Built to Win: Inside Stories and Leadership Strategies from Baseball's Winningest General Manager

As a long-time baseball fan who has heard all the interviews and read a lot of baseball books, I fully expected "Built To Win" to be a rah-rah, gung-ho baseball book in the spirit of the interviews that Tommy Lasorda always gives the media. I also expected nothing resembling "inside info" that I hadn't read elsewhere. So I was very pleasantly surprised that the book isn't at all like that. As a 15-year Braves' season-ticket holder, I learned a lot about the organization and gained a greater respect for Schurholz and his staff. The only negative thing I can say about it is that Schurholz repeatedly hammers the point that his philosophies are all full of goodie-two-shoes attitudes. While that's not a bad thing . . . in fact it's quite admirable in this day of schmuck-dominated business dealings . . . it gets a little old after a while.

A great "bio" of the streak of the Braves. If you're a die-hard Braves fan, you'll love this book. If you're into the management of baseball, you'll love it as well.

As a lifetime Braves fan I may be a little biased, but as a lifetime baseball fan I think I can make a fair review. It seems like Schuerholz wanted to write a book about how to be a great leader in the business world, but he just could not stop talking about all the interesting behind the scenes baseball stories from his career as a general manager for the Kansas City Royals and the Atlanta Braves. These stories make this book a fun read for baseball fans. Schuerholz talks about the Glavine debacle, trading for Barry Bonds, stealing Maddux away from the Yankees, and trying to sign Arod among other things. This book is a must read for Braves fans, and a pretty good look into the life of a general manager for baseball fans.

Though the Atlanta Braves will probably not make the playoffs this year after having done so the previous 14 seasons, I am still amazed by the team's success . . . and wanted to find out more about how it was made possible. So when I saw that the Braves' GM, John Schuerholz, had a book out--BUILT TO WIN, written with Larry Guest--I obtained it with the hope of learning even some of his secrets . . . after reading it, methinks I came across with several ideas that I can apply not only in my teaching but in life as well. Schuerholz uses many baseball examples, which may turn off some potential readers . . . however, what he says applies to virtually any company or organization . . . in particular, I liked his five principles for building a winning team in any endeavor: 1. Create a new vision. 2. Establish organizational goals. 3. Develop a roadmap, or game plan, if you prefer, for success. 4. Inspired the staff. 5. Provide the leadership. I also liked his advice on how to tell a winner from a loser: A winner says, "Let's find out." A loser says, "Nobody knows." When a winner makes a mistake, he says, "I was wrong." When a loser makes a mistake, he says, "It wasn't my fault." A winner says, "I'm good, but not as good as I ought to be." A loser says, "I'm not as bad as a lot of other people." A winner tries to learn from those who are superior to him. A loser tries to tear down those who are superior to him. A winner says, "There ought to be a better way to do it." A loser says, "That's the way it's always been done here." Winners encourage innovations, creativity and passion for their work, for their life. Lastly, I'll value BUILT TO WIN for the following passage: I left them with one of my favorite sayings, "Winners make commitments. Losers make excuses." I reminded the people at that meeting there had been enough excuses offered to the Atlanta area and our great fans about why we haven't succeeded, why this team hasn't won, why the seats were dirty, why the ballpark food wasn't very good, why the ushers and parking attendants weren't more attentive or pleasant. Why, why, why . . . I pledged we were no longer going to offer excuses for those things. Instead we were going to make commitments to fixing all of it. After all, winners make commitments. My feeling is that if you make the commitment to buy this book for any baseball fan, he or she won't be disappointed!

"Built To Win" is a management primer that should be in the hands of every personnel manager in and out of sport. The negative review by Mr. Ahnberg is amusing: He says it is written on a fourth-grade level, but he misspells "conscience," a word most third-graders can spell.