people from almost every faith imagineable and much smarter than I am have read every word and disected every word and they can't even agree on what the bible actual says (because Aramaic doesn't translate into English very well and it didn't translate into Hebrew terribly well either). And given that information, I contend that most people and frankly clergy included attempt to twist the written word into something that makes sense for them but may or may not have any legimate meaning to the original intent of the written word. Which is why I appreciate the bible for what it is, which is a great moral compass not meant to be dissected to the nth degree. If you read something (especially if it was written by or inspired by God) you should be able to easily understand it and you shouldn't have to search for underlying meaning. That is why I believe when you read the bible and understand what is said, there is no reason to try to relate it to something else. The teachings are the teachings and if a given story, such as David vs. Goliath is read and it tells you that the message is...regardless of the odds, brains and intuition can beat mite every time, is there a reason to look further just because it is a story in the bible? Not to me! There is also no reason to attempt to twist that story into something that it isn't. The story is a great story and doesn't need our imput.

Anyway, enough of my thoughts on the bible. I just don't think the bible is the answer to the question of Leadership, just as it is not the question to everything. God gave us free will and many of the answers are supposed to come from within.
 
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