Monday 10 July 2017

Book Review: Carlo Ancelotti: Quiet Leadership – Winning hearts, minds and matches

A light, enjoyable read. This is not your typical football biography book but more so leadership and management lessons from the footballing life of Carlo Ancelotti. In terms of leadership, there's a focus on "soft" leadership and that's what gives this book its novel touch. Some of the key repeated themes to be found throughout the book are how a calm, empathetic, patient mindset can be advantageous (and sometimes disadvantageous) and how language development, relationship building and trust are critical to team success. Below is a small selection of quotes from the book that stood out for me.
"There is power and authority in being calm and measured, in building trust and making decisions coolly..."
"When you watch Vito Corleone in The Godfather, do you see a weak, quiet man or do you see a calm, powerful man in charge of his situation?"
"Nothing is as important as being loved and valued."
"... it is important to learn the language as a way into the culture."
"Bothering to learn the language is a reliable indicator of the commitment of the player not just to playing the game, but to flourishing in the new environment. This is possibly why English players underperform in foreign leagues."
"My opinion is that players do their best when they are comfortable, not when they are uncomfortable."
"When I talk of players being comfortable, I do not mean in their playing – I mean in their minds."
"The players remember the occasions when I get angry because it happens rarely. If I was to get angry every single day, they would not remember and it would not be effective on them."
"We need both analytics and instinct because eventually those who do not understand the data will be eaten by it."

Book Review: Hegarty on Creativity – There are no rules


Decent little book full of short reflections on what it means to create and what it means to adopt a creative mindset. I've picked off the quotes that stood out for me and typed them below. Anyone reading and liking this book will also enjoy listening to some of John Hegarty's public talks which can be found on YouTube (e.g. here and here).
"You have to be supremely confident in your ability to achieve something outstanding."
"Start small, start compact, and suddenly you'll have begun to create."
"... often the right idea will come to you when you're not even thinking."
"... if you don't believe in what you're doing, why should anyone else."
"When I'm asked, When do you do your best thinking? My answer is always, When I'm not thinking."
"Too much thinking jeopardises the creative process..."
"A cynic might sound smart, sometimes even witty, but rarely are they productive. So surround yourself with positivity and possibility. With people who challenge and question. And as soon as anyone resorts to cynicism, move on."
"In the end, everything is connected and the more connections you make the more interesting your work will become."
"As important as practice is, there's no point constantly practicing unless you're perfecting whatever it is that you're working on."
"Practice only makes perfect if you make progress."
"Whatever you're doing, whatever difficulties you're encountering, remember how lucky you are and be sure to have fun."