During his storied career as head coach of the Chicago Bulls & Los Angeles Lakers Phil Jackson won more championships than any coach in the history of professional sports Even more important he succeeded in never wavering from coaching his way from a place of deep values Jackson was tagged as the ' Zen master' half in jest by sportswriters but the nickname speaks to an important truth this is a coach who inspired not goaded; who led by awakening & challenging the better angels of his players' nature not their egos fear or greed This is the story of a preacher's kid from North Dakota who grew up to be one of the most innovative leaders of our time In his quest to reinvent himself Jackson explored everything from humanistic psychology & Native American philosophy to Zen meditation In the process he developed a new approach to leadership based on freedom authenticity & selfless teamwork that turned the hyper-competitive world of professional sports on its head In Eleven Rings Jackson candidly describes how he- Learned the secrets of mindfulness & team chemistry while playing for the champion New York Knicks in the 1970s- Managed Michael Jordan the greatest player in the world & got him to embrace selflessness even if it meant losing a scoring title- Forged successful teams out of players of varying abilities by getting them to trust one another & perform in sync- Inspired Dennis Rodman & other 'uncoachable' personalities to devote themselves to something larger than themselves- Transformed Kobe Bryant from a rebellious teenager into a mature leader of a championship team Eleven times Jackson led his teams to the ultimate goal the NBA championship six times with the Chicago Bulls & five times with the Los Angeles Lakers We all know the legendary stars on those teams or think we do What Eleven Rings shows us however is that when it comes to the most important lessons we don't know very much at all This book is full of revelations about fascinating personalities & their drive to win; about the wellsprings of motivation & competition at the highest levels; & about what it takes to bring out the best in ourselves & others