At the age of 79, the legendary Duke University basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski now walks a bit gingerly thanks to his two artificial hips, two artificial knees, and an artificial ankle.But his wit and his desire to win still drive the philosophies of leadership that he shared in remarks from a keynote stage today at supply chain software vendor Manhattan Associates’ annual user conference, held in Las Vegas.Krzyzewski learned his values from some pretty tough teachers, such as his teachers at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and his basketball coach there, the famously gruff Bob Knight. Those concepts include an honor code (“You don’t lie, cheat, or steal. Or tolerate anyone who does.”) and the only three answers that West Point cadets were allowed to give their commanding officers (“Yes sir, no sir, or no excuse sir.”).But Krzyzewski’s coaching style also includes a wide array of strategies that apply to business leadership as well as athletic coaching, he said.Krzyzewski still follows a core lesson he learned from Coach Knight: “The will to prepare to win is more important than the will to win.” As head coach at Duke and national team coach for the U.S. Olympic team, Krzyzewski says he followed a version of that idea. “I prepared my teams to be worthy of winning. Now, we didn’t always win, but the other team had to beat us.”And despite that strict background, he includes plenty of flexibility in his leadership principles: agility, adaptability, accountability, and attitude.Likewise, over his…
