A Brief Synopsis of Jim Larranaga

The Bronx, N.Y. native is also a voracious consumer of management books. The New York Times writes he “would seem right at home at a TED conference, exchanging innovative management ideas.” He loves Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, which he appears to quote from relentlessly. He’s a devotee not only of the guru’s ideas but of the Franklin Covey daily planners. In his office, Larranaga keeps two decades’ worth of the binders carefully tracking every goal, every practice and every appointment.

That kind of meticulousness carries over into the way he coaches the team, relying heavily on numbers to guide his thinking. He uses stats-driven analytics  to track each player down to each possession, using that data to help him coach. His defense-driven style instructs his players to limit opponents to 12 points per position. He breaks down practices into minute-by-minute increments that players say are so strategic and organized that they’re able to guess what their opponents will do once it’s time for the game.But perhaps the biggest reason for Larranaga’s success is the confidence he has in the players on his team. He borrows the “train it and trust it” philosophy from golf, putting all his focus on practice and then letting his players execute on their own during the game, rather than trying to over-manage from the sidelines.

--Adapted from NY Times

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  FranklinCovey EasyPlan Ring-bound Leather Binder w/Starter Set Undated 5.5 x 8.5 Inches 766810 Red