Mike Krzyzewski
Duke University Men’s Basketball program has won 4 NCAA championships (tied for fifth all-time), appeared in 10 Championship Games (third all-time) and 15 Final Fours (tied for third all-time), and has an NCAA-best .750 NCAA tournament winning percentage. Eleven Duke players have been named the National Player of the Year, and 71 players have been selected in the NBA Draft. The coach Mike Krzyzewski has mastered the art of bringing young men together as a team. Coach K has transformed the way teams develop in any aspect of life whether it be a sport team, business team, or a group in general. His understanding of empathy and expression towards others, forces the team to rise to the best of their ability. Coach K played basketball at West Point under one of the greatest coaches of all time Bob Knight where he learned many key ways the coaches can effectively develop a team. He Developed leadership skills and a sense of brother hood that he brought on to the court. Coach K has also became very involved in community service and has opened the Emily K Center in Durham Community a few blocks from Duke University. The Center is named after his mother Emily Krzyzewski who has inspired him his entire life. Coach K is also very involved in The V Foundation for cancer researcher.
Quote
“Your heart has to be in whatever you lead. It became apparent that this decision was somewhat easier to make because you have to follow your heart and lead with it and Duke has always taken up my whole heart… The allure of coaching in college has no price. It’s one of those priceless things. I’ve never made a decision based on what will get me the most money. It was what was going to give me the most happiness and I’ve been really happy and fulfilled at Duke.” – Mike Krzyzweski
Greatest Accomplishments
Basketball : Coach K’s has accomplished some unbelievable tasks in college basketball and on the Olympic basketball stage. He has developed young players into NBA stars and coach the best basketball player in the world. He has the most wins in NCAA Division 1 men’s basketball history. He has also coach the USA Olympic team to two gold medals in 2008 Belgium Olympics and the 2012 London Olympics. This was a huge Honor to be named the Coach of the best team in the world and coach some of the best athletes in history. Coach K is a master of leadership and team building in college but was challenged when named the coach of the USA Olympic team because he would now be coach professional athletes that are fully developed and could have large egos. In spite of his experience of coaching professional basketball players he was able to adapt and lead the team to back to back gold metals in the summer Olympics.
Community Leadership : Coach K has been able to use his wealth of knowledge and leadership to start the Emily K Center that was inspired after his mother who had taught him so much. This center allows underprivileged kids to get help in academics, break the poverty cycle and go to college, and become young community leaders. The facility houses a gymnasium and a performance center. His mother Emily, was his role model from a young age and instilled his hard work ethic and tenacity. Emily was a Polish immigrant who worked as a cleaning woman and always encourage Mike to dream big and seize every opportunity he had. The V Foundation for cancer research was created by Jim Valvano and ESPN. Jim was battling caner and was in a Hospital at Duke when Coach K and Jim became very close friends. Coach K and Jim had coached and competed against each other it was when Jim stopped coaching that they developed a very close relationship. Although Jim lost his battle to cancer his fight still lives on through The V Foundation where Coach K has been apart of the Board of Directors since the Foundation was created. Jim definitely influenced Coach K to never give up in any facet of life. Jim was apart of Coach K’s backround team, along with assistant coaches on the Duke team, Coach K had a team behind him that made him so succsesful. Coach K’s family, Jim Valvano, And Bob Knight were a huge part of Coach K’s succses.
Living an American Dream: His grand parents immigrated from Poland to the United States and lived in Pennsylvania. His parents were not wealthy and worked menial jobs scrapping together enough money. Coach K was able to take his parents hard work ethic and apply it to his dedication to basketball and later coaching. He achieved an American dream by following his aspirations to West Point and becoming the team captain of the basketball team. Eventually becoming the Duke Coach and leading to the awe inspiring career he has today. An American dream immigrates and all can aspire to follow.
Lessons in Leadership
Creating a Team: Coach K has the ability to bring young talented athletes that are from all over the country together to become a family on the court. By developing certain players into leaders that guide the team in the correct direction. He builds his team and leaders around the certain players and personalities that he has recruited. He doesn’t not want to force anyone into a leadership position and take away from their natural skill and personality. He tries to find players strengths and bring out the best in them. Two of his leaders that he had one year he described in an interview of having two separate personalities, Coach K stated “One, Kyle Singler, was not a verbal leader; he led through example, and I never asked him to do much more than that. I said, “You play hard and you practice hard all the time.” the other, Nolan Smith, was more of a verbal leader and together as captains they lead the team well. He went on to say that one year he had a player that by them self could lead the whole team and that was perfect. Coach K’s ability to recognize his players personalities and mold the team into what works best is a talent that is not easily done. He often will bring out the best in the team by molding the players into young men and leaders on and off the court.
Adjustment and flexibility : Coach K is able to change and adjust to what types of players he has. To be an effective leader anywhere you need to be open to change and flexibility. Coach K demonstrates this beautifully every year when he is working with his freshmen players and incorporating them into the team. In an interview Coach K said “he has good communication skills, he is somebody who could lead by example or verbally. And then I try to encourage those who I think would be potential leaders to help out even as freshmen. What I try to do is not assume that just because the oldest person is the oldest that he is the leader. You hope that they are because they have the most experience, but not everybody on a team is a leader or wants to be a leader.” He recruits young men that he can incorporate into his team and develop into leaders that he know they can become. Age has no effect on the leadership on his team. If a freshman wants to lead and the upper class men are willing to follow that will be what happens. It is so important to be flexible as a leader to put your team in the best position to win.
Critique
Coach K, as good of a leader he is, I think he could have a dramatic effect on the world an inspire many immigrants to follow there dreams. He could be a very large voice for immigration and could have a much more powerful ability to inspire many people which is a leadership skill that would expand his leadership outside of the basketball community and into the world of immigrants and underprivileged immigrant families. To come from a Polish family that migrated to American and have parents there were employed with minimal labor jobs to becoming a student and coach at West Point to later becoming one of the best coaches and team developers in history is quite an accomplishment that immigrants and all could aspire to follow.
Personal
Coach K personaly inspires me to be more empathetic with my teams mates and anyone of my peers. His style of leadership resonates with me because I respect Coaches that know there players and beleive it encourages others around you to work harder when there is a personal connection.
About the Author
Wagner College student athlete from San Diego, California. I am currently undeclared and looking into many different fields of study.
Bibliography
Bryan Strickland, Stars in community as well as Duke sports. News Article (Durham News: December 21, 2007)
Mike Krzyzewski and Jamie K. Spatola, Beyond Basketball: Coach K’s Keywords For Success. (New York: Warner Business Books 2006)
Seunghyun Hwanga, Deborah L. Feltza and Jeong-Dae Leeb, Emotional intelligence in Coaching: Mediation effect of coaching efficacy on the relationship between emotional intelligence and leadership style, 2013. 292-306
Sitkin, S. & J. Richard Hackman. “Developing Team Leadership: An Interview With Coach Mike Krzyzewski”. Academy of Management Learning and Education, Vol. 10 (2011), No.3, pages 494-501