Reach for the Summit by Pat Summitt Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Reach for the Summit
Book Review: You can't argue with success -- so give this Tennessee gal her due
Summary: 5 Stars
No one basketball coach in the history of the game -- man or woman -- has won more games or been more successful than Pat Head Summitt.
And whether you happen to like her -- or not -- you just have to give this home-grown Tennessee gal her due.
Published in 1998 and written in conjunction with renowned sportswriter Sally Jenkins, this book chronicles Summitt's personal recipe for success, as described in the subtitle as "The Definitive Dozen System for Succeeding at Whatever You Do."
Today, seven years later, I seriously doubt if Summitt has altered her recipe one bit.
The Summitt system applies not only to basketball, or to coaches, but to anyone interested in reaching higher, to succeeding, or just plain winning.
I recently took a graduate level project management leadership class, which included Myers-Briggs and Kiersey personality typing. I happened to belong to the ESTJ type, as does Coach Summitt, which made her particularly interesting to me.
I am a coach myself, and a basketball fan, though not necessarily of Tennessee, which can best be described as the New York Yankees of women's college basketball. I follow the Stanford Cardinal, who enjoy a particularly healthy rivalry with the Lady Vols, and have watched Coach Summitt pace the sidelines up close and personal. A few years ago I had the pleasure of hearing her speak at a local bookstore here in California, thousands of miles from her home turf, and couldn't help but walk away impressed.
And when I'm not cursing Summitt, I'm loving her. Who can't? A master motivator, tactician and self-confessed workaholic, there's not a Fortune 500 CEO alive who couldn't learn a thing or two from her competitive spirit, winning methodology and ethical excellence.
She not only talks the talk, she walks the walk, so whatever you do don't get in her way. But if you do, when the final horn sounds, she'll be the first to shake your hand and buy the first round. She honors the game with every breath she takes.
You can easily read this book in a day, but its message will last a lifetime.
Play hard, have fun.
Book Review: definitely an "old shcool" coach
Summary: 5 Stars
As I read through her book, I find myself alternately admiring and feeling a bit sorry for Pat Summit. I admire her because there is no "secret" per se to her success. As the reader learns, you acheive success by working harder, preparing better, and wanting it more than anyone else. This book is not for the person who believes in the "get rich quick" idea of success. Although she has adapted her techniques over the years, at her core she is her father's daughter, and that is where my feeling sorry for her comes in. Every one needs encouragement and praise, just as they need a kick in the backside every once in awhile. As we find out in her book, more often than not, Summit is on the receiving end of one of those kicks. That type of childhood, where praise is seldom handed out can do one of two things: it can make you strong,ambitious, and eager to acheive or, it can break your spirit. In the case of Pat Summit, it is the former. She is definitely driven to succeed. One might question at what kind of cost. I read this book right on the heels of reading Phil Jackson's book, Sacred Hoops, and it is very interesting to contrast the two styles. For Phil, it's the journey; for Pat, it's the destination. Be that as it may, I still admire Pat Summit, the woman, the coach, and her book for its "tell it like it is" sytle. She is definitely "old school", and there is a lot to be said for that kind of mentality. A lot has been accomplished in the world because of that type of thinking. You just have to be careful that it is not at too great a cost. In Pat's case, she seems to be able to balance coach, wife, and mother well, partly because she is married to a man who isn't threatened by her success. All in all, the book is an interesting snap shot of the woman and what makes her tick. There aren't any real surprises. With Pat Summit, what you see is what you get.Book Review: this book kicks ass and so does pat summitt
Summary: 5 Stars
i love pat summitt and the lady vols so much after they lost to fat ass michelle van gorp and the rest of the pansys at duke i cried myself to sleep.