I am thrilled to be invited to speak to the Clemson University Coaches Council on Thursday, April 12 about my new book, Working Toward Excellence. I am honored and humbled to have been asked to do this by our Athletic Director, Terry Don Phillips, who was also kind enough to read my manuscript and provide a wonderful testimonial on the back cover. Terry Don and I have formed a great friendship based on his incredible support of the Clemson Tiger (Marching) Band. I am recording the speech and will make it available on my website sometime soon.
I love studying coaches. I love studying leadership and have a library of over 150 books about sports leadership. My favorites are books on John Wooden, Vince Lombardi, Coach K, Bill Walsh, Tony Dungy, Bill Belichick, Brad Stevens, and Phil Jackson. I have always wanted to know their secrets of success and how their teams achieve excellence. Their writing has inspired my writing, as well as my desire to apply and share their philosophies with my percussion students. Leadership principals and the 8 values I write about in Working Toward Excellence are universal and apply to any field of endeavor. I’ll let you know how it goes. GO TIGERS!