Joe Torre's Ground Rules for Winners: 12 Keys to Managing Team Players, Tough Bosses, Setbacks, and Success

A lot of the pleasure of watching the Yankees during the last four years has come from observing and speculating about how Joe Torre has gotten consistently good performances from his players during this amazing run. Here he spells it out and shows why his smart, humane managerial style is so effective. This is a great read for anyone interested in baseball and/or useful ideas about managing (or just dealing with) people.

This turns out to be one of the best business/motivation books in years. Torre trumpets values such as fairness, respect, trust, communication, serenity, optimism, and how to create a sense of family as a way to build teamwork. I think that every company and managers at all levels could learn a thing or two (or twelve) from Mr. Torre. Just look at what the Yankees have accomplished! Even if you don't like the Yankees you have to like this team because they are so professional, and they work together with civility, respect, and joy in what they do. Clearly, Torre created the atmosphere for this team to become one for the ages. The book tells how you can do this in simple, clear steps, and it is chock full of lively stories. If corporate managers and teams followed his advice, teams would achieve levels of success that would be, well, Yankee-like.

Joe Torre's Ground Rules is nothing short of the zen of baseball--how to keep your eye on the ball even when life throws you a curve. This is a heavy hitter--trenchant Torre--Go Yankees!

This book has helped me immensely in management techniques. Every company should buy this book and make it a mandatory read for all of its employees -- from assistants to top management. Torre successfully uses the New York Yankees and baseball as a metaphor for coporate America. His story -- both ups and downs -- is fascinating. Invest in this book, and it's an investment in your company.

Torre distills his management style in a way that's both enlightening and engaging. The practical information is here: how to focus your energies on the big picture instead of letting little setbacks get you down, how to deal with a tough boss (and it applies to difficult colleagues as well), and the importance of communication. The stories of the Yankees' record breaking season are great, but the information here is so much more than just baseball anecdotes. This stuff really does apply at work as well as at home.