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Winning! by Clive Woodward

I would recommend this book as for those interested in business and sport. It is the story of how the England rugby manager used his business background to lead England to World Cup success.

I will admit that I am biased as an Englishman, but I am not a rugby fan and this book isn't heavy on the rugby detail and would be accessible to people who don't follow this particular sport.

The story behind the team's success is Sir Clive Woodward who introduced business practices and 'did something different' and transformed amateur under-performers into professional winners.

I listened to it on a CD (3 hours read by the author) to fill the four commuting days in between Manager Tools podcasts releases.

I am not disagreeing with Mark by suggesting that you can learn management from this (or any other) book. I would agree with the theory that 'you can read as much as you like about surf-boarding, but when you first try it you will fall-off the board".

However, it is inspiring. (Maybe it’s a male-thing, because it is based around sport?) And it does introduce some ideas that I haven't seen elsewhere – for example 'teamship' (which follows 'leadership' and 'partnership')

There are also a series of supplementary podcasts with a more business bias: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/audio_video/podcasts/clive_woodward/art...