Michael Jordan

Michael Jordan appears in Kyle’s notes on Discipline Is Destiny as the model for the “lift-the-supporting-players” frame: Jordan learned to elevate teammates like Dennis Rodman despite their flaws and weaknesses, rather than trying to force them to be Michael Jordan — “Help them be their best.” Kyle reads this as the leadership analog to the book’s refrain “whatever you are, be a good one,” applied to the people you work with rather than to yourself.

The book sets Jordan as the positive contrast to Kobe Bryant, who struggled his entire career to accept that his teammates “couldn’t all be Kobes” — driving them so hard he sometimes drove them away (as with Shaquille O’Neal), depriving himself of a supporting cast. Jordan is the example of discipline directed outward as patient leadership; Kobe is the cautionary foil.

Context: Michael Jordan (b. 1963) is a former American professional basketball player, widely regarded as the greatest of all time, who won six NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls — three of them alongside rebounding specialist Dennis Rodman.

Where this appears

• Discipline Is Destiny — the “lift-the-supporting-players” frame; Jordan elevating Dennis Rodman as the contrast to Kobe Bryant driving teammates too hard