40 Mike Krzyzewski Quotes on Leadership & Winning

Let these Mike Krzyzewski quotes fire you up with passion and lead you down the path to success. 

Mike Krzyzewski, also known as Coach K, is one of the greatest basketball coaches of all time. He trained teams that won national titles, tournament championships, and gold medals. Moreover, he is a record-breaker for reaching 1,000 wins in Division I’s Men’s Basketball.

Undoubtedly, Mike has the wisdom and tenacity that made him a successful coach. He supported his team and encouraged them by bringing out and igniting the passion and fire inside them.

So, if you are curious about building team harmony and reaching your goals, then this collection is for you.

Read our complete list below and make sure you apply what you learn here in your life.

Let’s begin.

And don’t miss out these John Wooden quotes and basketball quotes.

Best Mike Krzyzewski Quotes

1. “When you are passionate, you always have your destination in sight, and you are not distracted by obstacles because you love what you are pursuing. Things like rejection and setbacks will not hinder you in your pursuit. You believe that nothing can stop you!”

2. “It takes courage not only to make decisions but to live with those decisions afterward.”

3. “Imagination has a great deal to do with winning.”

4. “The only way you’re going to grow is to be in difficult situations.”

5. “You can see, and you can listen, but you have to have moments in which you feel.”

6. “If what you have done yesterday still looks big to you, you haven’t done much today.”

7. “You should do things because of what your expectations are of yourself.”

8. “Everyone’s ideas should be heard. It doesn’t matter who gets credit as long as you’re working towards the same mission and shared purpose.”

9. “When you cleanse yourself of a big victory, you may open yourself up to the opportunity for an even bigger victory.”

10. “Our goal is not to win. It’s to play together and play hard. Then, winning takes care of itself.”

Famous Coach K Quotes

11. “Leadership is an ever-evolving position.”

12. “A basketball team is like the five fingers on your hand. If you can get them all together, you have a fist. That’s how I want you to play.”

13. “Don’t take your culture for granted. There needs to be a constant renewal of values that lead to camaraderie.”

14. “Effort is fully replenishable. There is no need to save any of it. Leave every bit you have on the playing field.”

15. “Discipline is doing what you are supposed to do in the best possible manner at the time you are supposed to do it.”

16. “Great rivalries don’t have to be built on hatred. They’re built on respect, on a respect for excellence.”

17. “Making shots counts, but not as much as the people who make them.”

18. “Effective teamwork begins and ends with communication.”

19. “To me, teamwork is the beauty of our sport, where you have five acting as one. You become selfless.”

20. “My hunger is not for success. It is for excellence. Because when you attain excellence, success just naturally follows.”

Also read: Famous Quotes, Positive Quotes

Coach K Quotes on Leadership

21. “Leadership is simple. Add value to people every day.”

22. “Leaders have to search for the heart on a team because the person who has it can bring out the best in everybody else.”

23. “A leader has to show the face his team needs to see.”

24. “A leader is someone who puts their people in a position to be successful all the time.”

25. “Leaders should be reliable without being predictable. They should be consistent without being anticipated.”

26. “Leaders show respect for people by giving them time.”

27. “When a leader takes responsibility for his own actions and mistakes, he not only sets a good example, he shows a healthy respect for people on his team.”

28. “During critical periods, a leader is not allowed to feel sorry for himself, to be down, to be angry, or to be weak. Leaders must beat back these emotions.”

29. “Every leader needs to remember that a healthy respect for authority takes time to develop. It’s like building trust. You don’t instantly have trust. It has to be earned.”

30. “Leaders have to give time for relationships, but more demands will be placed on their time as they become more successful. So, if a person’s success is based on developing relationships, then they have to continually find new ways of getting it done.”

Also read: Encouraging Quotes

Short Mike Krzyzewski Quotes to Remember

31. “Growth creates complexity, which requires simplicity.”

32. “Don’t worry about losing. Think about winning.”

33. “Courage and confidence are what decision making is all about.”

34. “Two are better than one if two act as one.”

35. “Confidence shared is better than confidence only in yourself.”

36. “Never let a person’s weakness get in the way of their strength.”

Also read: Phil Jackson Quotes, Bob Knight Quotes

More Mike Krzyzewski Quotes

37. “Goals should be realistic, attainable, and shared among all members of the team.”

38. “I get a group of people who are talented to commit to excellence and to work together as one. That’s where it starts. Different talents, same commitment.”

39. “Communication does not always occur naturally, even among a tight-knit group of individuals. Communication must be taught and practiced in order to bring everyone together as one.”

40. “The truth is that many people set rules to keep from making decisions. Not me. I don’t want to be a manager or a dictator. I want to be a leader, and leadership is ongoing, adjustable, flexible, and dynamic. As such, leaders have to maintain a certain amount of discretion.”

Also read: Gregg Popovich Quotes

How Do You Motivate Yourself to Keep Going?

All of us dream of reaching our goals in life. But, in hoping for a successful future, we must also be aware that we must work hard and endure the hard times that will come.

The path toward our goals will be challenging, and there will even be times when we wish to give up. So, in these discouraging moments, we must remember the words of Mike Krzyzewski that motivate us to keep going, no matter what. Keep in mind that challenging situations are there to help us improve and push us a step closer to our dream.

Hopefully, these quotes were able to remind you of why you should keep moving forward. Remember that the journey to winning is not linear. After all, reaching success means failing and standing up and doing it a million times.

Did you learn a lot from Mike Krzyzewski? Which is your favorite quote? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Karen Danao

Hi, I’m Karen, a content curator and writer for Quote Ambition; I’m also a marketing and advertising professional. Beyond the keyboard and the screen, I’m someone who’s out to enjoy every bit that life has to offer!

Poetry, philosophy, history, and movies are all topics I love writing about! However, my true passion is in traveling, photography, and finding common ground to which everyone from different cultures can relate.

With the many places I’ve been to, I found that love, inspiration, and happiness are some things that bring people together. No matter how different we are on the outside, I’m a true believer that our emotions don’t lie; if you dig deep into our psyche, we’re all the same inside.

This belief was further amplified when I joined Quote Ambition. Through the quotes I’ve read, collected, organized, and written about, I found that humans are resilient, creative, and compassionate.

We take from each others’ hearts and courage, and it’s through our individual experiences that we learn how to rise above our challenges and pain. In so many ways, Quote Ambition is a platform that allows people from all over the world to gain the inspiration they need anytime, anywhere!

You can find me on MuckRack and LinkedIn.