A Season on the Brink: A Year with Bob Knight and the Indiana Hoosiers

John Feinstein's A Season on the Brink is not only an extraordinary look at what goes on behind the scenes at a high-level college basketball program, but it is also an excellent book on leadership more generally. Bob Knight is a bully who abuses his players, but he also motivates them and is capable of showing compassion — and a result, he finds a way to earn a measure of loyalty. There are a lot of ways to push and motivate people (and it's important to recognize that some people want to be pushed) and Feinstein's profile encourages us to not instinctually object to Knight’s methods.