Athena Profile picture
May 19 13 tweets 5 min read Read on X
Jordan, Kobe, and Shaq wouldn’t have become champions without this guy.

As a coach, he won the most NBA championships in history.

Here are the 5 principles that turned Phil into the leader he was: Image
Phil Jackson understood human behavior.
His coaching philosophy was profoundly insightful:

1. "I don't call plays"
2. Meditation and mental strength
3. No micromanagement
4. Empower others
5. Listen to your players Image
1. “I don’t call plays.”

Phil implemented the famous Triangle Offense:

A rare system that demanded the players to read the floor, adapt to defense, and make decisions.

It gives a structure and complete freedom within it.
Michael Jordan once asked Phil why he didn’t call more plays.

“Because I want you to learn how to read the game.”

That lesson turned MJ into not just a scorer but a thinker as well.

The Bulls won 6 titles under Jackson's leadership. Image
2. Meditation and mental strength.

Jackson earned the nickname "Zen Master.”
He taught players meditation to improve focus and emotional control.

Kobe Bryant credited mindfulness for elevating his game:

"Phil taught me to focus on the moment. It changed everything."
3. No micromanagement, especially in chaos.

Jordan and Scottie Pippen had their clashes.
Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal’s feud was legendary.

But Jackson rarely intervened.

“You can’t force growth. You can only create an environment for it to happen.”
Lakers won the 2001 championship with the most dominant playoff runs in NBA history (15-1).

Shaq later admitted:

“We didn’t see eye to eye, but on the court, we made magic.
That’s what Phil helped us realize.” Image
4. Empowering others.

Jackson believed in empowering leaders to take charge on and off the court.

Shaq and Kobe clashed in front of the entire team.
He trusted veteran Derek Fisher to mediate, and it saved their season.

“Phil trusted us to handle it as men.”
In the 1997 NBA Finals, Phil encouraged Steve Kerr, a role player, to step into the spotlight.

Kerr hit the game-winning shot.

"Michael didn’t want to take the shot. So I said, I guess I’ll do it."

Phil's trust gave role players the confidence to shine when it mattered most.
5. A leader who listened.

Phil didn’t impose his will. He valued his players’ input.

During the Finals, Shaq suggested more post-touches to exploit mismatches. Phil agreed.

Shaq dominated, averaging 38 points and leading the Lakers to their first championship under Jackson.
Phil listened to everyone, not only the superstars.

In the NBA Finals, Scottie Pippen suggested they focus on exploiting mismatches.
Phil adjusted the game plan, and the rest is history.

“The best ideas don’t always come from the top. Leaders must learn to listen.”
It’s not about doing everything yourself.

It’s about creating an environment where others can thrive to their max potential.

Start delegating smarter and focus on what matters most.

Athena helps leaders like you win championships.
athena.com
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More from @athenago

May 16
Wikipedia makes over $165 million a year without spending money on ads, writers, or investors.

Still, they’ve built the fastest-evolving platform and largest knowledge bank on the planet.

Here’s exactly how they did it: 🧵 Image
The story began in 2001 when Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger had a bold idea:

An online encyclopedia anyone could edit.

At the time, everything was for-profit and access was centralized, so this was a shocking concept.
Wikipedia has:

• 6.7 billion visits per month
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• 98% of contributors work for free

The real genius? Delegating everything to users, volunteers, and the Wikimedia Foundation.
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Mar 5
Elon found the secret to dominate every field:

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- xAI built the world's largest AI supercomputer (100K GPU)

Marc Andreessen broke down how Elon wins EVERY SINGLE TIME 🧵 Image
Andreessen was impressed with Musk's operational methods.
But even though well known now, no one uses them.

Marc says Elon’s approach reminds him of the industrial titans of the late 1800s, like Henry Ford, who tackled problems head-on.
Elon walks into a room, identifies the largest bottleneck, and focuses just on that.

He solves it within a week, then moves on to the next.

What might take another company 3 months, Elon solves in 7 days.

And problem-fixing compounds.
Read 14 tweets
Feb 21
Jeff Bezos never ran a corporate meeting.

Instead, he followed his 2–pizza-rule and built a $2.4 TRILLION empire selling anything he wants.

How? A leadership strategy so effective, Walmart and Target now use it.

Here’s his genius framework for running any business you want: Image
Bezos believed that if a team couldn’t be fed with 2 pizzas, it was too large.

“2-Pizza Teams” operate like mini-startups within Amazon.
- They own their projects.
- They make decisions independently.
- They don’t wait for approval from layers of management.
Bezos wanted a “single point of ownership” for every project.

Every small team had one leader accountable for the outcome.
No confusion. No finger-pointing. Everybody knew who the leader was.

This clarity helped Amazon scale without chaos. Image
Read 10 tweets
Feb 17
In 1984, Haier was on the verge of bankruptcy.

With over 600 employees, they barely produced 80 refrigerators monthly.

Then their new CEO found 76 defective fridges.

What he did next erased over $190,000 in debt and made Haier a $56.57 BILLION empire.

Here's the story: 🧵 Image
Image
He smashed all 76 defective fridges, each worth 4 years of salary, in front of the workers' eyes.

The workers burst into tears as they watched, but it sent the message:

Quality over quantity.

But the theatrics were just the start. What Zhang did next was truly revolutionary...
Haier was on the brink of collapse.

Workers were sluggish, careless and so undisciplined that Zhang, the new CEO, had to stop them from urinating on the factory floor.

Something had to change.

So when a customer returned a faulty refrigerator, he came up with a crazy plan... Image
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Jan 28
In 2014, Apple unleashed $3B to kill Spotify.

With endless cash and Taylor Swift on its side, victory was assured.

But Spotify had an unbeatable advantage...

The "secret weapon" that won a $96 BILLION music war: 🧵 Image
Image
Apple was panicking.

It was 2014, and Spotify was on the rise.

Its surprising success threatened Apple's $17.8B music empire.

So the tech giant plotted to destroy the upstart... Image
It acquired Beats Music and Beats Electronics for $3 billion.
Then launched Apple Music in 2015.

Taylor Swift signed on to the platform with a special streaming deal.

With Apple's $200 BILLION war chest of cash, the battle seemed dire for Spotify. Image
Image
Read 13 tweets

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