For those of us who are rabid college hoops fans, there are many coaches who appear to be able to motivate their teams to heights they sometimes would not have dreamed of. People like John Chaney, John Thompson, Rollie Massimino, Coach K., and Dean Smith come to mind easily. And so does Rick Pittino, one time coach at Boston University and Providence College, coach of the NBA’s New York Knicks, and now head coach of the University of Kentucky Wildcats. Pittino shares his motivational approach with us in Success is a Choice: Ten Steps to Overachieving in Business and Life.

Pittino has a blue-collar work ethic that is the foundation of his 10 steps. It’s there because as a coach he has learned that his job is to unleash the potential in the people on his team. “I was motivating them not by intimidation but by showing them that it was their choice to win or lose. By giving them an ‘outside’ perspective on who they were and how they presented themselves to the rest of the team and everyone who watched them, I helped the players realize their strengths and weaknesses so that they could figure out how they were going to improve.” Pittino says his success has come not because he is such a great basketball strategist or teacher, but because he has been able to get people to do things — through hard work — they never thought they could. And he’s convinced that the techniques he has developed — the 10 steps — can work just as well for us at work and at home.

What the 10 steps are not is a magic formula. Success, Pittino suggests, is hard work. “Nothing meaningful or lasting comes without working hard at it, whether it’s in your own life or with people you’re trying to influence. When you believe you’re the hardest worker around it gives you an edge, even if it’s not true. Outwork everyone in sight. Sweat the small stuff. Sweat the big stuff. Go the extra mile. But whatever it takes, put your heart and soul into everything you do. Leave it all out on the court.

“Success is not a lucky break. It is not a divine right. It is not an accident of choice. Success is a choice.”

So what are Pittino’s 10 hard-work steps?

• Build self–esteem
• Set demanding goals
• Always be positive
• Establish good habits
• Master the art of communication
• Learn from role models
• Thrive on pressure
• Be ferociously persistent
• Learn from adversity
• Survive success

He devotes a full chapter to each step, mixing experiences from his own life with anecdotes from his career, often telling stories about players and coaches we like to think we know well. His use of stories about “real” people makes the book that much more engaging and also makes it easy to read. A nice added touch is a short essay at the end of each chapter written by a player or coach on whom Pittino has had a significant impact. Those essays give us additional insights into Pittino as coach and man, as well as additional validation of his ideas and techniques.

While many of Pittino’s ideas can sound like trite cliches, that’s probably because they ring true and, like so many good things, are self-obvious but not easy to implement.

For instance, he notes that greatness will never be achieved by people who don’t feel good about themselves. His action plan for building self-esteem is to establish a work ethic, verbalize goals, create a plan of attack, and follow proven methods of carrying out the plan. As successes come through hard work and following these steps, he correctly reasons, self-esteem will grow.

Words of wisdom for many people today are to not make excuses and shift responsibility to someone else. “The truth is, we control our life. We control how lucky we are. We create our fortune with our effort. We alone have the power.”

A corollary to building self-esteem that we may not realize is that it is counterproductive to boost someone’s self-esteem when the person doesn’t deserve it. People reject positive comments they know they don’t deserve. What brings them to the point of deserving it is hard work in moving toward their goals. “Working hard is not always fun,” Pittino reminds us. “That’s why it’s called work.” But when we keep our eye on the prize and do that hard work in the service of a goal, it’s okay that it’s not fun.

Time and space don’t allow me to give you even a representative sampling of his ideas behind each of the 10 steps. It will have to be enough to say they all make a lot of sense and are well written so we know what Coach would have us do if he were working with each of us.

Anyone who follows a team that plays at the top of the game in any sport know that there are many hours of hard work involved. While Pittino may not be one to throw chairs or kick players, it’s clear that he is a tough and demanding taskmaster whose team drills are not for those who are only partially dedicated to the cause.

But it’s also clear that the players are willing to give Pittino so much because he gives them so much in return. They write of how obvious it is that Pittino genuinely cares about the people he coaches, cares about them as people, and wants only what’s best for them. He helps them to dream and to work to achieve their dreams. And he can help us do the same.