11 Rings: The Soul Of Success

The autobiography “11 Rings – The Soul of Success” (2013) highlights the life and career of Phil Jackson, a former National Basketball Association (NBA) coach of the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers. The book primarily examines Phil Jackson’s personal experiences during his coaching tenure, showcasing his unique approach in dealing with his players. Jackson also highlights other key life experiences that occur prior to his professional career. These experiences include his upbringing in a strict Christian household, early aspirations in playing basketball, and his research in Buddhism, humanistic psychology, mindfulness meditation, Zen philosophy, and other Native American traditions. Jackson later applies this knowledge to his coaching

Historically, there has been a conception that coaching the physical aspects of sport is most important for team success. However, coaching has undergone great change over the years. Particularly, there has been a growing emphasis on fostering the mental elements of sport for athletes. These include confidence, motivation, mindfulness, optimism, and mental toughness (Ellsworth, 2011). A coach who has shared similar values is Phil Jackson, a former coach of the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers, and owner of a record breaking eleven National Basketball Association (NBA) championship rings. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest coaches in American sports, in large part due to his remarkable ability to cultivate these components in his players. In his autobiography 11 Rings – The Soul of Success (2013), Jackson describes the unique approaches he used to foster these constructs, particularly emphasizing mindfulness and optimism. For example, his book highlights his principles of mindful leadership, some which are titled, “Lead from the Inside Out”, “One Breath = One Mind”, “The Key to Success is Compassion”, and “Bench the Ego” (Jackson, 11-19). As evident though Coach Jackson, as well as many other high achieving sport coaches, the development of a team’s psychological aspects can positively correlate in with a team’s success. This paper will

From the perspective of an individual athlete, or even an entire team, mindfulness can help in keeping an athlete(s) focused and relaxed during a certain play or situation they are in. It can also allow the athlete/team to embrace the results of whatever occurs, rather than judging or valuing what is to come (Kaufman, 27). Thus, it will also allow them to think less on their previous mistakes that have already occurred, as well lower their anxiousness on what is ahead. Due to its benefits, many highly successful coaches have implemented the technique into their coaching