
Iron Sharpens Iron
How Borrowing from the Pro Sports Playbook Can Give Businesses the Winning Edge
By: Andrew Johnson
Paperback | 10 May 2024
At a Glance
376 Pages
22.86 x 15.24 x 1.98
Paperback
$49.50
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Unlock Your Business's Winning Edge with Contemporary Insights from the Pro Sports Playbook
In the fiercely competitive realms of Management, Leadership, and Strategy, success demands more than just innovative ideas and robust execution. It requires a winning edge - a fusion of strategy, leadership, and relentless motivation that transcends conventional business wisdom. Iron Sharpens Iron: How Borrowing from the Pro Sports Playbook Can Give Businesses the Winning Edge, by seasoned business leader Andrew Johnson, offers this edge by blending the thrill of professional sports with the strategic acumen required for business excellence.
Drawing from the Front Lines of Sports and Business Leadership:
- Strategy and Competition: Discover how the high-stakes world of professional sports mirrors the competitive landscape of business, offering unparalleled insights into strategic manoeuvring and competitive advantage.
- Management Science: Johnson dives deep into the mechanics of team management, talent development, and leadership, revealing the science behind assembling winning teams in both sports and business arenas.
- Leadership & Motivation: Through riveting anecdotes and personal experiences, this book explores the dynamic role of leadership and motivation in overcoming adversity, driving performance, and securing lasting success.
From the Gridiron to the Boardroom:
Andrew Johnson's expertise spans the globe of technology and sports management, making him the ideal guide to help navigate the complexities of modern business challenges. His narrative is rich with examples from the NFL, NBA, NRL, AFL, Cricket, and Rugby Union, offering a unique perspective on resilience, adaptability, and success.
Why This Book?
Iron Sharpens Iron is more than a metaphor; it's a proven strategy for excellence. Johnson expertly parallels the sports field's trials and triumphs with the business world's challenges and opportunities. This book is a testament to the power of competition, innovation, and the human spirit to drive unparalleled success.
For Business Leaders, Entrepreneurs, and Innovators:
Whether you're a CEO, manager, entrepreneur, or business enthusiast, Iron Sharpens Iron will inspire you to reflect on your strategies, leadership style, and the core values that define your pursuit of excellence. It's an essential read for anyone eager to translate the passion and precision of professional sports into business victories.
Industry Reviews
Johnson clearly outlines the opportunity business leaders have
to learn from sports. Given sports very public journey through
media coverage, they provide many relevant case studies that
can be applied across broader business settings. The coverage
of exiting the pandemic for example provides many such
learnings - capital management, financial strength, the need
for agility and flexibility for a variety of risks and opportunities
that have to be balanced and managed.
Tim Ford Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer,
Treasury Wine Estates
The reason you hear business leaders use sporting metaphors
is because they work. But Johnson goes further by looking at
which sports, sporting leagues and businesses have best navigated
the trying circumstances of the pandemic to provide
new insights and new anecdotes for every leader to use.
Robert Hillard Consulting Leader
Deloitte Asia Pacific
One of my go-to sporting analogies is "where is the puck
going?" which is used in ice hockey to encourage players to
move to where the puck is going to be rather than descend
on where the puck currently can be seen. It is the same in the
tech sector. Look for where the gaps in the market will be in
five years time, don't try to build for today, you will never
catch up. There are many strong sporting anecdotes in this
book that can be applied in the broader business setting.
Peter James Chair and Non-Executive Director
Multiple listed companies.
1. Introduction
2. Why the NFL is the perfect metaphor for the free-market economy
3. The unexpected time out: What happens to sport when a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic hits?
3.1 The Australian public policy response to the onset of a health and economic crisis
3.2 Australian sports in trouble
3.3 US sports pivot
3.4 Australian case study: macroeconomic factors that influence public policy decision-making
4. Talent identification and acquisition: building a championship winning roster
4.1 Assigning value: not all positions are created equal
4.2 Evaluating potential
4.3 Chip on your shoulder
4.4 Transferrable skills
5. Talent development
5.1 The insights of teammates matter: you cannot fool the players
6. The secret sauce of success: grit
7. Roster management: where fluidity and proactivity are business enablers
8. Scheme and philosophy (aka your north star)
9. All in: culture and legacy
10. Coaching Mindset
10.1 Iron sharpens iron
10.2 Becoming elite and the Tiger Woods model
10.3 Team first and the locker room
11. Customer experience, go-to-market and your distribution platform
12. Politics and sport: there is no escaping the macroeconomic environment
13. Exiting the pandemic: How different sports fared
14. Conclusion
Endnotes
ISBN: 9780975653005
ISBN-10: 0975653008
Published: 10th May 2024
Format: Paperback
Language: English
Number of Pages: 376
Audience: General Adult
Publisher: LIGHTNING SOURCE INC
Dimensions (cm): 22.86 x 15.24 x 1.98
Weight (kg): 0.5
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