Jurgen Klopp, Jose Mourinho, Sir Clive Woodward, Carlo Ancelotti, Sir Steve Hansen, Dave Alfred, Phil Jackson. These are the best of the best.

And the list goes on with Pep Guardiola, Xabi Alonso, Sir Alex Ferguson.

Who’s your favourite?

The examples of top coaches across the world in all sports are living, breathing textbooks.

Their life histories show similar traits. Many were ex-players. Some were winners but some didn’t get far at all.

Their former players show them respect and admiration for the things they achieved together in almost all cases.

Taking time to study their history gives us blueprints we can use for our own lives.

They always had a plan.

They had goals for their teams. They wanted the titles, trophies, domination.

They deliberated on every detail, leaving nothing to chance.

They rarely took chances, but sometimes situations in games forced their hand.

And when they did, their players responded. The players knew their job within the system they were playing in and they succeeded.

These sources of learning are invaluable.

Sports isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but the lessons are plentiful and applicable to most aspects of everyday life.

Picking up a biography of a top coach or watching interviews with them on YouTube gives huge insights we can all learn from.