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    Driven from Within
    Driven from Within
    Driven from Within
    Ebook225 pages2 hours

    Driven from Within

    By Michael Jordan and Mark Vancil

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    About this ebook

    Michael Jordan is the rare global icon whose celebrity extends beyond his original stage and onto multiple platforms.

    His relentless determination produced six NBA Championships and some of the most spectacular performances in sports history, while his enduring grace and unique sense of style made him equally famous in the worlds of fashion, business and marketing.

    In Driven from Within, Michael makes it clear that the basis for his phenomenal success came from the inside out, thanks in part to those who guided him along the way. His skill, work ethic, philosophy, personal style, competitiveness and presence have flowed from the basketball court into every facet of his life.

    Nearly three years removed from his last turn as an athlete, Michael's twentieth Air Jordan shoe has helped push Nike's Brand Jordan division to almost $500 million in sales.

    "Nothing of value comes without being earned. That's why great leaders are those who lead by example first. You can't demand respect because of a title or a position and expect people to follow. That might work for a little while, but in the long run people respond to what they see."

    This is a book about the power of collaboration and teamwork, the awe-inspiring energy generated when people combine their creativity and passion and a fearless desire to lead.

    Whether waking at 6 a.m. to work on fundamentals as a high school junior, or spending hours with legendary designer Tinker Hatfield on the intricacies of state-of-the-art shoe design, Michael Jordan has never wavered in his desire to be the best.

    "It all started with an appetite to prove. Whether it was competing with my siblings or trying to get attention from my parents, I wanted to show what I could do, what I was capable of accomplishing. I wanted results, and I was driven to find out the best way to get them."

    Everyone knows the results. In Driven from Within, Michael Jordan and those in his inner circle reveal the philosophy that makes it all happen.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAtria Books
    Release dateOct 24, 2005
    ISBN9781416524137
    Driven from Within
    Author

    Michael Jordan

    The author is an individual with power. The sound of empowerment coming from his lips of clay crushes your eardrum with extreme force and repairs it all the same time. However, his presence transforms your mind in a split second and you have easily given him your undivided attention with him controlling your entire being and you are changed forever.

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    Reviews for Driven from Within

    4/5

    101 ratings12 reviews

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    • 4/5
      I'm not really sure how you'd classify this one (coffee table book? serious bio?) but it's a pretty solid overview of Jordan's career. It's very picture-heavy, yet manages to contain a surprising amount of info, given that it's only 156 pages long. I think that the difference between this and other similar books is that most athletes would probably give you a run-through of what happened during every single season of their careers, whereas Jordan sticks mainly to the highest of the highs and the lowest of the lows, and not necessarily the in-between moments. It's not perfect - of COURSE he glosses over the many controversial aspects of his life and career, like the gambling thing, the death of his father, and his marriage (not to be a gossip hound, but his marital philandering is well known). But the photography and the summary of his career make this stand out, especially if you're a fan of Jordan.
    • 3/5
      Good insight to Jordan's mentality from his playing days, and the process of how they built the Jordan brand. Good book if you are looking for a motivational boost, but this feels like primarily made as an advertisement for shoes.
    • 5/5
      I was highly impressed with the honesty level and the necessary thorough steps on how to achieve and keep greatness both as a person and in business. I am from a different time to Mr Jordan and he has literally opened my world up to new and improved endless possibilities.
    • 5/5
      He's an awesome human. Inspired by his own life. A winner
    • 3/5
      I thought the book was okay
      I thought the material would talk about his interactions with his family.
    • 4/5
      Good read. Short though. More shoe photos would have helped.
    • 4/5
      30% about Michael Jordan 70% about Nike and Jordan Brand
    • 1/5
      It was a horrible book
    • 4/5
      Indeed a very good biography with lot of learnings
    • 5/5
      loved this book
    • 5/5
      Nice book
    • 5/5
      This is an abstract take on Michael Jordan's achievements. It is different from his other books because it allows other voices to speak along with Michael. The voices of his shoe designer, marketing specialist and agent are not often heard and rarely in such a natural unfiltered tone. The voices tell stories about Michael from their perspective and not about his on court exploits but also about his presence and actions in such places as the board room, design office and at a restaurant. This is not the retelling of the Michael Jordon story in a chronological order. It is a motivating story about his philosophy and values and how they made him successful off the court, in areas such as his shoe and clothing brand.

    Book preview

    Driven from Within - Michael Jordan

    IT’S HARD, BUT IT’S FAIR.

    CLIFTON POP HERRING

    DRIVEN FROM WITHIN

    MICHAEL JORDAN

    MARK VANCIL

    ATRIA BOOKS

    1230 Avenue of the Americas New York,

    NY 10020

    ATRIA BOOKS

    1230 Avenue of the Americas

    New York, NY 10020

    www.SimonandSchuster.com

    Text copyright © 2005 by Michael Jordan

    Compilation copyright © 2005 by Rare Air, Ltd.

    All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.

    For information address Atria Books, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

    ISBN-13: 978-0-7432-8400-4

    eISBN: 978-1-416-52413-7

    ISBN-10: 0-7432-8400-3

    First Atria Books hardcover edition October 2005

    10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

    ATRIA BOOKS is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

    For information regarding special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Simon & Schuster Special Sales at 1-800-456-6798 or business@simonandschuster.com

    Manufactured in the United Kingdom

    Credits

    For my wife, Juanita, and our children, Jeffrey, Marcus and Jasmine

    —MJ

    In August of 1984, at the insistence of my mother and father, I boarded a plane to Portland, Oregon.

    THAT DAY I MET PHIL KNIGHT FOR THE FIRST TIME.

    Neither of us could imagine what the next 20 years together would produce. Has it been a perfect partnership? No, but nothing of value comes without hard work, particularly when the objective is to create something no one could even envision. Howard H White has said Nike was the perfect place for two people as competitive as Phil and me because we could plug into one another in an atmosphere that reflected our aspirations. I think that’s probably true. We might have come from different places, but we have always shared a commitment to creating products that reflect the same fundamental values.

    BRAND JORDAN EXISTS BECAUSE OF WHAT PHIL KNIGHT CREATED BEFORE I EVER CAME ALONG.

    —MV

    For Uncle Bill, my best friend

    INTRODUCTION

    EARNED

    UNCOMPROMISED

    ASPIRATIONAL

    AUTHENTIC

    BEYOND

    AFTERWORD

    Introduction

    The call came from Tinker Hatfield, my friend and the design genius behind 14 of the 20 Air Jordan shoes. More than two years removed from the end of my playing career and 20 years into Brand Jordan, I was enjoying my life away from the spotlight. I liked being behind the scenes and out of the public eye. In fact, I was doing just about anything to stay below the radar when Tinker called. He said it was time to look back, time to reflect on the arc of my life on and off the court. Tinker was coming back on board to create the Jordan XX, which would be designed on the idea of looking back over the last 20 years. It became an opportunity not only to reconnect with Tinker and revisit our creative process, but to talk about the basis for everything that had transpired. No one could have predicted the outcome because I was never following someone’s lead or operating off an existing model. There were no models for what happened at Nike, and certainly nothing close to what we have created with Brand Jordan.

    Everyone has theories, and it’s easy to analyze events after the fact, but no one could have predicted everything would all turn out the way it has.

    BUT LOOKING BACK WASN’T ABOUT CELEBRATING THE RESULTS AS MUCH AS IT WAS ABOUT UNDERSTANDING THE PROCESS THAT PRODUCED THOSE RESULTS.

    And the process for me has always been pure. It’s been about leading and staying true—authentic—to those fundamental values that flowed downstream from my parents and later Coach (Dean) Smith. Moving through the business world full time, I recognize that the structure of success is no different there than it was on the basketball court. Great companies have a lot in common with great teams. Players who practice hard when no one is paying attention generally play well when everyone is watching. Success at any level can be reverse engineered to reveal the same architecture.

    THERE ARE NO SHORTCUTS. I HAVE ALWAYS BELIEVED IN LEADING WITH ACTION, NOT WORDS.

    And I learned very early to follow my instincts. My standards have always been mine alone. I have never tried to be like somebody else, or live up to the expectations of others. I don’t believe in following.

    I believe in leading. That is the essence of Brand Jordan. There was never anything contrived about the way I played the game, and there is nothing contrived about what we have created at Brand Jordan.

    This book provides snapshots, vignettes and stories about my life, virtually all of which can be seen in my shoes.

    WE ALL KNOW OUR STORY FROM OUR PERSPECTIVE.

    I WANTED TO KNOW WHAT IT LOOKED LIKE TO THOSE CLOSEST TO ME, THE PEOPLE INSIDE MY CIRCLE.

    Everyone sees things from a different angle, and the people in this book saw everything from the inside out. Only people who are very close to me—other than my wife, Juanita, and our children—are included in this book. In some cases, a story is related and I provide my view of that same event. In other cases, I talk about what happened, or how I approached a phase of my life, and they respond from their vantage. Everybody knows the results. This book is about the process. The values that formed the foundation of my playing career are the same values that define Brand Jordan. I truly believe those values never go out of style.

    MOM (DELORES JORDAN) Where it all started.

    GEORGE KOEHLER He was the first person I saw when I walked off the plane on my first trip to Chicago. From that first day, I never felt lonely in Chicago, thanks to George. And that’s still true today.

    DAVID FALK He taught me the business.

    TINKER HATFIELD When it comes to anything to do with the design and creation of product, Tinker is my right-hand man.

    CURTIS POLK My left-hand man, the person who watches the business.

    ROD HIGGINS The teammate who showed me Chicago, a friend of 21 years.

    DEAN SMITH My second father.

    HOWARD H WHITE My first friend at Nike.

    FRED WHITFIELD My friend of nearly 25 years.

    EARNED

    WILL THERE BE ANOTHER MICHAEL JORDAN? SURE.

    There is no doubt a player will come along who will be able to build on what I have accomplished, just as I built on the example of great players before me. But it won’t be as easy for the next Michael Jordan.

    TODAY, PLAYERS RECEIVE THE REWARDS BEFORE THEY PROVE THEIR WORTH. IF YOU LOOK AROUND, YOU’LL SEE THAT IT HAPPENS IN A LOT OF PLACES, NOT JUST SPORTS.

    The big NBA contract comes with the big shoe contract. With those contracts come national commercials. With that kind of notoriety comes expectations, some of which are bound to be out of proportion to the player’s experience and ability.

    There were no expectations for me. Sure, I was the third pick in the NBA draft, and I received a contract worth a lot of money at the time. But no one expected me to become the player I became. I came in under the radar to a certain degree. Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Julius Erving were the clear stars in 1984. In those days, no rookie was expected to come into the league and challenge the status of veteran stars. So I didn’t have to be concerned with looking over my shoulder, or trying to live up to the expectations created by a marketing campaign. No one created a persona that I had to live up to.

    WHAT I DID ON THE FLOOR DROVE THE MARKETING, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND. THE JORDAN BRAND WAS DRIVEN BY WHAT I DID EVERY NIGHT PLAYING THE GAME.

    We had to earn what came to us. I never knew any other way, so I never thought otherwise. There wasn’t a line of corporations looking to invest in young NBA players in 1984. Those kinds of deals happened because of what we were doing on the floor. It’s often the other way around today, which makes it a lot harder for young players to realize the depth of their potential. It’s hard to spend all summer working on one aspect of your game when you have already received the payoff. I never had that problem.

    I WANTED TO PROVE WHAT I COULD DO.

    When my play started providing me with rewards, then I wanted to prove I deserved them. I never felt the desire to rest on what I had accomplished. I never felt like I deserved to drive a Bentley when I got my first contract, or live in a mansion. Those things might be symbols of success to some people, but there are a lot of people who confuse symbols with actual success.

    WHAT’S LEFT AFTER YOU GET ALL THE MONEY AND BUY THE BEST CAR? THERE’S NOWHERE TO GO FROM THERE.

    When we won one championship, then I wanted to win two in a row. When we won two, then I wanted to win three in a row because Larry and Magic never won three straight.

    NOTHING OF VALUE COMES WITHOUT BEING EARNED.

    That’s why great leaders are those who lead by example first. You can’t demand respect because of a title or a position and expect people to follow. That might work for a little while, but in the long run people respond to what they see. They might even listen, but they usually will act based on the

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