In Anatomy of a Champion, Dick Gould departs radically from the standard coach's “reflections in retirement, by seeking his player's perspectives on success. The result is a must-read compendium of strategies and insights for any leader on how to achieve and sustain success in business, sport and life.
"Dick's extraordinary success in developing great players, supporting their academic endeavors, and forging great teams is unsurpassed in NCAA tennis history. His book gives insights into his holistic approach, and we can all learn, whatever our profession, from this outstanding coach and exceptional man."
Condoleezza Rice
Provost, Stanford University (1993-1999)
Secretary of State (2005–2009)
Director, Hoover Institution
"[Dick Gould] has synthesized the views of 166 players he coached over 38 years of leading the Stanford tennis program and created a powerful picture of what it took to build and guide an enduring, high performing organization."
Jerry Porras
"Filled with nuggets of wisdom...my all-time favorite leadership book."
Kirk Anderson
Master Professional: United States Professional Tennis
Association and Professional Tennis Registry
USPTA Tennis Hall of Fame
"...for innovative leaders who want to make real change happen in sport, business, and life. An action plan for achieving really, really BIG goals!"
Rene Vidal
Head Coach, McKendree Tennis
Leadership Strategist at VIDAL
"Dick Gould's insights are a great contribution to the leadership literature."
Robert L. Joss AC
Dean Emeritus
Graduate School of Business, Stanford University
"Transformational!"
Jack Perry
CEO, Financial Services;
Motivational Speaker
About The Authors
Dick Gould
Innovating as he did for his entire career, Dick Gould, who ranks in the top five on the list of NCAA titles won across all sports, well ahead of many more well-known coaches, departs radically in Anatomy of a Champion from the standard coach’s “reflections in retirement”. Spurred by questions about how his teams won so consistently for so long — every single player who played for four years for him over a thirty-four year period from 1970 to 2003 owns at least one national championship ring – Gould sent an extensive questionnaire to all 200 of his former players asking for their perspectives on the nature of Stanford’s success over nearly four decades. Over 83% answered; their perspectives on success became Anatomy of a Champion!
Tim Troupe Noonan
Gould’s collaborator, Tim Troupe Noonan, was a member of one of Stanford’s early national championship teams and once ranked among the top 200 tennis players in the world. In his subsequent career he is a professional historian and an acclaimed author and ghostwriter of over 35 books in a variety of disciplines. His magazine articles have appeared in Life, American History Illustrated, Forbes FYI, Tennis, and many other publications.