Coach K was the coach for Duke’s basketball team and he had been offered a position as coach for the Los Angeles Lakers with a $40 million contract. Coach K had grown Duke’s basketball program into one of the most successful college sports programs for almost twenty-five years. Coach K won a significant amount of awards during his career and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. Coach K played basketball and was team captain at West Point under coach Bob Knight. Coach K was hired by Knight as a graduate assistant at Indiana University and then a year later, Knight recommended Coach K for head coach at Army. Knight also recommended Coach K for the coaching position at Duke five years later. Coach K built trust with his players…show more content… He had one of the greatest records in the history of college basketball, including the most wins in Division 1 basketball and was considered one of the top five college coaches. He was given complete control over the basketball program because he was so successful and highly valued as a coach. He was demanding and passionate as a coach, who would not accept anything but the best. His coaching methods were controversial and ended up getting him fired. Coach Knight had manhandled a student and he had a long history of unacceptable behavior, which were the reasons Indiana University let him go. He was a perfectionist and did not tolerate mistakes from his players. He would bench, demote, or even remove players from the team if he felt that they were not playing hard enough. He was intimidating and used insults and profanity to teach his players a lesson. There were two sides to Coach Knight. On one side he was a tyrant with a temper and on the other side he was a passionate parent to his players. His son played for him at Indiana and became a coach as well. Many of his players went on to become coaches and Coach Knight followed their careers. Coach Knight threw a chair during a game against Purdue and this incident has become infamous. Sports Illustrated had an investigation to find out why a number of players had left Indiana’s basketball program. Players…show more content… Coach K believes that leaders should be dynamic and flexible. Coach K believes that having too many rules can impede effective leadership and keeps his leadership style simple and unregimented. His only rule is that players should not do anything that is detrimental to the player, the school, or the team. This shows that Coach K cares about the players as individuals and wants to help them all reach their full potential. He also spent time getting into players’ heads to see where they are coming from and help them be better. Coach K does not use his whistle and prefers to communicate up close and personal with his players. He believes that this eye-to-eye communication helps build trust between him and his team. The entire team communicates in this fashion in order to establish trust between them. This trust and up close communication provides intellectual stimulation because players can talk out situations with him and see things from a new perspective. He also uses his physical and facial expressions as well. He makes sure to smile and walk confidently into the locker room so his team believes him when he gives them motivation before the game. Coach K has referent power and idealized influence; his players look up to him and consider him a parental figure. Coach K and his players are a family; Coach K