Winners Book Club Selection of the Week: The Mentor Leader

The Mentor Leader: Secrets to Building People and Teams That Win Consistently

By Tony Dungy with Nathan Whitaker

What are his Winner’s Credentials?

Tony Dungy not only had a successful career as a NFL player but went on to build consistent winnng teams as head coach in both Tampa and Indianapolis, where he also led his team to victory in the Super Bowl.

Amazon Editorial Review

“Your only job is to help your players be better.”

That single idea had a huge impact on Tony Dungy when he heard it from one of his earliest mentors, and it led him to develop the successful leadership style so admired by players and coaches throughout the NFL. Now, a storied career and a Super Bowl victory later, Tony Dungy is sharing his unique leadership philosophy with you. In The Mentor Leader, Tony reveals what propelled him to the top of his profession and shows how you can apply the same approach to virtually any area of your life. In the process, you’ll learn the seven keys of mentoring leadership—and why they’re so effective; why mentor leadership brings out the best in people; how a mentor leader recovers from mistakes and handles team discipline; and the secret to getting people to follow you and do their best for you without intimidation tactics. As a son, a football player, and a winning coach, Tony has always learned from others on his path to success. Now you can learn to succeed for your team, family, or organization while living out your values—by becoming a mentor leader.

Coach Dungy offers a truly unique perspective as a Super Bowl winning football coach, and a devoted Christian. 

He is a man who has benefited much mentoring and who has intentionally sought for years to have a positive influence on the lives of those he touches. Author of best-selling book Quiet Strength: The Principles, Practices, and Priorities of a Winning Life, he has seen firsthand "that the way to bring the best out of an individual or a team is to teach-by example and through one-on-one, step-by-step mentoring." The book is packed full of stories and anecdotes, but it is not just a random assortment of anecdotes. Dungy actually covers a lot of material, and arranges it thoughtfully. 

Some of the topics or concepts that I thought were particularly interesting: focusing on strengths, the preeminence of character and integrity in the live of a leader, building a team whose strengths complement yours and each others, the importance of just hanging out and being present in the lives of those you hope to influence, the need to create a culture to effect change, and the idea of treating those you lead as volunteers. 

Call A Shot!

Want to know to navigate yourself successfully through life? Keep calling plays. Keep adjusting.

When an airline pilot leaves JFK International Airport in New York heading for London, he sets his heading as soon as he gets airborne. Does he then forget about it, leaving it alone for the rest of the trip across the Atlantic until arrival in Gatwick Airport? No!

There are wind currents, there is weather, there are forces influencing the planes flight every step of the way. All of these work to push the plane off course. The pilot makes constant adjustments to keep the plane on course.

On every flight the adjustments are different because the wind and weather is never exactly the same. It couldn’t be on a 3450 mile trip across the ocean. You want to make the trip? Then someone has to fly the plane!

It's exactly the same in your life.

You decide where you want to go. You get started and then things happen. Most of the time they are things you could have never predicted.

So what are you supposed to do? Quit? No—adjust!

If you quit you’ll never get anywhere. Instead, call a shot. Make a course correction. Get back on track! Keep moving towards your goal. As soon as something pops up to get in your way to knock you off course, call another shot and keep doing it until you get until you get to where you want to go.

Getting to where you want to go in life is full of unexpected challenges. When they appear, call a shot and keep on moving forward!