MANAGING PEOPLE Team Leadership and Motivation Lessons from Basketball

Larry J. Washington didn’t learn leadership from theory alone. He learned it through decades of real responsibility. With more than thirty-five years in business and senior leadership roles including Vice President and Assistant Vice President, Washington has led teams through growth, pressure, change, and uncertainty. His career began in pharmacy and evolved into corporate management, giving him a rare blend of technical discipline and people-centered leadership. Outside the office, one constant shaped his thinking, college basketball. Years of watching the game revealed patterns that felt strikingly familiar. Coaches adjusting strategies. Players responding to pressure. Teams succeeding or failing based on chemistry, communication, and trust. This workbook grew from that realization. Washington writes with honesty, humility, and respect for the people doing the work. He believes great managers are made, not born and that self-awareness is the most underrated leadership skill of all. The book is dedicated to his family, the managers who influenced him, the game of basketball, and his faith. Each of which shaped his understanding of leadership and service.