Phil Jackson's Leadership Style Analysis

Phil Jackson is one of the most celebrated basketball coaches of all time. A former NBA player turned coach; Jackson epitomizes a lifelong search for excellence in him as well as in those he leads. In Jackson and Delehanty’s (2014) Eleven Rings: The soul of success, one finds and offering of anecdotes that chronicle Jackson’s career as well as insights into his coaching and leadership philosophy. As I considered these leadership lessons, there are three that struck a chord with my own sense of leadership These include, “Lead from the inside out” (p.11), “Let each player discover his own destiny” (p.13), and “Keep your eye on the spirit, and not the scoreboard” (p.20). The first lesson, “lead from the inside out” (Jackson & Delehanty, 2014, p.11), in many ways resembles Parker Palmers’ (2004) notion of the Mobius Strip. In this lesson, Phil Jackson realized the importance of not living a life separated by a professional persona and a personal one (Jackson & Delehanty). According to the authors this was especially true was especially true in Jackson’s earlier years. Jackson and Delehanty (2014) recall …show more content…
This is not because it is each individual merely works to support the other members of the team toward a common goal but rather, Jackson used this methodology as a means to help individuals find their sense of purpose. Jackson recounts the 1993 retirement of Michael Jordan and the need to incorporate new players into an already talented team by helping each to “find a role for themselves that played to their strengths” rather than those of Michael (Jackson & Delehanty, 2014, p.138). As the authors point out, just as it is important to draw a group together to focus on their individual success, each individual must also be able to focus on their “individual growth” (Jackson & Delehanty, 2014,