The Score Takes Care of Itself: My Philosophy of Leadership

As I currently read The Five Levels of Leadership, written by an acclaimed author and pastor, it is not lost on me the many methods by which we can learn useful, valuable, and actionable lessons in life. This book, as presented by the great NFL mind of Bill Walsh, resonates as much, or more, for someone who is a student of life and eager to improve their spot in this world. The way he broke things down, but not the human spirit, is a testament to the importance he placed on others being key to not only his success but also that of the organization. There are a lot of position leaders, placed by another, who do not know, understand, and often care about anyone but themselves. Bill Walsh was anything but that, which makes him a one of a kind of his time. He did things he knew generated results, even if unpopular with his bosses and peers. That, then and yet today, set him apart from the crowd. The Score Takes Care of Itself could also have been aptly named, Just Watch and See. Amazing book, quality authors and editors, and an amazing icon of the sport. I will forever forward refer to it as, "The Bill Walsh Offense" and ditch "west coast" because now I understand its origin. Five stars all the way!

This book is about Bill Walsh’s philosophy of leadership that he implemented with the San Francisco 49ers. It is inspiring and relevant for any leader or anyone who wants to be leader. He describes his Standard of Performance, a way an organization can achieve excellence and execute towards perfection, and the definition of success for the organization as well as concepts and fundamentals of leadership and the lessons he learned. What made these ideas come to life was the examples interspersed with the lessons in the book. When I started the book, I knew about Bill Walsh at a high level about Bill Walsh as the leader of the 49ers, just what I got from the news headlines. Now I have a better understanding and appreciation for the 49ers organization and what he did as the head coach and GM. I will be studying Bill’s values, principles, and leadership philosophy as I develop my own.

I picked up this book as I am in business, lead a team and wanted to get better at coaching. Bill Walsh is a coaches coach as he brought about great teams, organizations, models and singlehandedly is responsible for many many coaches who are now head coaches. I think John Maxwell outlines all the coaches that came to head positions after working with Bill Walsh and it is pretty unbelievable. The author is great and telling a story, packing in a lot of information and showing the human side to Bill Walsh. I am familiar with the author as he wrote many John Wooden books which are very good. One huge takeaway from the book is Bill Walsh was an incredible smart and creative person. Reading 50 pages of the book you'll know that as it is JAM PACKED with tons and tons of examples, steps and plans on everything he did. I mean everything as it gets down to how he wrote job descriptions for the receptionist at the 49ers. If you are a coach or leader there is much to be gained as there is plenty to glean from and ponder to how you do and lead what you lead. Often I had to put the book down as there were so many different examples and things to think about as I was searching and thinking through how j could apply his examples to my work. The human side is very honest as well as it touches the coaches life in winning, losing, leading, coaching, family and brines of depression. Makes you understand what perhaps some coaches deal with. This is a great book for anyone who is a coach or business leader as you see a very honest a fine example of what goes into the habit and outcome of excellence which no doubt Bill Walsh created. I would recommend it.

A look into the mindset of one of the Greatest coaches ever.

Being a football coach, I am always trying to learn more about strategy as well as ways to motivate young men. I have always been intrigued by Bill Walsh. After all, the man did reinvent the game of football, and made it into what we know it as today. I am a fan of his previous books, and when I saw that this book was being released, I knew that I had to get my hands on it. The book is a little unconventional, in that it is published posthumously. You can tell that the work was not quite finished, and Steve Jamison does not shy away from this fact. What you have is the words of Bill Walsh, supplemented with those that knew him best. Bill's son Craig, Joe Montana, John McVay, and Mike White, all give their insight into what made Bill Walsh such a spectacular person. The beginning of the book is a little dry, as it is mostly Steve Jamison explaining how the book came to be. However, once you get to Part I, you find out quickly what this book is about...Leadership. The examples that this book gives comes from the football world, but can be applied to life in general. This book has given me a better understanding about the ways in which Bill Walsh was able to be a successful leader, but more importantly it has made me think about ways that I can become a better leader. As I was reading this book, I also began taking notes on how to create my own "Standard of Performance."

I read every day. I love to read. I love reading books that touch my soul. Today, I finished one of those books: “The Score Takes Care of Itself, My Philosophy of Leadership by the late Bill Walsh with Steve Jamison & Craig Walsh. A phenomenal read!! I love football (life long Cowboys fan) and I remember Coach Walsh beginning his time in San Fran and the infamous catch. This book gave me perspective on Transforming a toxic culture, how to lead with clarity, vision and and unwavering excellence in you do. I felt the conviction and sadness of a Master of his craft battle desperately trying to be honored by his peers who did not understand how far ahead of his time he was. The NFL of today owes Coach Walsh a debt of gratitude because his offense. He also revealed that every coach, executive “pushes themselves to the brink and beyond, often have no support system and become isolated from family, friends, and normal interactions.” His story teaches me to be a better life and leadership coach and to be a part of that “support system” leaders can turn to. Coach Walsh, your legacy lives on. Thank you. NFL fan? Read this book. Leader of an organization or team? Read this book. Feeling burned out as a leader? Read this book.

I understand it's difficult for Bill Walsh's son to write a novel that comprises mostly his own father's unfinished book. The book itself is full of anecdotes and enough insights into Bill Walsh's football career to make the book interesting and usually informative for running operations. The fault that I find is that there does not seem to be any real logical construction. There is no consistent theory or approach under which to place his stories or anecdotes. Instead, the book comprises a long list of 1-3-5 page snippets of how Bill Walsh ran his organization. Perhaps that organization makes for a good bathroom reader, but for someone trying to decipher a methodology or formula, well, the structure is simply lacking. As someone who has been involved in management and who closely followed the 49ers in the 1980s, the book is a fun, easy read. If you're looking for a guide to good management, there are some suggest embedded in the book, but you'll have to make your own cohesive theory and approach to bring it all together.

Wow, what a great book. I don't know how I came across this book as I don't watch football and have never heard of Bill Walsh but I'm happy I did. His leadership approach to football is straightforward and applicable to a variety of professions. If I could summarize his philosophy it would be that success is the result of attention to detail, every minute detail. What you read about in this book is a man who poured his heart and soul into what he loved to do. This isn't some fluffy do x,y,z and you'll get there type of book. This is about showing the insane dedication, work, and sacrifice it takes to excel at what you do. What also stood out for me was the brutal self-honesty of his own shortcomings which is refreshing to read in a profession with many big egos. I recommend this to anyone looking to improve upon their approach to work and/or life.

Excelente livro, recomendo a todos

I don't understand the negative reviews that say this is not actually giving guidance..i don't think they've ever looked in it This book is actually structured as an instruction manual in a lot of ways, with actual life experiences this guy had on his way from the bottom to the top of his field He actually gives very good accounts of what he learned and found helps to build your team and achieve goals and at the end of each chapter gives numbered lists of key points to do to try to do things like build a career, build a team, deal with troublemakers, get through difficult times etc etc. I was not expecting this book to be that great after some of the negative reviews and nearly never bought it but after reading it i have found it is one of the best instructional books on the actual USEFUL principles THAT REALLY ACTUALLY HELP when building a career and building teams to achieve your goals that i have seen The guy seems like he had a good heart and was tough but fair and made sure people did things the way he felt it could work. If you are into the American football it would be an interesting read to see how things were behind the scenes on his way from being a college football apprentice coach really and his battles to get to the top of his field. Good on him. He did it. This is an interesting read, it's also really good one just to randomly open a page up and see what it says for a thought for the day or a bit of inspiration when i am feeling stuck. It's a bit like having your own top coach telling you how you can get your day to better for you.. I'm trying rebuild my life right now after really difficult times, if you want to see my progress and me talking about what i find works and what doesn't please check out my Castle Hassall TV channel on YouTube and my music there I'd really appreciate it.. Best wishes to anyone reading this,i hope you have a very good future, from Rolland

NFL is a example of excellence and coaching. I invite everyone of you to read this book and to define your own perspective of success. Just read it, lead by exemple, apply, apply, apply and apply again and again what you've learned. Thank's to this Book and Bill Walsh.

Love this book. So much can be taken from it even if you are not a 49ers fan. Business, leadership, tactics, people skills, management are all in there.

El libro es recomendado por los emprendedores de y-combinator y es simplemente excelente. Si no vas a meter más que un libro de management lee este. No es sobre fútbol americano, sino como reorganizar una organización con base en liderazgo.