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Winners: And How They Succeed
How people succeed – and how you can, too.***Sunday Times no. 1 bestseller***Alastair Campbell knows all about winning. As Tony Blair’s chief spokesman and strategist he helped guide the Labour Party to victory in three successive general elections, and he’s fascinated by what it takes to win.How do sports stars excel, entrepreneurs thrive, or individuals achieve their ambition? Is their ability to win innate? Or is the winning mindset something we can all develop? Drawing on the wisdom of an astonishing array of talented people – from elite athletes to top managers, from rulers of countries to rulers of global business empires – Alastair Campbell uses his forensic skills, as well as his own experience of politics and sport, to get to the heart of success. He examines how winners tick. He considers how they build great teams. He analyses how they deal with unexpected setbacks and new challenges. He judges what the very different worlds of politics, business and sport can learn from one another. And he sets out a blueprint for winning that we can all follow.
466 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 26, 2015
272 people are currently reading
2249 people want to read
About the author
Alastair Campbell
110 books204 followersAlastair John Campbell is a British journalist, author, strategist, broadcaster, and activist, who is known for his political roles during Tony Blair's leadership of the Labour Party. Campbell worked as Blair's spokesman and campaign director in opposition (1994–1997), then as Downing Street Press Secretary, and as the Prime Minister's Official Spokesperson (1997–2000). He then became Downing Street's director of communications and spokesman for the Labour Party (2000–2003).
Since his work for Blair, Campbell has continued to act as a freelance advisor to a number of governments and political parties, including Edi Rama, the Prime Minister of Albania. He was an adviser to the People's Vote campaign, campaigning for a public vote on the final Brexit deal. He is the editor-at-large of The New European and chief interviewer for GQ. He acts as a consultant strategist and as an ambassador for Time to Change and other mental health charities. Throughout his time in Downing Street, Campbell kept a diary which reportedly totalled some two million words. Selected extracts, titled The Blair Years, were published in 2007. He expressed an intention to publish the diaries in fuller form, which he did from 2010 to 2018. In 2019, Campbell was expelled from the Labour Party after voting for the Liberal Democrats in that month's European elections. In 2022, Campbell launched the podcast The Rest Is Politics with Rory Stewart, which has been the top politics podcast in the UK in the Apple rankings since its launch.
Since his work for Blair, Campbell has continued to act as a freelance advisor to a number of governments and political parties, including Edi Rama, the Prime Minister of Albania. He was an adviser to the People's Vote campaign, campaigning for a public vote on the final Brexit deal. He is the editor-at-large of The New European and chief interviewer for GQ. He acts as a consultant strategist and as an ambassador for Time to Change and other mental health charities. Throughout his time in Downing Street, Campbell kept a diary which reportedly totalled some two million words. Selected extracts, titled The Blair Years, were published in 2007. He expressed an intention to publish the diaries in fuller form, which he did from 2010 to 2018. In 2019, Campbell was expelled from the Labour Party after voting for the Liberal Democrats in that month's European elections. In 2022, Campbell launched the podcast The Rest Is Politics with Rory Stewart, which has been the top politics podcast in the UK in the Apple rankings since its launch.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 90 reviews
April 16, 2015
Winners by Alistair Campbell leapt off the shelf at a time when I was looking for some inspiration, how to get back on track and how to motivate my waning enthusiasm for my work. I could identify with his main points...objective, strategy and tactics. Alistair wrote in a very loose style, attempting to pull together personalities from the sporting and political field in his search for winners. Random examples became a little tiresome after reading half the book.
However, he made some excellent points about attitude, leadership and persistence. The good thing about reading is that the reader can usually take away something from the written word. Recommended as a light motivational read.
However, he made some excellent points about attitude, leadership and persistence. The good thing about reading is that the reader can usually take away something from the written word. Recommended as a light motivational read.
December 9, 2021
Would be higher but too many of the people referenced are twats
August 3, 2018
A phrase I find myself using a lot now is 'History is written by the winners' but I fought to approach this with an open mind for two reasons: firstly, that I think the saying is largely true, and secondly, it was written by Alistair Campbell, a successful but thoroughly detestable figure. I don't think I was converted on either count but Campbell uses his contacts well to get a lot of interesting profiles, but is let down by an acceptance that their word is Gospel, and in a bid to make himself the story, tries to prove that everyone wins by his 'OST' mantra.
The book's strength comes from interviews with winners from a range of fields, from politics, sport and business, which works both ways. On the one hand, we should get a genuine insight from figures such as Jose Mourinho, Haile Gebrselassie and Sir Charles Dunstone. On the other hand, Anna Wintour and Richard Branson get to put out their brand unchallenged, with the former dismissing claims of how she got ahead in her career and the latter promoting Virgin almost as a service that just gives people what they want, rather than a business which exists to make a profit.
Campbell opted to go for themes first, then to fit the profiles amongst them, and his key themes could pretty much be boiled down to 'OST' and 'work hard'. OST is 'objective, strategy and tactics', and an interesting approach to succeeding, but Campbell tied himself in all sorts of knots to prove the validity of this theory, especially when challenged by Mourinho. This was quite revealing, as Mourinho is famously a reactive manager, whose tactics are his 'strategy', and as Campbell tried to fit this to his threory he contradicted his earlier claim that strategy has to come before the tactics. Without a shred of irony, Campbell later discusses how winners are always prepared to learn from their mistakes and challenge their misconceptions. We also learn you have to 'work hard' which obviously is needed to succeed, but the implication is that with hard work and a clear objective you too can win - when surely rivals of Team Sky also had the objective to win the Tour de France? Surely the Conservative party also had the objective to win the 1997 General Election?
This is the crucial problem with most analysis of winners, looking at what they do and assuming that's the winning formula. But the key test is to look at the losers as well and ask what is different about them. Nick Faldo and Ian Botham may well have had the extra drive to succeed when told by a careers advisor to look at a proper sport, but what about the footballers who work hard, get dropped at 20 and have no qualifications? Surely some of those had drive too? I knew someone who was determined to prove his doubting teachers wrong and get to Oxford, and didn't. Campbell later talks about Usain Bolt, who freely admits to having a few more freedoms in his training regime, but he was still the best, and proves that, actually, the only way we can prove we're winners is by winning. But you can't market a self-help book like that.
There was a lot of vague talk in here, sometimes verging on buzzwords, and that makes it easier to fit your narrative into the story. But a revealing part for me was Matthew Benham talking about betting on Euro 2016. Having decided Spain were undervalued, he put a large winning bet on them, which Campbell proffered as evidence he was a winner. But Spain could still have been undervalued and lost, or overvalued and won. A bad bet can still win you money and a good bet lose you money, as Benham would definitely know, but Campbell knew he was a winner, and therefore his stories were treated as successful. So what makes someone a winner? They've won. Other people worked hard but they were better so they took the plaudits, and no matter how hard you work, you probably won't be the best either.
The book's strength comes from interviews with winners from a range of fields, from politics, sport and business, which works both ways. On the one hand, we should get a genuine insight from figures such as Jose Mourinho, Haile Gebrselassie and Sir Charles Dunstone. On the other hand, Anna Wintour and Richard Branson get to put out their brand unchallenged, with the former dismissing claims of how she got ahead in her career and the latter promoting Virgin almost as a service that just gives people what they want, rather than a business which exists to make a profit.
Campbell opted to go for themes first, then to fit the profiles amongst them, and his key themes could pretty much be boiled down to 'OST' and 'work hard'. OST is 'objective, strategy and tactics', and an interesting approach to succeeding, but Campbell tied himself in all sorts of knots to prove the validity of this theory, especially when challenged by Mourinho. This was quite revealing, as Mourinho is famously a reactive manager, whose tactics are his 'strategy', and as Campbell tried to fit this to his threory he contradicted his earlier claim that strategy has to come before the tactics. Without a shred of irony, Campbell later discusses how winners are always prepared to learn from their mistakes and challenge their misconceptions. We also learn you have to 'work hard' which obviously is needed to succeed, but the implication is that with hard work and a clear objective you too can win - when surely rivals of Team Sky also had the objective to win the Tour de France? Surely the Conservative party also had the objective to win the 1997 General Election?
This is the crucial problem with most analysis of winners, looking at what they do and assuming that's the winning formula. But the key test is to look at the losers as well and ask what is different about them. Nick Faldo and Ian Botham may well have had the extra drive to succeed when told by a careers advisor to look at a proper sport, but what about the footballers who work hard, get dropped at 20 and have no qualifications? Surely some of those had drive too? I knew someone who was determined to prove his doubting teachers wrong and get to Oxford, and didn't. Campbell later talks about Usain Bolt, who freely admits to having a few more freedoms in his training regime, but he was still the best, and proves that, actually, the only way we can prove we're winners is by winning. But you can't market a self-help book like that.
There was a lot of vague talk in here, sometimes verging on buzzwords, and that makes it easier to fit your narrative into the story. But a revealing part for me was Matthew Benham talking about betting on Euro 2016. Having decided Spain were undervalued, he put a large winning bet on them, which Campbell proffered as evidence he was a winner. But Spain could still have been undervalued and lost, or overvalued and won. A bad bet can still win you money and a good bet lose you money, as Benham would definitely know, but Campbell knew he was a winner, and therefore his stories were treated as successful. So what makes someone a winner? They've won. Other people worked hard but they were better so they took the plaudits, and no matter how hard you work, you probably won't be the best either.
April 23, 2016
An odd one. On the face of it, this is one of those self-help guides to success that sneak into both the self-help and management shelves of the bookstore. Alastair Campbell looks at winners (mainly in politics and sport) and tries to define the qualities that make a winner.
If that was all it did, this would be a reasonable book. It doesn't offer many new insights, but it has some "probably heard it before" quotes from the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson and Garry Kasparov. All good motivational stuff, if not exactly original.
But there are problems. Oh dear, lots of problems.
The first issue is that Campbell loves to talk about himself. For example, somehow he manages to slip in the fact that he ran a marathon and even tell us his time. It's there supposedly to make a point about something or other, but you can't help feeling that there is a bit of crowing going on.
There's a simplistic view of the world throughout the book that successful people do it Campbell's way and everyone who doesn't follow his principles doesn't succeed. That gets quite wearing after a while.
He advocates a very macho style of leadership, where the main man is the alpha dog and everyone ought to know it. It all feels very old fashioned with lots of references to command and control management. He is an advocate of "FIFO" - fit in or ... ahem ... go away. In other words, everything would be okay if everyone did what the boss said. Or, more accurately, what Alastair Campbell said.
It is telling that some of the examples he quotes, such as New Labour and Jose Mourinho, found initial success but then struggled to sustain that success over time. I think that's a sign that these macho management principles are good at getting short-term success but not very good at sustaining that success.
A little confession. I haven't finished the book yet. I may never finish the book. It's one of those that you read every now and again, then put it down in disgust at some particularly purple patch. It would be a book-wall moment with some force if I wasn't reading it on my ipad. The bits I have read are already starting to get repetitive.
So I'd give it two stars, on the Goodreads scale where 2 is "it was okay". I'd give it a three stars on Amazon which has a different rating scale. On the positive side, the writing is passable if not exactly stellar. The examples are moderately interesting, although not earth shattering. It is more or less intriguing to read how Alastair Campbell thought processes helped to shape New Labour.
On the negative side, it is most certainly not a comprehensive guide to winning. It is a partial and biased account of one (slightly old fashioned) type of management.
All in all, the book feels a little like New Labour itself. At the start it was very glitzy, polished and promised much. Then you realised that its success was based on a cold and calculating management by force - a command and control style. And ultimately it fell apart because there was little substance behind the spin. The legacy of New Labour is that the Labour Party has been in the wilderness for the past six years and is currently tearing itself apart.
Just ask Chelsea football club what they think of Jose Mourinho now.
If that was all it did, this would be a reasonable book. It doesn't offer many new insights, but it has some "probably heard it before" quotes from the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson and Garry Kasparov. All good motivational stuff, if not exactly original.
But there are problems. Oh dear, lots of problems.
The first issue is that Campbell loves to talk about himself. For example, somehow he manages to slip in the fact that he ran a marathon and even tell us his time. It's there supposedly to make a point about something or other, but you can't help feeling that there is a bit of crowing going on.
There's a simplistic view of the world throughout the book that successful people do it Campbell's way and everyone who doesn't follow his principles doesn't succeed. That gets quite wearing after a while.
He advocates a very macho style of leadership, where the main man is the alpha dog and everyone ought to know it. It all feels very old fashioned with lots of references to command and control management. He is an advocate of "FIFO" - fit in or ... ahem ... go away. In other words, everything would be okay if everyone did what the boss said. Or, more accurately, what Alastair Campbell said.
It is telling that some of the examples he quotes, such as New Labour and Jose Mourinho, found initial success but then struggled to sustain that success over time. I think that's a sign that these macho management principles are good at getting short-term success but not very good at sustaining that success.
A little confession. I haven't finished the book yet. I may never finish the book. It's one of those that you read every now and again, then put it down in disgust at some particularly purple patch. It would be a book-wall moment with some force if I wasn't reading it on my ipad. The bits I have read are already starting to get repetitive.
So I'd give it two stars, on the Goodreads scale where 2 is "it was okay". I'd give it a three stars on Amazon which has a different rating scale. On the positive side, the writing is passable if not exactly stellar. The examples are moderately interesting, although not earth shattering. It is more or less intriguing to read how Alastair Campbell thought processes helped to shape New Labour.
On the negative side, it is most certainly not a comprehensive guide to winning. It is a partial and biased account of one (slightly old fashioned) type of management.
All in all, the book feels a little like New Labour itself. At the start it was very glitzy, polished and promised much. Then you realised that its success was based on a cold and calculating management by force - a command and control style. And ultimately it fell apart because there was little substance behind the spin. The legacy of New Labour is that the Labour Party has been in the wilderness for the past six years and is currently tearing itself apart.
Just ask Chelsea football club what they think of Jose Mourinho now.
November 12, 2024
An inspiring book that looks into the art of winning and what makes successful people, successful. Sometimes feels a bit over the top and rigid in its structure for winning. But definitely some useful lessons to take into life and work throughout the book.
I also like the fact it contains successful people from various different industries, sports, politics, business, fashion and much more. Wide variety of views and topics which I found interesting (particularly from cycling which I would not usually find that interesting).
Goes big on the little details making the big difference.
Sometimes felt like a slog but contains some great quotes and personal stories.
I also like the fact it contains successful people from various different industries, sports, politics, business, fashion and much more. Wide variety of views and topics which I found interesting (particularly from cycling which I would not usually find that interesting).
Goes big on the little details making the big difference.
Sometimes felt like a slog but contains some great quotes and personal stories.
January 27, 2020
U throughly enjoyed this book by Alastair Campbell. His examples and Arguments of the common factors of being a politician and athlete is truly noteworthy. Loved a lot of his stories on Tony Blair and the queen. I was engaged from start to finish.
November 10, 2021
I thought this was a really interesting book and one that I haven't seen published or publicized in too many places. It basically looks at a group of politicians businessman and sportsman and tries to find that golden thread that unifies all of them with regards to what constitutes excellence and that winners mentality. There were some really interesting examples from the book where Alistair Campbell the author picked individuals that you typically wouldn't think of being examples and paragons of excellence. Here are some of the best bits from the book:
Too many coaches teach technique when they should be teaching strategy
Think in ink as Marilyn Monroe said in one of her poems. Also a phrase that Brendan Rodgers uses.
I would describe strategic communication as like painting a picture. Every piece of action or communication lands a tiny dot. Overtime the dots come together. Counter messages distort even destroy it.
I would say person who is a good leader is a person who has ideas and has a vision of the world. To have a vision of the world you have to have a philosophy of the world and values that are important for you so I must say that the first work a leader has to do is to analyze what he wants, what is important to him and the second stop is to make it real.
Discipline is not the same as a regimentation. Discipline is not the same as measurement. Discipline is not the same as hierarchical obedience or adherence to bureaucratic rules. True discipline requires the independence of mind to reject pressures to conform in ways incompatible with values performance standards and long-term aspiration's.
Martin O'Neill said that some of his squad were fantastic players but not nice people, not team players and that he was moving them out. Donaldson now operates a fifo approach: fit in or feck off (survival of the fittest), approach to recruitment and personal development. If people support the team culture there will be a role in the team. If they are cynical about what we're trying to do there won't be a role.
It's about the attitude you take to a challenge and how you use and develop the qualities you have to maximum effect in meeting that challenge. Technical skills take you so far . Mindset is what comes into play through other qualities required of a winner: mental strength determination resilience the ability to handle pressure and the ability to respond in the right way to failure.
Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps who has won twice as many Olympic gold medals as anyone else in history once told me that it was winning nothing in Sydney (he was just 15 at the time) that made him do everything to ensure he won four years later in Beijing.
The reason incidentally why Haile Gebrselassie’s arms and hands do not operate with the evenness normally associated with long distance running is because he used to run 10 kilometres to school and 10 kilometres back carrying his books in the same hand. Or what about Dunga the Brazilian captain and manager who told me he learned to play football by rolling socks into a ball and practicing all day
I learned that if I could approach pressure with real gratitude the pressure would actually shift in front of my eyes. It's an amazing thing and I wish I had known it when I was twenty. But if you can take a really pressurized situation and be grateful for that pressure suddenly you defuse it, it disappears, if you don't the pressure builds up and can quickly take you to your terror zone. Pressure is a privilege.
I still hold a paper clip and press it into my palm. That was taught to me by a lawyer in a libel case when he said the other side's only hope was to get me to lose my temper. He said it was a simple diversion strategy moving irritation caused by someone else to pain caused by myself. Another one taught to me by McCann is just to rub both thumbs and forefingers together and smile. This works because we are taking control of something we can control, those little actions and enjoying the fact only we know we're doing it
At one point Gary Neville made a conscious decision to tell his friends he wouldn't be able to go out with them in the way that most friends do because his focus was football. He established a routine: bed by 9:15 every Thursday and Friday night for a Saturday match. Girlfriendless between the age 16 to 20 and he went on to become united captain, a treble winner and England regular, a coach and respected TV commentator. His attitude reminds me of the great Mohammed Ali quote: I hated every minute of training but I said don't quit, suffer now and live the rest of your life like a champion.
He would take small breaks during which he stood or sat in silence in between shots. When Haney asked him what he was doing Tiger Woods replied I'm just thinking about what we did. This would usually occur when they were working on something uncomfortable for woods and it represented his willingness to concentrate on weaknesses: he didn't just want to play better than everyone else he wanted to practice better too: it was like his “church”.
Faldo who won six majors says that his all time hero is not a golfer but Bjorn Borg. I modeled myself on him. I learned later that when he played a bad shot or suffered a bad line call he just would still and twiddled his racket twice flick flick, like that and that reset him.
Now he advises young golfers. You will blow some tournaments before you win. get mad analyze, learn. The trick is to use the good stuff and bin the bad stuff. Don't go recalling crap all the time. Remember the good moments and use them when you face a challenge you have faced before.
Michael Phelps would spend hours visualizing a race before he got in the pool and he even trained himself to dream about swimming. He would visualize everything going well every stroke perfect every turn at the end of each length perfect every kick perfect all ending with another win. But he would also visualize things going wrong. His goggles filling with water so he couldn't see. A competitor doing better than expected. Losing his momentum on a turn. Losing count of his strokes and as he visualized he worked out what he would do how he would get through the bad moments that might come he was training himself to think correctly under pressure. Mental contrasting.
Perhaps Muhammad Ali and Floyd Mayweather both the greatest of their generation in their chosen sport represent two different generations more broadly: Ali’s was more radical more politically engaged and more determined to right wrongs: Mayweather’s is more materialistic more focused on wealth and celebrity and pure entertainment.
Bill Endicott a former White House director of research and analysis, coach of 57 medal winning Olympic World Cup and world champion canoeists and servant of the US Marine Corps reserve believes success comes “through a fascination for the process”.
Alex Ferguson offers a textbook example of the ability to maintain a clear sense of direction while innovating. On the one hand he had views and principles that were pretty much unshakable. On the other he was always open to new thinking if it didn't contradict or undermine his fundamental stance, values or principles.
I've screwed up so many times with things I should never have – I remember once I sent an email by mistake to the whole company which contained everyones salary And a list of the people we were planning to fire. This is something like Ahsan would do.
leadership becomes more about setting the conditions for excellence in all areas rather than providing the expertise yourself.
Sebastian coe’s experience with his father Peter coe Someone without fixed preconceptions. my father had one great advantage over most other coaches who practically without exception were all former runners in that he brooked no specious or imagined thresholds simply because it was commonly held belief or being personally experienced. And while he discounted nothing out of hand, set in stone dogma and old wives tales got very short shrift. If it made no scientific sense it was consigned to the bin.
A 48 page comic book “bal Narendra” portraying stories of modis childhood and youth including the one of him swimming in a crocodile infested lake in Gujarat He takes a baby crocodile home but hismother makes him take it back explaining how children hate to be parted from their mother. Modi stated in the book that its purpose was to inspire young people to dream of doing something meaningful rather than merely becoming someone.
It is hard to beat a player that never quits. That was my mindset and the mindset I encourage in my players.
So Shane Warne turned to cricket but not without reservations. I actually found cricket a bit boring certainly compared with Aussie rules football. Those guys are the best athletes in the world. They run 27 kilometers over two hours, they hit no padding, they kick. I don't think there's another sport like it.
We have a lot of high achievers and I think you can go right back to where we came from, how we started out as a country all the slaves and the convicts and the idea we were somebody else's rejects. There are three things that are really Australian: we have the never give up attitude, we like being in the thick of it and we're not afraid to fail. Not being afraid to fail is a huge part of this. come on mate, I will git it a go, maybe it works maybe it doesn't but you'll never know until you try. “Never give up” : three most important words in any language.
Cyclist Michael Rogers' won his first ever stage of the Tour de France. As he dismounted and fell into the waiting arms of his support team he was weeping and later explained that the reason he found it all so emotional was because he had made a conscious decision to change his mindset: he was no longer afraid of failure he said and it was that changed outlook that had made him go all out to win.
In England the average man feels that he is an inferior in America that he is a superior in Australia he feels that he is an equal. I sense that every time I go there as true today as it was in the 19th century.
Too many coaches teach technique when they should be teaching strategy
Think in ink as Marilyn Monroe said in one of her poems. Also a phrase that Brendan Rodgers uses.
I would describe strategic communication as like painting a picture. Every piece of action or communication lands a tiny dot. Overtime the dots come together. Counter messages distort even destroy it.
I would say person who is a good leader is a person who has ideas and has a vision of the world. To have a vision of the world you have to have a philosophy of the world and values that are important for you so I must say that the first work a leader has to do is to analyze what he wants, what is important to him and the second stop is to make it real.
Discipline is not the same as a regimentation. Discipline is not the same as measurement. Discipline is not the same as hierarchical obedience or adherence to bureaucratic rules. True discipline requires the independence of mind to reject pressures to conform in ways incompatible with values performance standards and long-term aspiration's.
Martin O'Neill said that some of his squad were fantastic players but not nice people, not team players and that he was moving them out. Donaldson now operates a fifo approach: fit in or feck off (survival of the fittest), approach to recruitment and personal development. If people support the team culture there will be a role in the team. If they are cynical about what we're trying to do there won't be a role.
It's about the attitude you take to a challenge and how you use and develop the qualities you have to maximum effect in meeting that challenge. Technical skills take you so far . Mindset is what comes into play through other qualities required of a winner: mental strength determination resilience the ability to handle pressure and the ability to respond in the right way to failure.
Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps who has won twice as many Olympic gold medals as anyone else in history once told me that it was winning nothing in Sydney (he was just 15 at the time) that made him do everything to ensure he won four years later in Beijing.
The reason incidentally why Haile Gebrselassie’s arms and hands do not operate with the evenness normally associated with long distance running is because he used to run 10 kilometres to school and 10 kilometres back carrying his books in the same hand. Or what about Dunga the Brazilian captain and manager who told me he learned to play football by rolling socks into a ball and practicing all day
I learned that if I could approach pressure with real gratitude the pressure would actually shift in front of my eyes. It's an amazing thing and I wish I had known it when I was twenty. But if you can take a really pressurized situation and be grateful for that pressure suddenly you defuse it, it disappears, if you don't the pressure builds up and can quickly take you to your terror zone. Pressure is a privilege.
I still hold a paper clip and press it into my palm. That was taught to me by a lawyer in a libel case when he said the other side's only hope was to get me to lose my temper. He said it was a simple diversion strategy moving irritation caused by someone else to pain caused by myself. Another one taught to me by McCann is just to rub both thumbs and forefingers together and smile. This works because we are taking control of something we can control, those little actions and enjoying the fact only we know we're doing it
At one point Gary Neville made a conscious decision to tell his friends he wouldn't be able to go out with them in the way that most friends do because his focus was football. He established a routine: bed by 9:15 every Thursday and Friday night for a Saturday match. Girlfriendless between the age 16 to 20 and he went on to become united captain, a treble winner and England regular, a coach and respected TV commentator. His attitude reminds me of the great Mohammed Ali quote: I hated every minute of training but I said don't quit, suffer now and live the rest of your life like a champion.
He would take small breaks during which he stood or sat in silence in between shots. When Haney asked him what he was doing Tiger Woods replied I'm just thinking about what we did. This would usually occur when they were working on something uncomfortable for woods and it represented his willingness to concentrate on weaknesses: he didn't just want to play better than everyone else he wanted to practice better too: it was like his “church”.
Faldo who won six majors says that his all time hero is not a golfer but Bjorn Borg. I modeled myself on him. I learned later that when he played a bad shot or suffered a bad line call he just would still and twiddled his racket twice flick flick, like that and that reset him.
Now he advises young golfers. You will blow some tournaments before you win. get mad analyze, learn. The trick is to use the good stuff and bin the bad stuff. Don't go recalling crap all the time. Remember the good moments and use them when you face a challenge you have faced before.
Michael Phelps would spend hours visualizing a race before he got in the pool and he even trained himself to dream about swimming. He would visualize everything going well every stroke perfect every turn at the end of each length perfect every kick perfect all ending with another win. But he would also visualize things going wrong. His goggles filling with water so he couldn't see. A competitor doing better than expected. Losing his momentum on a turn. Losing count of his strokes and as he visualized he worked out what he would do how he would get through the bad moments that might come he was training himself to think correctly under pressure. Mental contrasting.
Perhaps Muhammad Ali and Floyd Mayweather both the greatest of their generation in their chosen sport represent two different generations more broadly: Ali’s was more radical more politically engaged and more determined to right wrongs: Mayweather’s is more materialistic more focused on wealth and celebrity and pure entertainment.
Bill Endicott a former White House director of research and analysis, coach of 57 medal winning Olympic World Cup and world champion canoeists and servant of the US Marine Corps reserve believes success comes “through a fascination for the process”.
Alex Ferguson offers a textbook example of the ability to maintain a clear sense of direction while innovating. On the one hand he had views and principles that were pretty much unshakable. On the other he was always open to new thinking if it didn't contradict or undermine his fundamental stance, values or principles.
I've screwed up so many times with things I should never have – I remember once I sent an email by mistake to the whole company which contained everyones salary And a list of the people we were planning to fire. This is something like Ahsan would do.
leadership becomes more about setting the conditions for excellence in all areas rather than providing the expertise yourself.
Sebastian coe’s experience with his father Peter coe Someone without fixed preconceptions. my father had one great advantage over most other coaches who practically without exception were all former runners in that he brooked no specious or imagined thresholds simply because it was commonly held belief or being personally experienced. And while he discounted nothing out of hand, set in stone dogma and old wives tales got very short shrift. If it made no scientific sense it was consigned to the bin.
A 48 page comic book “bal Narendra” portraying stories of modis childhood and youth including the one of him swimming in a crocodile infested lake in Gujarat He takes a baby crocodile home but hismother makes him take it back explaining how children hate to be parted from their mother. Modi stated in the book that its purpose was to inspire young people to dream of doing something meaningful rather than merely becoming someone.
It is hard to beat a player that never quits. That was my mindset and the mindset I encourage in my players.
So Shane Warne turned to cricket but not without reservations. I actually found cricket a bit boring certainly compared with Aussie rules football. Those guys are the best athletes in the world. They run 27 kilometers over two hours, they hit no padding, they kick. I don't think there's another sport like it.
We have a lot of high achievers and I think you can go right back to where we came from, how we started out as a country all the slaves and the convicts and the idea we were somebody else's rejects. There are three things that are really Australian: we have the never give up attitude, we like being in the thick of it and we're not afraid to fail. Not being afraid to fail is a huge part of this. come on mate, I will git it a go, maybe it works maybe it doesn't but you'll never know until you try. “Never give up” : three most important words in any language.
Cyclist Michael Rogers' won his first ever stage of the Tour de France. As he dismounted and fell into the waiting arms of his support team he was weeping and later explained that the reason he found it all so emotional was because he had made a conscious decision to change his mindset: he was no longer afraid of failure he said and it was that changed outlook that had made him go all out to win.
In England the average man feels that he is an inferior in America that he is a superior in Australia he feels that he is an equal. I sense that every time I go there as true today as it was in the 19th century.
March 25, 2022
This is one of those books that takes a seemingly concrete, yet somehow ethereal topic (Winning) and attempts to build a narrative around it using stories to drive home what would otherwise be simple and ultimately forgettable talking points. In this, the author does a great job. There’s loads of examples and the book takes the time to make you FEEL the points being made and that the author has the inside scoop on what it takes to become a winner. However, this book, like many that tackle such broad topics could easily be distilled down to a few points.
Some of the core points of this book would are:
- Winning relies on a solid Strategy.
To have a successful strategy you need: A clear and attainable goal and a strong understanding of the ‘tactics’ you can employ to help you realise your goal. e.g – With a goal of lose 10lbs, some tactics may be to start counting calories, cut out particular types of food and go to the gym X times per week.
- Winning requires strong Leadership
Each great leader is great in their own way, there is no recipe for great leadership – most great leaders embody a similar trait; Steadfastness in their beliefs and an unswerving & bold perseverance in the pursuit of their objectives.
- Winning requires a Successful Team
People don’t win by themselves, even the best ‘winners’ in the world have help from other people. It’s crucial to build yourself a team full of people who have talents that complement each other – sports teams aren’t typically filled entirely with goal scorers, you also have defenders, coaches, nutritionists etc. The author posits that a leaders job is to ensure that everyone on the team knows what to do, so by having clearly defined goals, strategy and tactics you’re able to ensure your team is equipped to achieve the goal at hand.
- Winners Challenge Themselves
Some people are winners simply because they’re scared of losing, and this fear propels them into greatness. However, winning isn’t just about having a motivation to win, winners are also comfortable with being outside of their comfort zone. It’s easy to do things you find easy, but you only really improve when you do things you find difficult, so putting yourself under pressure to get better is crucial to winning.
- Winners Get Noticed
Act boldly – acting boldly puts you in a position to accept challenges that other more reserved people wouldn’t accept. You might not yet be experienced at something, but by being bold and ‘going for it anyway’ despite the difficulty you effectively throw yourself into the deep end and this behaviour gets you noticed.
Innovate – By paying attention to the details you create the opportunities that allow you to take a product, service or process and make it better.
- Winners Aren’t Flustered By Crises
There are hurdles every day to winning, while difficult in their own right, these aren’t crises. When a true crisis strikes a winner keeps their mind on the things that they have influence over; their actions and their thoughts. When a situation is out of your control, be sure to control the things that are within your control.
Some of the core points of this book would are:
- Winning relies on a solid Strategy.
To have a successful strategy you need: A clear and attainable goal and a strong understanding of the ‘tactics’ you can employ to help you realise your goal. e.g – With a goal of lose 10lbs, some tactics may be to start counting calories, cut out particular types of food and go to the gym X times per week.
- Winning requires strong Leadership
Each great leader is great in their own way, there is no recipe for great leadership – most great leaders embody a similar trait; Steadfastness in their beliefs and an unswerving & bold perseverance in the pursuit of their objectives.
- Winning requires a Successful Team
People don’t win by themselves, even the best ‘winners’ in the world have help from other people. It’s crucial to build yourself a team full of people who have talents that complement each other – sports teams aren’t typically filled entirely with goal scorers, you also have defenders, coaches, nutritionists etc. The author posits that a leaders job is to ensure that everyone on the team knows what to do, so by having clearly defined goals, strategy and tactics you’re able to ensure your team is equipped to achieve the goal at hand.
- Winners Challenge Themselves
Some people are winners simply because they’re scared of losing, and this fear propels them into greatness. However, winning isn’t just about having a motivation to win, winners are also comfortable with being outside of their comfort zone. It’s easy to do things you find easy, but you only really improve when you do things you find difficult, so putting yourself under pressure to get better is crucial to winning.
- Winners Get Noticed
Act boldly – acting boldly puts you in a position to accept challenges that other more reserved people wouldn’t accept. You might not yet be experienced at something, but by being bold and ‘going for it anyway’ despite the difficulty you effectively throw yourself into the deep end and this behaviour gets you noticed.
Innovate – By paying attention to the details you create the opportunities that allow you to take a product, service or process and make it better.
- Winners Aren’t Flustered By Crises
There are hurdles every day to winning, while difficult in their own right, these aren’t crises. When a true crisis strikes a winner keeps their mind on the things that they have influence over; their actions and their thoughts. When a situation is out of your control, be sure to control the things that are within your control.
January 4, 2024
A decent book, with a couple of very good strategies for success.
Use the OST structure, Objective, Strategy, Tactics. For example, objective (lose weight), strategy (eat less, exercise more), tactics (record calorie intake). Another example; objective (Labour to win 2005 election), strategy (new labour, new Britain, focus on economy and GB, TB relationship), tactics (show Labour delivered two terms of growth, and Tories would wreck it).
Use the mirror test. To find a weakness about oneself imagine yourself being the interviewer of you for a job. Tony Blair did the same when preparing for PMQs. His team would act as the Tory Opposition Leader.
Communicating a clear strategy; just when the communicator is getting bored with saying something, there is an outside chance of it reaching the outer radar of public opinion.
Winners/the best managers always talk about the players, never about themselves.
Winners inspire others; “whatever your job title, whatever your role, you are here to make Tony Blair Prime Minister”.
Winners visualise what success would look like. They even write out progress reports of how each month/year looks like as they try to achieve their as yet fictional achievement.
Winners bring solutions to problems.
Winners are obsessed by minute details (100 0.1% improvements).
Winners make the correct calls. Often when the facts overwhelmingly point in one direction, people will take refuge in preconceptions, gut feeling, past experiences. Always ask for the evidence, and when the facts change update your opinion!
Winners handle crisis well. They humanise the crisis, and put themselves visually at least at the centre of the action; they are honest and they stay focused.
Use the OST structure, Objective, Strategy, Tactics. For example, objective (lose weight), strategy (eat less, exercise more), tactics (record calorie intake). Another example; objective (Labour to win 2005 election), strategy (new labour, new Britain, focus on economy and GB, TB relationship), tactics (show Labour delivered two terms of growth, and Tories would wreck it).
Use the mirror test. To find a weakness about oneself imagine yourself being the interviewer of you for a job. Tony Blair did the same when preparing for PMQs. His team would act as the Tory Opposition Leader.
Communicating a clear strategy; just when the communicator is getting bored with saying something, there is an outside chance of it reaching the outer radar of public opinion.
Winners/the best managers always talk about the players, never about themselves.
Winners inspire others; “whatever your job title, whatever your role, you are here to make Tony Blair Prime Minister”.
Winners visualise what success would look like. They even write out progress reports of how each month/year looks like as they try to achieve their as yet fictional achievement.
Winners bring solutions to problems.
Winners are obsessed by minute details (100 0.1% improvements).
Winners make the correct calls. Often when the facts overwhelmingly point in one direction, people will take refuge in preconceptions, gut feeling, past experiences. Always ask for the evidence, and when the facts change update your opinion!
Winners handle crisis well. They humanise the crisis, and put themselves visually at least at the centre of the action; they are honest and they stay focused.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 12, 2016
Superb book with loads of interesting insights although the three that I want to remember are these:
1. O.S.T. - Objective, Strategy, Tactics - the structure used to define your plan to success. The objective is likely to be fixed and very simple to define, strategy is what approach you'll take and is generally long term but must be communicated and brought up frequently to get everyone pulling in the same direction. Tactics on the other hand are the actions required to implement the strategy at any given moment in time, they are likely to change quite often and must take changing factors into account.
2. A winning mentality is not just about preparing well, paying attention to detail and building a strong team but it's about bouncing back from setbacks and learning from every mistake and failure you experience. That's what defines a real leader and a real winner.
3. The quote that I want to remember from the book is "Only the person who isn't rowing has time to rock the boat" - such an appropriate quote at the time I was reading the book with people in my team more interested in disrupting the overall mood than getting stuck in to the work they were hired to do.
1. O.S.T. - Objective, Strategy, Tactics - the structure used to define your plan to success. The objective is likely to be fixed and very simple to define, strategy is what approach you'll take and is generally long term but must be communicated and brought up frequently to get everyone pulling in the same direction. Tactics on the other hand are the actions required to implement the strategy at any given moment in time, they are likely to change quite often and must take changing factors into account.
2. A winning mentality is not just about preparing well, paying attention to detail and building a strong team but it's about bouncing back from setbacks and learning from every mistake and failure you experience. That's what defines a real leader and a real winner.
3. The quote that I want to remember from the book is "Only the person who isn't rowing has time to rock the boat" - such an appropriate quote at the time I was reading the book with people in my team more interested in disrupting the overall mood than getting stuck in to the work they were hired to do.
April 23, 2015
Although it's probably more of a 4 star book on my rating scale, I'm giving this five stars for the ambition of Alastair Campbell in looking at common characteristics for winners in business, politics and sport, three very different spheres, and also for some of the insights he has extracted from those he has interviewed.
As you would hope from a communications guru, the book is clearly constructed with simple messages, but illuminating and interesting too. It's definitely a book I'll be referring back to.
As you would hope from a communications guru, the book is clearly constructed with simple messages, but illuminating and interesting too. It's definitely a book I'll be referring back to.
March 15, 2025
Reposted from CB Book Reviews on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DHN0sA_t7...
Winners and How They Succeed is the third Alastair Campbell book that I have read, following Living Better: How I Learned to Survive Depression, and The Happy Depressive.
In this book author Alastair Campbell attempts to define what it is to be a winner and discusses the key traits that are commonly found within those performing at a high level within their area of expertise. To do this, Campbell has completed many interviews with people from across three main landscapes: Business, Politics and Sport. As a result of these interviews, Campbell attempts to point out where each of these spheres can learn from each other whilst focusing on a number of key ingredients to become successful: Goal Setting/Planning (In the form of OST: Objective, Strategy, Tactics), Teamship, Innovation, Use of Data and Leadership.
Throughout this book I found that Campbell would often make a key observation, go on to explain it and its importance but then pepper the point by name dropping from the various interviews that he has completed, moving rapidly from one example to the next. In some ways I found this good as it clearly shows that these key aspects are common across many different ‘Winners’. In other ways I preferred it when he took the time to build more of a case file around one individual.
Overall I have enjoyed this book. I feel that there has been a lot to try and absorb but it has been enjoyable to step back into the world of high performance, learning and reminding myself of the some key ingredients of becoming a winner, and being successful. At some point in the future I plan to read another book which I believe will be similar, Champion Thinking by Simon Mundie.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DHN0sA_t7...
Winners and How They Succeed is the third Alastair Campbell book that I have read, following Living Better: How I Learned to Survive Depression, and The Happy Depressive.
In this book author Alastair Campbell attempts to define what it is to be a winner and discusses the key traits that are commonly found within those performing at a high level within their area of expertise. To do this, Campbell has completed many interviews with people from across three main landscapes: Business, Politics and Sport. As a result of these interviews, Campbell attempts to point out where each of these spheres can learn from each other whilst focusing on a number of key ingredients to become successful: Goal Setting/Planning (In the form of OST: Objective, Strategy, Tactics), Teamship, Innovation, Use of Data and Leadership.
Throughout this book I found that Campbell would often make a key observation, go on to explain it and its importance but then pepper the point by name dropping from the various interviews that he has completed, moving rapidly from one example to the next. In some ways I found this good as it clearly shows that these key aspects are common across many different ‘Winners’. In other ways I preferred it when he took the time to build more of a case file around one individual.
Overall I have enjoyed this book. I feel that there has been a lot to try and absorb but it has been enjoyable to step back into the world of high performance, learning and reminding myself of the some key ingredients of becoming a winner, and being successful. At some point in the future I plan to read another book which I believe will be similar, Champion Thinking by Simon Mundie.
July 20, 2022
Who doesn't want to win? Well, perhaps some people don't want one, but I'm a mere human who lusts to win. That's why I want to read this book.
Alastair Campbell, widely known as Tony Blair's spokesman and think tank behind his successful campaigns, has the privilege of accessing the glorious names on the book's cover. From Anna Wintour to Nelson Mandela. From Jose Mourinho to Angela Merkel. I'm grateful he's doing so. Because of it we could learn from the winners not only based on the image we had in the media coverage but also on their humane & vulnerable emotions too. The familiar figures in politics, sports and businesses are covered with parallel comparative thoughts back to back, crossing one another.
Campbell highlights several topics he found important such as the OST framework: Objective, Strategy and Tactics. While I believe it's really important, I'm struggling with the repetitiveness and sometimes the out-of-topic long explanation feels dreadful. But still, there are gems scattered here and there, and I'm grateful to myself for not skipping any page until the end. That's also the reason why I would give the book 3.5 stars out of 5, not 3 stars as stated above.
If you're an ambitious individual, looking forward to enhancing your approach to your goal, this book suits you. If you're an arrogant person, bursting with confidence, on the edge of thinking all other people are fools, this book even suits you better. Because it will slam you to the hard truth of reality, that there are plenty of winners with extraordinary qualities you can't even imagine.
An inspiring, yet humbling book.
Alastair Campbell, widely known as Tony Blair's spokesman and think tank behind his successful campaigns, has the privilege of accessing the glorious names on the book's cover. From Anna Wintour to Nelson Mandela. From Jose Mourinho to Angela Merkel. I'm grateful he's doing so. Because of it we could learn from the winners not only based on the image we had in the media coverage but also on their humane & vulnerable emotions too. The familiar figures in politics, sports and businesses are covered with parallel comparative thoughts back to back, crossing one another.
Campbell highlights several topics he found important such as the OST framework: Objective, Strategy and Tactics. While I believe it's really important, I'm struggling with the repetitiveness and sometimes the out-of-topic long explanation feels dreadful. But still, there are gems scattered here and there, and I'm grateful to myself for not skipping any page until the end. That's also the reason why I would give the book 3.5 stars out of 5, not 3 stars as stated above.
If you're an ambitious individual, looking forward to enhancing your approach to your goal, this book suits you. If you're an arrogant person, bursting with confidence, on the edge of thinking all other people are fools, this book even suits you better. Because it will slam you to the hard truth of reality, that there are plenty of winners with extraordinary qualities you can't even imagine.
An inspiring, yet humbling book.
May 27, 2024
I can never get enough of books looking at self improvement and psychology. An extra layer to this book was the fact it was written by Alastair Campbell. I’ve enjoyed his political diaries, podcasts and interviews so I was really looking forward to his perils of wisdom on what it takes become a winner.
His mantra that winners have an objective, strategy and tactics really resonated with me. Each chapter had countless pieces of advice from some of the biggest names in the world. This included Richard Branson, Anna Wintour and Jose Mourinho.
There was so much to take away from this book that I hope to use in my life.
His mantra that winners have an objective, strategy and tactics really resonated with me. Each chapter had countless pieces of advice from some of the biggest names in the world. This included Richard Branson, Anna Wintour and Jose Mourinho.
There was so much to take away from this book that I hope to use in my life.
October 17, 2019
Well researched and a great read
Alastair Campbell is one of those people that people love to hate. An easy target for mass media over the years, he has a mindset that explains this book; try not to let it bother you and crack on. Hard work, practise, making mistakes, owning those mistakes and learning from them, never giving up...all are common traits a amongst the winners discussed in this book. I really enjoyed reading it!
Alastair Campbell is one of those people that people love to hate. An easy target for mass media over the years, he has a mindset that explains this book; try not to let it bother you and crack on. Hard work, practise, making mistakes, owning those mistakes and learning from them, never giving up...all are common traits a amongst the winners discussed in this book. I really enjoyed reading it!
July 22, 2021
Suddenly it made sense, after reading the 1st bit 3 times and stalling the the was right and the whole insight into an alien mindset worker for me. Possibly helped by the hospitality of it being tour de France time and the euro 2020 so discussed. The focus and drive and why people chose to do so was intiriguing. I think the application to politics and the move away from doing it for power and to get public attention at all costs would be useful for the current governing party...
October 1, 2019
Can’t get past first chapter. There is no methodological approach to any explanations given in this book. It’s just statement of opinion followed by single anecdotes to back up each opinion. Not particularly well-written either. I’ve tried to pick it up twice now but can’t beat the disjointed writing unfortunately.
September 18, 2020
Alastair Campbell's Winners takes you through the history of winners throughout the political, business and sports world - identifying the common traits amongst all of them. For me, AC's ability too touch upon his own past experiences blended together with the interviews he conducted bring together a very good read.
October 19, 2024
So, how do you relate those blinks to your life?! You don't! pure Luck or what some may call it "destiny" is the key element.
The author mentioned the Clinton indecent, which to this day i still do not fully understand why is it considered a scandal?! I mean men cheat all the time and the president is a "man" after all?! Right?
Blinkist.
The author mentioned the Clinton indecent, which to this day i still do not fully understand why is it considered a scandal?! I mean men cheat all the time and the president is a "man" after all?! Right?
Blinkist.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 9, 2017
Great book to read. OST can be applied to many walks of life without a complicated approach. I love sports and could relate to many of the sporting examples used in this book. I'd recommend reading it.
November 3, 2017
It has many useful ideas and strategies explained largely through the medium of various 'winners'.
However, it is far too long by half. The same points could have been made as effectively but much more concisely.
However, it is far too long by half. The same points could have been made as effectively but much more concisely.
January 15, 2018
I was looking for a positive book to read at the beginning of the year and this fit the bill exactly. By no way it offers anything new but helps in getting our thoughts structured in suggesting OST. But I found it a bit lengthy and repetitive beyond a point.
April 9, 2018
One of the most inspirational books on success I've ever read, offers incredibly good and relevant advice to excel in whatever one decides to set one's mind on. Especially relevant for me during the transitional period of my career.
December 3, 2019
Very insightful in regards to the minds of successful individuals. It delves deeply into the thought processes and behavioural tendencies of top athletes, politicians and entrepreneurs, showing how their struggles as well as their practices help them to continuously grow and develop.
March 22, 2020
Was ok, listened to audiobook version, which is not read by Campbell which I would of preferred. Struggled with the main narrator, some good bits and interviews with people from sports, politics and business.
May 24, 2020
I didn't come across any profound insights in this, and personally didn't find many of the 'winners' relateable - elite sports persons, and the like. Most of what was conveyed has been conveyed elsewhere.
August 14, 2021
Some good parts, but mostly a disappointing incohesive exercise in celebrity name-dropping and surface-picking with obvious observations about basic, generic ingredients for success. Had expected more practical insight and analysis.
October 30, 2021
Could have been written in half the pages
I would have given 5* with less details that in spite of providing context take away from the message. Had to skip paragraphs at times when I was a bit tired.
I would have given 5* with less details that in spite of providing context take away from the message. Had to skip paragraphs at times when I was a bit tired.
August 27, 2023
Enjoyed the clarity of the chapters on strategy and the comparative success of various aspects of ‘winning’ from sports to business and politics. The story telling shines through what is essentially a leadership book.
February 8, 2024
I very much enjoyed this book. It was a follow up read from the One Thing for be. It worked incredibly well as well follow up book. It has given me some added motivation and consideration about applying some of the attributes the book mentions.
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