The Right Call: What Sports Teach Us About Leadership, Excellence, and Decision-Making

Written by Sally Jenkins

Narrated by Sally Jenkins

An NPR best book of the year * New York Times bestseller

The Washington Post sportswriter and New York Times bestselling author of the “fascinating” (The Wall Street Journal) The Real All Americans presents a love letter to the extraordinary coaches and athletes she has covered over the years and the actionable principles of excellence they embody.

Sportswriter Sally Jenkins has spent her entire adult life observing and writing about great coaches and athletes. With her engaging and expert prose, she has helped shape the way we view these talented sports icons. But somewhere along the line, she realized, they had begun to shape her.

Now, she presents the astonishing inner qualities in these same people that pushed them to overcome pressure, elevate their performances, and discover champion identities. Based on years of observing, interviewing, and analyzing elite coaches and playmakers, such as Bill Belichick, Peyton Manning, Michael Phelps, and more, Jenkins reveals the seven principles behind success:

-Conditioning
-Practice
-Discipline
-Candor
-Culture
-Resilience
-Intention

Discover how you can apply these same principles to your life and become your own champion. Colorful, inspirational, and accessible, The Right Call is the one stop shop for anyone wanting to learn how to effectively elevate themselves to greatness.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Jun 6, 2023
• ISBN: 9781797155043

Sally Jenkins

Sally Jenkins has been a columnist and feature writer for The Washington Post for more than twenty years. She was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2020 and in 2021 was named the winner of the Associated Press Red Smith Award for Outstanding Contributions to Sports Journalism. She is the author of twelve books of nonfiction including The Real All Americans, the story of the Carlisle Indian School and its use of football as a form of resistance following the close of the Indian Wars. Her work for The Washington Post has included coverage of ten Olympic Games. In 2005, she was the first woman to be inducted into the National Sportswriters and Sportscasters Hall of Fame. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Stanford University in 1982 and resides in New York.

Reviews for The Right Call

[Justin Reyes · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was a Great book and Worthwhile read. Highly recommend

[Mike Burch · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

One of the best leadership books I have ever read it is full of practical advice and fantastic examples from some of the greatest leaders in sports.

[Ryan Baxter · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I could have listened for twice as long. I would now enjoy listening to a follow-up with increasingly psychological or social psychological analysis. This pulls together many different ideas already written but gives them a much better context and motivation around them. Because it was at the end of the book it may be a little bit of a recency bias but I think we need a lot more Tony Dungy coaches. Nice to also emphasize the level of detail of meticulous practice (deliberate practice). Even some of the sports stories that I don't really care much about were interesting.