Author: Don Yaeger

I’ve never understood why there is just one day called Thanksgiving. What if we were committed to being THANKFUL every day? Imagine what our lives–and our workplaces–would look like. My guess is that if we all expressed gratitude more regularly that we would all be happier. I know there are scientific studies out there that make this point. One of the hottest topics in sports and business is employee happiness. Research...

I’ve spent the past four years studying the greatest sports organizations in America—from the San Antonio Spurs to the Kansas City Royals—in a search for the shared characteristics of great teams. One of my business mentors on this subject is Bill George, longtime CEO of Medtronic—the world’s largest medical technology company—who currently leads an executive education program at Harvard Business School. After building...

As much as I enjoy studying sports and business leadership, I love the opportunity to delve deeply into what some of history’s greatest leaders can teach. They don’t come much greater than Thomas Jefferson, and the leadership moments don’t get much stronger than his decision to take our fledgling democracy into its first battle on foreign shores! Jefferson, who served first as George Washington’s Secretary of State,...

As the Kansas City Royals face off against the New York Mets in the World Series—with both teams featuring an international roster of talent—I am reminded of how diversity can be a powerful tool in building a great team. For Frances Hesselbein, diversity not only allowed her to move from volunteer to CEO of one of the biggest organizations in the world, but helped her literally build the future. I had a unique opportunity...

Bob Ladouceur, former head coach of the most successful high school football dynasty in American history—once dubbed by ESPN as “the greatest prep football coach of all time” and subject of a major Hollywood film—eats, sleeps and breathes leadership. As coach of the seemingly immortal De La Salle Spartans for 34 years—which included 399 wins, 20 perfect seasons and an eye-popping, undefeated streak from 1992 to 2003—“Coach...

There’s an old saying in sports writing that you should never meet your hero because they’ll always let you down. And in our current world of sports scandals and tarnished legacies, that assumption seems even more real. But it’s far from the truth. A few years ago I had the incredible opportunity to work on a book with Walter Payton of the Chicago Bears as he was dying from autoimmune liver disease. Though I’d admired...

The 2015 MLB Playoffs are a battle of legacies, and one of the biggest match-ups so far involved the Chicago Cubs—a club seeking to escape a history of post-season disappointment—and the historically successful St. Louis Cardinals. The Cubs won the series against its heated rival and are on to the National League Championship Series. But away from the bright lights and TV cameras, Cal Ripken, Jr., former Baltimore...

Simon Keith is, literally, a walking miracle. In 1989, the former soccer standout for at UNLV, made history by becoming the first heart transplant recipient to play professional sports. Keith was the number one pick in that year’s professional indoor soccer draft and, at the time, many celebrated him for the distinction of his role as a heart recipient playing his sport at such a high level. Keith ignored the media...

Cancer sucks. These were the words inscribed on wristbands and given away by 18-year-old Adam, who had been diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Adam and his cousin had ordered the bright orange wristbands online because it summed up, in two words, how Adam was feeling after learning what he faced. For many years ALL had been a diagnosis that came without much hope, but thanks to the efforts of St. Jude...