Mike Krzyzewski Quotes

There are kids don't want to do something because they're afraid of looking stupid to their peers. There comes a time when they start protecting themselves, instead of extending. I want to make sure that they're always trying to extend themselves.

When you win, sometimes it overshadows a poor performance.

The truth is that many people set rules to keep from making decisions. Not me. I don't want to be a manager or a dictator. I want to be a leader-and leadership is ongoing, adjustable, flexible, and dynamic. As such, leaders have to maintain a certain amount of discretion

During the season, your team should be led with exuberance and excitement. You should live the journey. You should live it right. You should live it together. You should live it shared. You should try to make one another better. You should get on one another if somebody's not doing their part. You should hug one another when they are. You should be disappointed in a loss and exhilarated in a win. It's all about the journey.

Every season is a journey. Every journey is a lifetime.

Courage gives a leader the ability to stand straight and not sway, no matter which way the wind blows.

In our program, the truth is the basis of all we do. There is nothing more important than the truth because there's nothing more powerful than the truth. Consequently, on our team, we always tell each other the truth. We must be honest with one another. There is no other way.

Champions play as they practice. Create a consistency of excellence in all your habits.

Each group and each youngster is different. As a leader or coach, you get to know what they need.

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.

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

Even though we want huge individual egos, our collective ego is unbelievable.

I don't think we surprise people. We try to out-execute them.

Sometimes in a defeat, you can set the stage for future victory.

I don't think you play for other people's expectations, you know. You don't go and become a lawyer because your mother or father want you to, you don't become a coach because somebody wants you to.

Are you going to show integrity only when someone is watching you - or are you going to show it all the time?

That's why basketball was so good, because I didn't really need you or anyone else to play it. It would be better if we played four-on-four or five-on-five, but I could go out there alone.

Therefore, as a player, as a coach, even though we might have lost in a season or not won a championship, it was like a self-fulfilling prophecy that I'm going to win some time. I've never felt myself a loser.

Players' attention spans get less and less as they progress.

Don't let a single game break your heart.

You can't defer if you're the person who's in the leadership position.

I have a rule on my team: When we talk to one another, we look each other right in the eye, because I think it's tough to lie to somebody. You give respect to somebody.

My mom gave me unconditional support and unfailing love. You can't get any better than that. That's why I've never been afraid to lose.

Footwork is one of the primary prerequisites to becoming a great player

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

Fun is to experience things you would not have been able to experience in any other setting.

Don't worry about losing. Think about winning.

I think coaching is confused at times as being an arrow that only goes to a player. Those players send arrows back to you, and that’s where a relationship is developed. I don’t make a player, and a player doesn’t make me a coach. We make each other.

Once you win a National Championship, how do you do that again? How do you get the passion to do that again? We won it again right away, the next year. A lot of it had to do with the fact that I didn't give myself an opportunity to enjoy the first one.

The worst thing we can do is put the (other) team in a one-and-one.

In leadership, there are no words more important than trust. In any organization, trust must be developed among every member of the team if success is going to be achieved

Leaders show respect for people by giving them time.

The person who has inspired me my whole life is my Mom, because she taught me commitment. She sacrificed.

I have a plan of action, but the game is a game of adjustments.

A common mistake among those who work in sport is spending a disproportional amount of time on "x's and o's" as compared to time spent learning about people.

When a leader takes responsibility for his own actions and mistakes, he not only sets a good example, he shows a healthy respect for people on his team

In putting together your standards, remember that it is essential to involve your entire team. Standards are not rules issued by the boss; they are a collective identity. Remember, standards are the things that you do all the time and the things for which you hold one another accountable.

When I went to high school, an all-boys' school, a Catholic school, I tried out for football, and I didn't make it. It was the first time, athletically, that I was knocked down.

That's another thing, we made up games. We didn't have equipment. When it snowed, we would play slow motion tackle football. We would play hockey, but we wouldn't skate. We just made things up. I loved doing that.

In leadership, there are no words more important than trust.

If a team cannot perform with excellence at a moment's notice, they probably will fail in the long run.

For a college basketball player or coach, to reach the Final Four is la-la land. You’ve achieved, you’ve got your stamp of approval. My first team to do that was in 1986. Then we did it in ’88, ’89 and ’90.

The other thing I knew I had was a high level of competitiveness.

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

When you cleanse yourself of a big victory, you may open yourself up to the opportunity for an even bigger victory

Playing sport was somewhat frivolous, but I liked it. I rebelled a little bit, and wouldn't go to music lessons and things like that, but I would go and play ball. My parents learned to love it because they saw how much I got out of it.

A leader's responsibility to his team is paramount. It overshadows even his own personal feelings at any given time.

The truth is that many people set rules to keep from making decisions.