The Score That Matters: Growing Excellence in Yourself and Those You Lead

by Ryan Hawk, Brook Cupps

Overview

USA Today Bestseller

Redefine success based on who you are and what you value with this indispensable guide from the authors of The Pursuit of Excellence and Surrender the Outcome.

People love to keep score. Managers keep score of a range of business metrics: market share, revenue, profit margin, growth rate. In our personal lives, social media has us keeping score by likes and followers.

These external scores are outcome-driven and serve as proof of our success—money, fame, material possessions, wins—but this constant chase for more validation often leaves us feeling exhausted and empty.

In The Score That Matters, Ryan Hawk and Brook Cupps show that the internal score is what matters most—it reveals whether we are living in alignment with our purpose and values. It also measures how we are leading ourselves and others, prompting us to:

• Differentiate between the two scoreboards that run our life
• Use our fear as fuel
• Avoid the poison of comparison
• Embrace the mundanity of excellence
• Regulate our emotional thermostat
• Create a mentality for attacking adversity

Offering both descriptive and prescriptive advice and anecdotes, The Score That Matters will help you unlock true fulfillment and happiness by discovering your purpose, identifying your values, and creating critical behaviors and living them faithfully every day in all aspects of your life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781637745236
Publisher:	BenBella Books, Inc.
Publication date:	03/26/2024
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	4,921
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Ryan Hawk is the creator and host of The Learning Leader Show, a top-rated business podcast that focuses on learning from the most effective leaders in the world. He speaks regularly to Fortune 500 companies; works with teams and players in the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NCAA; and facilitates Leadership Circles to offer structured guidance and collaborative feedback to new and experienced leaders. Ryan has also built an online leadership school called The Learning Leader Academy. He is the author of Welcome to Management and The Pursuit of Excellence, lauded by Forbes magazine as “the best leadership book of 2020” and “the most dynamic leadership book of 2022,” respectively.

Brook Cupps has been a high school basketball coach for more than 20 years, earning several Coach of the Year awards. His teams have won numerous conference, district, and regional championships, as well as Centerville High School’s first-ever basketball state championship in 2021. In addition, he has spent the last eight years coaching grassroots basketball on the AAU circuits, and helped guide the North Coast (Ohio) Blue Chips to national championships in 2014 and 2019. He publishes weekly essays on leadership and coaching on his site, Blue Collar Grit, and is the author of Surrender the Outcome.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“The Score That Matters is profoundly helpful, yet simple and accessible. And I really like the way Ryan and Brook use their different voices to make it compelling. This book is transformational.”
—Patrick Lencioni, National Bestselling Author, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team and The Six Types of Working Genius
 
“In a world fixated on external accomplishments, Ryan Hawk and Brook Cupps remind us that the real score that matters is the one that aligns with our purpose and values, guiding us on a path to becoming better individuals and leaders. This book is a beacon of light in a world often overshadowed by superficial accomplishments, and I’m grateful for the wisdom it imparts.” 
—Buzz Williams, Head Men’s Basketball Coach, Texas A&M University
 
“People spend far too much time obsessing about external scoreboards and not nearly enough time thinking about their internal one. Hawk and Cupps offer an important corrective, arguing the most important measure is whether or not you are living in alignment with your core values.” 
—Brad Stulberg, Author, Master of Change and The Practice of Groundedness
 
“This book will not leave you alone once you’ve finished reading it. The questions and exercises that follow each contextually anchored chapter nag at you. It will make you itch to be a better human."”
—Sherri Coale, Author, Rooted to Rise, and Hall of Fame Coach, University of Oklahoma Women’s Basketball
 
“Brook Cupps and Ryan Hawk have united to blend their individual talents and life experiences into one spectacular book on how to live a life of impact and fulfillment. Their intimate and personal stories will push you to new levels of leadership and solidify your learnings with actionable exercises at the end of every chapter.”
—Rob Kimbel, CEO, Kimbel Mechanical Systems
 
“Ryan Hawk and Brook Cupps will make you rethink how you live your life. The Score That Matters is packed with invaluable strategies for achieving what you want and helping others along the way. It is a must-read if you care to live an excellent life.”
—Vanessa Van Edwards, Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author, Captivate and Cues

“The Score That Matters is more than a book—it's a leadership awakening. Hawk and Cupps shatter the age-old myth of using externally driven metrics to define success, urging leaders instead to harness a more intentional, fulfilling approach based on internal scoreboards. Drawing from a wellspring of research and their own hard-won victories, they chart a path to authentic leadership.” 
—Beth Cunningham, Head Women's Basketball Coach, Missouri State University

“Ryan Hawk has established himself as one of the most influential voices on all things leadership, and The Score That Matters highlights the most important lesson that any leader should take to heart: judging your life on how well it aligns with your own values, not society's expectations . . . Leaders from all walks of life will find Ryan and Brook's latest book packed with valuable, actionable insights." 
—Jack Raines, Writer, Young Money blog, and Editor-in-Chief, Exec Sum

"I value clarity, and I admire people who inspire clarity, especially in a time when so few have it. Clarity ignites in the presence of systems and simplicity. This book takes the reader to a place where that clarity is possible; it asks us to focus inward on that which we can control. The Score That Matters will help you find joy in your work and reap the clarity that awaits as you do it.” 
—Thomas Eytcheson, Owner, Dynamic Information Solutions and BedRock Data Solutions

"Ryan Hawk is a master of dualities: He's a great leader, but also a ferocious learner. He's an accomplished athlete, but he's also excelled in the business world. He's eminently interesting, but he's also genuinely interested. Ryan has uncovered the secrets of what the best leaders do and how they think. Do yourself and your team a favor and read this book." 
—Liz Wiseman, New York Times Bestselling Author, Multipliers and Rookie Smarts

"Ryan Hawk is that rarest of people—a truly curious soul who asks questions that drill down into the heart of the matter, leave space for contemplation, and gently urge his subjects to look inside for answers they might not yet have discovered themselves." 
—Robert Kurson, New York Times Bestselling Author, Shadow Divers

Editorial Reviews

The Score That Matters is profoundly helpful, yet simple and accessible. And I really like the way Ryan and Brook use their different voices to make it compelling. This book is transformational.”
—Patrick Lencioni, National Bestselling Author, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team and The Six Types of Working Genius

“In a world fixated on external accomplishments, Ryan Hawk and Brook Cupps remind us that the real score that matters is the one that aligns with our purpose and values, guiding us on a path to becoming better individuals and leaders. This book is a beacon of light in a world often overshadowed by superficial accomplishments, and I’m grateful for the wisdom it imparts.”
—Buzz Williams, Head Men’s Basketball Coach, Texas A&M University

“People spend far too much time obsessing about external scoreboards and not nearly enough time thinking about their internal one. Hawk and Cupps offer an important corrective, arguing the most important measure is whether or not you are living in alignment with your core values.”
—Brad Stulberg, Author, Master of Change and The Practice of Groundedness

“This book will not leave you alone once you’ve finished reading it. The questions and exercises that follow each contextually anchored chapter nag at you. It will make you itch to be a better human."”
—Sherri Coale, Author, Rooted to Rise, and Hall of Fame Coach, University of Oklahoma Women’s Basketball

“Brook Cupps and Ryan Hawk have united to blend their individual talents and life experiences into one spectacular book on how to live a life of impact and fulfillment. Their intimate and personal stories will push you to new levels of leadership and solidify your learnings with actionable exercises at the end of every chapter.”
—Rob Kimbel, CEO, Kimbel Mechanical Systems

“Ryan Hawk and Brook Cupps will make you rethink how you live your life. The Score That Matters is packed with invaluable strategies for achieving what you want and helping others along the way. It is a must-read if you care to live an excellent life.”
—Vanessa Van Edwards, Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author, Captivate and Cues

“The Score That Matters is more than a book—it's a leadership awakening. Hawk and Cupps shatter the age-old myth of using externally driven metrics to define success, urging leaders instead to harness a more intentional, fulfilling approach based on internal scoreboards. Drawing from a wellspring of research and their own hard-won victories, they chart a path to authentic leadership.”
—Beth Cunningham, Head Women's Basketball Coach, Missouri State University

“Ryan Hawk has established himself as one of the most influential voices on all things leadership, and The Score That Matters highlights the most important lesson that any leader should take to heart: judging your life on how well it aligns with your own values, not society's expectations . . . Leaders from all walks of life will find Ryan and Brook's…book packed with valuable, actionable insights."
—Jack Raines, Writer, Young Money blog, and Editor-in-Chief, Exec Sum

"I value clarity, and I admire people who inspire clarity, especially in a time when so few have it. Clarity ignites in the presence of systems and simplicity. This book takes the reader to a place where that clarity is possible; it asks us to focus inward on that which we can control. The Score That Matters will help you find joy in your work and reap the clarity that awaits as you do it.”
—Thomas Eytcheson, Owner, Dynamic Information Solutions and BedRock Data Solutions

"Ryan Hawk is a master of dualities: He's a great leader, but also a ferocious learner. He's an accomplished athlete, but he's also excelled in the business world. He's eminently interesting, but he's also genuinely interested. Ryan has uncovered the secrets of what the best leaders do and how they think. Do yourself and your team a favor and read this book."
—Liz Wiseman, New York Times Bestselling Author, Multipliers and Rookie Smarts

"Ryan Hawk is that rarest of people—a truly curious soul who asks questions that drill down into the heart of the matter, leave space for contemplation, and gently urge his subjects to look inside for answers they might not yet have discovered themselves."
—Robert Kurson, New York Times Bestselling Author, Shadow Divers

From the Publisher