Mike Krzyzewski

Effective teamwork begins and ends with communication

When I had troubles, I'd go out - with basketball, you can do it by yourself, too. So you'd go out and shoot, and you'd fantasize.

A leader has to show the face his team needs to see.

A leader has to be positive about all things that happen to his team. Look at nothing in the past as failure.

Almost everything in leadership comes back to relationships.

In order to be a winner, you have to look for ways of getting things done and not for reasons why things can’t be done. People who live with excuses have things that can’t be done hovering around them all the time.

A leader may be the most knowledgeable person in the world, but if the players on his team cannot translate that knowledge into action, it means nothing.

Effort is fully replenishable. There is no need to save any of it. Leave every bit you have on the playing field

In developing teams, I don't believe in rules. I believe in standards. Rules don't promote teamwork, standards do

During critical periods, a leader is not allowed to feel sorry for himself, to be down, to be angry, or to be weak. Leaders must beat back these emotions

Communication does not always occur naturally, even among a tight-knit group of individuals. Communication must be taught and practiced in order to bring everyone together as one

I try to see each new season as a new challenge because I have a new team to work with, new opponents to encounter, and often new ideas and theories to try

I never want to lead a team that is not allowed the freedom to pursue what's in their hearts. If you want your team to be fully committed, then you'd better be fully committed

Confidence shared is better than confidence only in yourself.

Whatever a leader does now sets up what he does later. And there's always a later.

I believe a big part of leadership is about winning the moment.

Play and practice like you are trying to make the team.

I think leadership is never singular. In a good organization, it's plural.

When you are speaking to your team after a game, never talk about the kid who was the star of the game. Talk about what your other players did to help the team win. Be sure to spread the wealth... Then have individual meetings with one to three players to praise and reinforce. Make sure you touch them.

Sometimes in a defeat, you can set the stage for future victory. I wanted them to feel good about what they had accomplished. Not to like losing, but to like the success that they had.

I've tried to handle winning well, so that maybe we'll win again, but I've also tried to handle failure well. If those serve as good examples for teachers and kids, then I hope that would be a contribution I have made to sport. Not just basketball, but to sport.