COACH WOODEN WISDOM

VOLUME 1

 BE TRUE TO YOURSELF

Click here to watch video clip

A core part of Coach Wooden's philosophy is based on a card that his father gave him and his brothers when they graduated from grammar school. As depicted below, on one side of the card was a verse by the Reverend Henry Van Dyke, and the other side was titled "Seven Things To Do," which Coach later dubbed his “Seven Point Creed.”

Four things a man must learn to do
If he would make his life more true:

To think without confusion clearly,
To love his fellow-man sincerely,
To act from honest motives purely,
To trust in God and Heaven securely.

~ Reverend Henry Van Dyke

Seven Things To Do

Be true to yourself.
Help others.
Make each day your masterpiece.
Drink deeply from good books, especially the Bible.
Make friendship a fine art.
Build a shelter against a rainy day.
Pray for guidance and count and give thanks for your blessings every day.

This issue of The Wooden Way is devoted to the first item on his list of seven things to do, “Be true to yourself” – that is, be loyal to your core values no matter the situation. Being true to one’s self is different for each person although in practice it requires the same principles for everyone, and may often produce similar results.

One of the core values that was central to Joshua Wooden’s value and character was his gentleness with all living creatures, a trait that young John Wooden grew up admiring in his father. Coach has often spoken about the gentle and loving way that his parents interacted, and the fact that his father’s favorite Abraham Lincoln quote was, “The best thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.”

Coach has also told many stories about his father’s gentleness in different situations on the farm. For example, the family kept two plowing mules named Jack and Kate, the latter of which had a tendency to lying down in the field and refusing to work. No matter how rough or frustrated young John got with Kate, she would not budge. Joshua, however, would walk over until he was within earshot of the mule, and simply say, “Kate.” This alone would be enough to spur the animal back into action. In his father’s example, Coach learned over time that even an obstinate mule could be persuaded with gentleness.

As he grew older, Coach Wooden realized that his father’s gentleness came from the peace of mind he achieved through confidence and contentment with himself. His serenity seemed to extend beyond himself and influence anyone and anything in his presence. Fierce dogs lick his father’s hand when he reached out to pet them; wild colts bucking in the barn become docile after his father spent just a few moments speaking to them in his firm, gentle voice. Coach learned from his father that one should never mistake gentleness for weakness; in fact, quite the opposite is true. Joshua Wooden proved the famous words of Han Suyin, “There is nothing stronger in the world than gentleness.”

Though such a calm approach to life is not a trait in everyone’s personality, the self control to conduct one’s self in a consistently assured and confident manner is something towards which we can all strive. Coach Wooden credited a large part of his own happiness and fulfillment to the fact that he tried every day to be true to his core values. The choices he made about how he spoke, the way he interacted with people, and the approach he took to coaching were all consistent with his deepest and dearest beliefs. As a result, people were naturally drawn to Coach in the same way that people and animals alike responded to his father’s contagious serenity.

That peace of mind stems directly from knowing that every decision is consistent with one’s own values. Being true to one’s self breeds confidence, and is one of the fundamental traits of effective leadership.

VOLUME II

DON’T WHINE, DON’T COMPLAIN, DON’T MAKE EXCUSES

 Click here to watch Coach John Wooden video clip.

 Previously we described how the core of Coach Wooden's philosophy started with his father's rules. Joshua Wooden gave his boys a very direct set of rules he hoped would guide their everyday behavior.

 These were referred to as the “Two Sets of Three.” As discussed in our first coaching module, the first set of three dealt with integrity:

Never lie

Never cheat

Never steal

The second set of three dealt with how to handle adversity:

Don’t whine

Don’t complain

Don’t make excuses 

The finest teaching tool we have is the example we set for others, and how we handle adversity can be one of the strongest ways of demonstrating our character. For example, there was one particular event in Coach Wooden's early life when his father set an example that had a very significant impact on him. Joshua Wooden had purchased some pigs as an investment for the family farm, but their expense necessitated that he take out a mortgage. He also purchased vaccinations to keep them healthy, but it turned out that the vaccine was bad, and the entire herd died as a result. Later that same year, the crops were destroyed by a drought; unable to continue paying the mortgage, Joshua Wooden ultimately lost his farm to the bank.

Yet, without any ill words for the man who had sold him the bad vaccine, Joshua moved the family to a nearby town where he took a job as a masseur. Young John Wooden knew that these events had devastated his father’s spirit and broken his heart, but Joshua would never blame others or dwell on mistakes. He lived by the same set of rules that he bestowed upon his sons: "Don't whine, don't complain, don't make excuses. Just do the best you can. Nobody can do more than that." That story, and his father’s example, deeply impressed itself upon John Wooden’s mind.

Years later, he would find himself recalling his father’s attitude when the poor facilities at the UCLA basketball facility bothered him. For the first dozen years of his coaching career there, this attitude really held him back as a coach. When he resolved to stop complaining and to simply make the best of it, Coach Wooden noted that his success greatly improved.

 Coach devised and collected a number of maxims regarding the best way to respond to difficult situations. They are great triggers that you can use with yourself, your staff, your team or your employees to rekindle a positive attitude when the going gets tough.

 “Bad times can make you bitter or better.”

“Never make excuses. Your friends won't need them and your foes won't believe them.”

“Things usually turn out the best for people who make the best out of the way things turn out.”

It is important to note that talking directly to a person about a situation you are not happy with is not whining or complaining, provided that person is in a position to effect a change and your approach is one of respect and genuine concern. We must always facilitate feedback from our coworkers and not have them feel like they are complaining when they disagree with us.

 If a player is in the locker room fussing to his teammates about your zone offense – that would be whining and complaining. If that same player expresses the same concern to you directly and in a solution-oriented manner – that is the type of communication that should be encouraged. Coach Wooden’s maxim “Disagree without being disagreeable” is a good way to manage that communication. If you are a head coach, it is critical to facilitate new and different ideas from your assistant coaches. If you are an assistant coach, you should be mindful of the time and place you offer suggestions to the head coach.

 However, if your complaints are such that no one is able to do anything to resolve them, then you must be the one to effect the change yourself. Coach Wooden said, “Complaining, whining, and making excuses just keep you out of the present. If your complaints are constant, serious, and genuine about your calling, then leave when practical.” By handling yourself in such a way through difficult situations, you will not only find your own outlook improving, but you will likely inspire those around you, too.

VOLUME III

NEVER LIE, NEVER CHEAT, NEVER STEAL

Click here to watch a short Coach Wooden video clip.

 Coach Wooden established four essential components of being a successful coach: The coach as a Philosopher, as an Example, as a Teacher, and as a Leader.

The primary sources of the early formation of his philosophy were the rules (The Two Sets of Three) and the advice (The Seven Point Creed) that he received from his father. Utilizing this philosophy along with his early challenges as a coach and teacher, Coach was able to define his concept of true success. For achieving success, as he defined it, Coach established the most desirable character traits one must possess –the same traits that molded his style as a teacher and a leader – within the blocks and mortar of his Pyramid of Success.

Hence, while Coach Wooden is most famous for his Pyramid of Success, in order to properly understand the philosophy upon which the Pyramid was constructed, one must first have a basic understanding of the “Two Sets of Three” and the “Seven Point Creed.” Thus, in order to lay the proper foundation, it is here at the beginning where we will begin our series of weekly coaching modules.

Coach Wooden’s father gave each of his four boys two direct sets of three rules he hoped would guide their everyday behavior. They were referred to as “Two Sets of Three.” The first set dealt with integrity, and must be the starting point for any leader:

Never lie

Never cheat

Never steal

These rules are simple and self-explanatory, yet they are as important as they are obvious. The first thing anybody wants to know about you is, “can I trust you?” It is a question asked by parents, friends, co-workers, recruits, athletic directors, fellow coaches and anyone else with whom you may hope to build a relationship. By following these three simple rules consistently, you will always be trustworthy.

 Know that your most important teaching tool is the example you set. In order to set the model for good character, you must consistently follow rules that drive your behavior. You cannot be a person whose ethics depend upon the situation or the company you keep. (As a sidebar, a tremendous asset to your recruiting ability is your own true character, which will be conveyed to your recruits by your current players when you are not present.)

 On each side of Coach Wooden’s Pyramid of Success are five desirable character traits that he referred to as mortar, the substance that holds the structure together. Four of the five pieces of mortar on the right side of the pyramid directly reflect what he learned from his father’s first set of three: “Integrity (purity of intention), Reliability (creates respect), Honesty (in thought and action), and Sincerity (keeps friends).”

 Coach Wooden’s players and those he worked with over the years always talk about the good example he set. His coworkers have told many stories about this, such as the payment he made to cover some personal phone calls he had placed over a school phone, even though they totaled less than a dollar. One of his fellow coaches speaks of the fact that after Coach Wooden retired and maintained an office in the athletic department, he would still take all of his return correspondence and packages to the post office himself each day and pay for the postage out of his own pocket. Indeed, his integrity was legendary.

 As with most of his wisdom, Coach provided us with a set of maxims to help us remember the lessons and implications of trustworthiness. He explained that the “first set of three” was significant for the following reasons:

Tell the truth. That way you don’t have to remember a story.

The true athlete should have character, not be a character.

Young people need models, not critics.

And of course, Coach always gives a character trait (a block on the pyramid) to remind us of these behaviors. In this case it is Loyalty – “To yourself and to all those depending upon you. Keep your self-respect.” Coach Wooden has often described Loyalty as an essential component of any successful team. However, loyalty can only be built if you have integrity, so be certain to start there first.

VOLUME IV

HELP OTHERS

Click here to play Coach Wooden Video Clip

This issue of The Wooden Way is devoted to the second item of Coach Wooden’s seven point creed “Help others.”

One of Coach Wooden’s favorite role models was Mother Theresa, whose quote, “Unless a life is lived for others, it is not worthwhile,” served as the bedrock of Coach’s lifetime commitment to helping others. After reading about her tremendous work among the poor in Calcutta, Coach resolved to do one kind thing each day for someone who could never return the favor; and he often put that same challenge to others. Coach realized that not everyone could bring hospices, orphanages and schools to underprivileged people like Mother Teresa, but we could still make a difference in someone’s life every day. Whether serving others’ needs physically or emotionally, even the simplest acts of kindness can have a tremendous positive impact. As Mother Teresa often said, “If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one.” 

Abraham Lincoln, another of Coach Wooden’s mentors, was also an inspiration to him in this regard. Lincoln once remarked that, “The worst thing you can do for those you love is to do the things they could and should do for themselves.” This piece of wisdom inspired Coach to help other people find balance in their own lives. When my wife, Christy (Coach Wooden’s granddaughter), was in high school, she was also working part-time to buy a car. Coach probably could have just purchased a vehicle for her, but in keeping with his philosophy, he suggested that he and her other grandfather match whatever monies Christy earned to help her save toward her purchase. From this experience, Christy learned that one can help others by helping them to help themselves, thereby making them better, stronger people.

As usual, Coach gave us some great maxims to illustrate this point:

“Happiness begins where selfishness ends.”

“Forget favors given; remember
those received. “

“Be more concerned with what you can do for others than what others can do for you.”

The block on the Pyramid of Success that is the best reminder of helping others is Team Spirit. Coach Wooden defines Team Spirit as: “A genuine consideration for others. An eagerness to sacrifice personal interests of glory for the welfare of all.” If you think of the human race as your team, having team spirit means helping your fellow man to succeed in life.

So, how can you start helping others today? Perhaps you might begin by being more observant of the people and situations around you. Pause each day and really look around. Do not wait to be asked for help – the very best time to help others is before they have to ask. Consider taking out the trash or making the bed or doing the laundry. Compliment a co-worker on a great idea; a pat on the back is always appreciated, and a great motivator. Mentor a child, or teach a youngster to ride a bicycle. Volunteer an hour of your time at a senior citizen’s home, church, hospital or homeless shelter. Even the smallest gesture can mean a lot.

Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote, “Rings and other jewels are not gifts, but apologies for gifts. The only true gift is a portion of thy self.” One way that Coach Wooden gave freely of himself was that, although he was arguably the most famous coach in American sports, he never had an unlisted phone number. If you wanted to reach out to Coach Wooden his number was always there in public for anyone to find. He was committed to being available to visit with anyone who cared to pay him a visit. Similarly, Coach Wooden’s players did not leave the locker room – either at home or on the road – until (as he put it) “the orange peels, gum wrappers, towels and soap chips are off the floor.” Of course, Coach also helped with cleaning up himself. He viewed this as a common courtesy to the cleaning staff. Being considerate of others makes you naturally inclined to help others.

Strive each day to be considerate of others, giving freely of your time, energy, and resources to help them – and expect nothing in return. Trust that the joy you will experience in doing so cannot be matched. Opportunities to help others are all around you, every day, all the time. You need only to take a moment to notice them, and then act.

VOLUME V

MAKE EACH DAY YOUR MASTERPIECE

Click here to watch video clip of Coach Wooden

 One of Coach Wooden’s most well-known quotes is “Make Each Day Your Masterpiece,” which is actually the third item in the list of “seven things to do” given to Coach by his father upon graduation from grammar school. This list later became known as Coach Wooden’s “Seven Point Creed.”

To Coach, making each day your masterpiece means focusing on what you are doing right now to the best of your ability. It is about recognizing that nothing can be done about what happened yesterday, and that you can only affect what will happen tomorrow by what you do today.

 A useful application of this wisdom is to apply it to where you are at each moment. For example, rather than dwelling on that horrible officiating call by a ref or obsessing over what went wrong in the last game, try to keep your mind right where you are now and focus on the positive things that surround you. Let go of the past, be it a week ago or an hour ago; don’t fret about the future, be it next week or next year. Apply this wisdom in small doses throughout your day, and by the end of it you will have your masterpiece.

 Coach Wooden also frequently made the point of not being fooled into thinking that you could make up for today’s lack of effort by working twice as hard tomorrow. By tomorrow, today’s masterpiece opportunity is gone. Moreover, if you could work twice as hard tomorrow, why wouldn’t you work twice as hard today?

 A key element in Coach executing his “masterpiece strategy” was preparation and discipline. Coach planned and executed a consistent, disciplined daily schedule for himself; his team’s practices were organized in the same manner. Every warm-up, drill, and conditioning exercise had a precise timeslot so that every necessary element was covered and every minute of practice was used efficiently. A clearly defined set of goals makes distraction a less formidable opponent. A masterpiece day is part of a well executed game plan.

 As Coach was fond of saying:

 ·    “Don’t let yesterday take up too much of today”

 ·    “Don’t worry about things you can’t control because they may adversely affect the things you can control.”

 *    “Don’t let what you can’t do interfere with what you can do.”

 And, of course, Coach included a character trait on his Pyramid of Success to help execute the strategy: Self Control. (“Practice self-discipline and keep emotions under control. Good judgment and common sense are essential.”)

 Part of that good judgment and common sense essential for a masterpiece day includes thinking about the immediate needs of other people, too. I think Coach would agree that one of his favorite quotes definitely applies here: “You cannot live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you.” As we all know, Coach always said the most important word in our language is “Love.”

 So discipline yourself. Focus on the here and now without allowing yourself to become distracted by days gone by. Love and help your fellow man to succeed without any expectation of remuneration. Plan every day as if it matters, because each day does. Give every single day your best effort, and you will make each day your masterpiece.

VOLUME VI

DRINK DEEPLY FROM GOOD BOOKS

Click here to watch video clip of Coach Wooden

 This issue of The Wooden Way is devoted to the fourth item of Coach Wooden’s seven point creed, “Drink deeply from good books, especially the Bible.”

Coach had a great love for reading, as he understood that poetry, biographies and other great books would enrich his life. He would often comment on this in speeches he gave after retirement from coaching, saying “Familiarize yourself with Lloyd Douglas’ The Robe and The Magnificent Obsession. Read Shakespeare, Tennyson and other great authors. They can make you a little better than you are.”

Coach’s love of reading was instilled in him as a child by his father, who would read the Scriptures and poetry to his children each evening. Over his lifetime, Coach read countless books, including more than forty books each about his favorite historical figures, Mother Theresa and Abraham Lincoln. His interest in Lincoln was another gift from his father, who had read many of Lincoln’s works himself, and often quoted Lincoln’s wisdom. Through his own study of Lincoln, Coach learned the important lessons of overcoming life’s obstacles and moving quickly past failure. By taking every opportunity to learn from the greatest historical figures such as Lincoln, Coach was able to use their wisdom to enhance and expand his own wisdom and philosophies.

 One example of how Coach Wooden applied the wisdom of a great historical figure is demonstrated in how he viewed disagreements with his assistant coaches. One of Coach’s favorite books was Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin. The book documents Lincoln’s decision to appoint several of his former political opponents to fill important posts in his presidential cabinet. Lincoln felt that by not surrounding himself with “yes-men,” his ideas would receive honest criticism and inspire spirited debate that would help to make his policies more balanced and well-reasoned.

 Whenever Coach Wooden had a disagreement with a member of his coaching staff, he applied what he learned about Lincoln’s approach to disagreement, and he would embrace the conflict. Coach liked being challenged by his assistant coaches because it helped improve his decisions and demonstrated that his assistant coaches were equally passionate about the team’s success. Coach actively encouraged his staff to voice contradictory opinions; after getting everyone’s input and debating their suggestions, he would decide the best course of action. Then, they would all commit to it and move forward.

 “Drink deeply from good books,” does not necessarily have to be applied exclusively to books, for the universal concept behind it is learning from others. Coach Wooden's father used to say, “You'll never know a thing without learning it from someone else.” In the video clip accompanying this issue, Coach speaks briefly about how he studied and learned from his competition. Each summer after basketball season, Coach would choose a different topic, such as the jump shot, free throw shooting or attacking the zone, and then would create an improvement study project. He would develop a questionnaire, send it out to coaches and players who excelled in the given discipline, and follow up with a personal call. He was fully engaged in studying and learning from others how to teach and improve his team’s ability to better execute that particular skill. He continued this practice through his very last season of coaching.

 As usual, Coach gave us some insightful maxims to help convey his feelings on the benefits of reading, and by extension, learning:

“If I am through learning, I am through.”

 “It is what you learn after you know it all that counts.”

“The worst thing about new books is they keep us from reading the old ones.”

 The block on the Pyramid of Success that best exemplifies the importance of drinking deeply from good books is Condition, which is defined as: “Mental-Moral-Physical. Rest, exercise and diet must be considered. Moderation must be practiced. Dissipation must be eliminated.” Indeed, reading good books and constantly learning from others are great ways to condition one’s mind.

VOLUME VII

MAKE FRIENDSHIP A FINE ART

Click here to watch short Coach Wooden video clip

Coach had a great appreciation for the value of friendship. In the 1960’s Coach received a letter from his elementary school principal and coach, Earl Warriner, requesting tickets to the upcoming game UCLA was to play at Notre Dame. Mr. Warriner also included a signed and dated check but left the amount line blank. When the tickets arrived in Warriner’s mailbox, he found that the check was with them, and on the amount line Coach Wooden had written: “Friendship far too valuable to be measured in dollars.”

Coach often emphasized that we can accomplish a lot more if we open our lives to others. He often commented on friendship in speeches he gave after retirement from coaching by urging his audience to “Work at it. Don’t take friendship for granted. If you do it may not last. And don’t just work at it from one side. Friendship comes from mutual esteem, respect and devotion. Just as in a successful marriage, both sides must work at it.”

 When speaking about friendship, Coach often emphasized the importance of initiating the effort to make friends; in his own words, “You may have to prime the pump first.” Perhaps his favorite illustration was the experience of a friend named Bob, who had traveled to California from Indiana to visit the Wooden family.

“Johnny, these people in California aren’t as friendly as they are back home,” Bob lamented. “Coming over here this morning I met a lot of people and not a single person spoke to me. That would never have happened back home.”

“Did you speak to any of them?” Coach asked.

“Well, no,” Bob said. “I didn’t know them.”

 Coach was also inspired by historical examples of the power of friendship; he especially admired Abraham Lincoln’s philosophy on the subject. After the Civil War, many of Lincoln’s constituents felt that he was being far too generous in his offers of reconstruction and reparations to the Confederate states. One man admonished him, “Mr. President you are supposed to destroy your enemies, not make friends of them.”

 Lincoln replied, “Am I not destroying an enemy when I make a friend of him?”

 This was a lesson Coach took to heart. He chose kindness, instead of anger, as his reaction towards critics in the media, referees he felt were unfair, rude fans of rival teams and even the rare disgruntled player or assistant coach.

 Two of his favorite maxims addressed this very subject. The first was a simple reminder: “Be more concerned with: Loving than being loved, Giving than receiving, Being a friend rather than having a friend.” The second was a kind of proverb: “There is a wonderful mystical law of nature that the three things that man craves the most in life - happiness, freedom, and peace - are always attained by giving them to someone else.” Both are lessons we can all live by.

VOLUME VIII

GIVE THANKS FOR YOUR BLESSINGS AND PRAY FOR GUIDANCE EVERY DAY

Click here for short Coach Wooden video clip

The seventh item of Coach Wooden’s seven point creed is “Give thanks for your blessings and pray for guidance every day.”

When Coach spoke on this point, he would frequently recite one of his favorite Abraham Lincoln quotes: “If we magnified our blessings the way we magnify our disappointments, we’d all be a lot happier.” Indeed, accepting disappointment without complaint is one of the key points that Coach taught on the subject of being thankful.

Coach learned at an early age to accept disappointments with good grace from the example set by his parents. Even though Joshua Wooden lost his farm due to the mistake of another, he never complained or assigned blame. Joshua’s ability to always make the best out of an adverse situation was one of the traits that Coach came to most admire in his father.

Coach also found this same quality in his mother Roxie, after she suffered the death of both of her daughters within a year of each other. Daughter Cordelia died from diphtheria at the age of two, and a second baby girl died at birth. Despite these tragedies Coach never heard his mother complain, nor witness her feeling sorry for herself as she raised four spirited boys.

At times, Coach emphasized the importance of being thankful by quoting Lao-Tse: “Freedom from desire leads to inner peace.” He also added his own words of wisdom: “The great secret of life is to cultivate the ability to appreciate the things we have, not compare them.” Coach often encouraged us to not take for granted the many things we have that we did nothing to earn, such as life itself, the beauty of nature, the great country we live in, or the love of our family and friends.

The second part of that advice, to pray for guidance, were also words Coach took to heart. His own faith was very dear to him and he respected the religions of all people, because he knew that faith was an important part of living a worthwhile life. He encouraged his players to have a faith and to be able to defend their beliefs, but he never encouraged them to pray to win. That would be far too selfish, he felt.

I am reminded of a humorous anecdote in which Coach was to receive a faithful attendance pen in 1942 from Frank E. Davidson, who operated an interfaith men’s club called The Forum. Men would attend during the Sunday school hour to study and pray together, and then leave to worship at their own churches. The night prior to receiving the award, Coach’s team won the finals in the sectional tournament against a Catholic team whose coach, Johnny Howe, also attended The Forum. The next morning, Frank Davidson joked, “There I was at the game last night and here was Johnny Wooden, who I knew was going to receive his medal for not having missed in the last year – and there was Johnny Howe with his team all blessing themselves. Now wasn’t our Lord in a heck of a spot?”

 As he liked to do, Coach shared with us some great wisdom to remind us to give thanks for our blessings and pray for guidance every day:

 Content makes poor men rich, discontent makes rich men poor.

Take time to live, it is the secret of success.

Take time to think, it is the source of power.

Take time to play, it is the secret of youth.

Take time to read, it is the foundation of knowledge.

Take time for friendship, it is the source of happiness.

Take time to laugh, it helps lift life’s load.

Take time to dream, it hitches the soul to the stars.

Take time for God, it is life’s only lasting investment.

When Coach was asked whether he was able to live up to his father’s seven point creed, he would often say, “I am not what I want to be, not what I ought to be, and not what I am going to be, but I am thankful that I am not what I used to be.” Hence, what I have learned from Coach Wooden is that no matter how daunting the task of living up to your creed, pursuing your dreams, or reaching your goals may seem, the key is that you must never stop trying. For each new day brings progress, and in doing your best you achieve success.

VOLUME IX

DEFINING SUCCESS

Click here for short Coach Wooden video

Coach Wooden’s definition of success is one of his most-quoted pieces of wisdom: "Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best of which you are capable."

He first penned those words back in 1934, after several years of careful consideration and study upon the subject. But what were the experiences that helped shape his beliefs and guide his thoughts on the matter?  

First was, of course, the insight of Coach’s father, Joshua. “Never try to be better than  someone else. But always be learning from others,” he used to remind young John and his brothers. “Never cease trying to be the best you can be. One is under your control; the other isn’t.” 

This same philosophy was reiterated in a slightly different way when Coach was still in high school. His history teacher, Mr. L. J. Shidler, charged each student to write his or her personal definition of success. After reviewing the answers from the class, Mr. Shidler expressed disappointment that the young people had all generally agreed with the definition of the word as it appeared in Webster’s Dictionary – that success was “the accumulation of material possessions or the attainment of a position of power or prestige.” It was their teacher’s opinion, however, that success can come only from peace of mind. This assignment made a lasting impression on Coach.

Later, when he began teaching high school himself in Dayton, Kentucky, he found that students hadn’t changed much – nor had their parents. Coach recalled:

I became somewhat surprised by the pressures placed on the students in my high school English classes primarily by their parents. It seemed that most parents wanted and expected their children to receive an A or a B. Now we all know that the good Lord in his infinite wisdom did not create us all equal as far as intelligence is concerned anymore than we are all equal as far as physical appearance, as far as size or as far as the environment into which we are born. We’re all different and that's good. Not everyone could earn an A or B. But I felt that I had youngsters who earned the mark of C who were every bit as successful as some who received A's or B's.

However it seemed to me in those early years many parents considered both teacher and youngster a failure if an A or B was not received. Perhaps the teacher was too young and inexperienced but might improve in time. If the youngster received a C , the average grade in that particular system, oh that would be all right for their neighbors children all of whom of course were average but not for their own.

In my opinion a mark received in class is no more valid a way to judge the success of a student than scores validly determine the success of a sporting event. It may determine a winner but not necessarily success . . . I was concerned about my English students so I began searching for something that could help me become a better teacher and give my students a realistic goal or objective.

Around that same time, Coach spied a poem posted on a wall at a Dayton barbershop while he was waiting for a haircut:

At God’s footstool to confess,
A poor soul knelt and bowed his head.
"I failed," he cried. The Master said,
“Thou didst thy best that is success.

Click here for personal development exercise

VOLUME X

SUCCESS UNDER PRESSURE

 Coach Wooden used his definition of success as not just a mantra for life, but also as a means to improve performance: "Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best of which you are capable.”

“A coach can only do his best, nothing more,” he explained. “But he does owe that not only to himself but to the people who employ him and to the youngsters under his supervision. If you truly do your best, and only you will really know, then you are successful and the actual score is immaterial whether it was favorable or unfavorable. However, when you fail to do your best, you have failed even though the score might've been to your liking.”

Simply feeling good about one’s effort, though, is not enough to be effective, Coach explained. “This does not mean that you should not coach to win. You must teach your players to play to win and do everything in your power that is ethical and honest to win. I do not want players who do not have a keen desire to win and do not play hard and aggressively to accomplish that objective. However, I want to be able to feel and want my players sincerely to feel that doing the best that you're capable of doing is victory in itself and less than that is defeat.”

 He added, “It is altogether possible that whatever success I have had or may have could be in direct proportion to my ability not only to instill that idea in my players but also to live up to it myself.” This philosophy served Coach well, not only in helping to pull together his teams, but also in inspiring the individuals who played for him to concentrate on real success within their own lives and pursuits.

 For example, Rafer Johnson was a UCLA basketball player from 1958-59, and the gold-medal winner in the 1960 Olympics decathlon. An incredibly talented athlete in his own right, when Johnson first arrived at UCLA from the small town of Kingsburg, California, he was overwhelmed and intimidated by the big-city campus and the level of competition he was facing.

 Everything changed, however, as soon as Johnson took to the court for basketball practice. “Coach Wooden said all he wanted from us individually was that we try as athletes and students, to be as good as we could be,” Johnson remembered. Coach urged his players to focus on giving their all to the team and to their own development as players and as people.

 From that day forward, Johnson changed his perspective and found it influenced everything else for the better. “My subsequent performance in the 1960 Olympics, held in Rome, had a lot to do with Coach’s philosophy of concentrating on being the best I could be,” he said. “Don't worry about the score, the medal, the prize; don’t worry about the other guy; just concentrate on doing your best. It's that simple."

 Rather than focusing on winning, Coach urged his players – and himself – to focus on growing in the sport and working with an “all-in” mind-set that valued the experience more than the outcome. The result was an unparalleled career that included 10 NCAA Championships (seven of which were consecutive), and 38 consecutive "sudden death" NCAA tournament victories.

 When the external pressure was the greatest, neither Coach nor his players allowed that external pressure to impact their performance. They were only concerned with their best and that was something over which they had control. As Coach was fond of saying: “The more concerned we become over the things we can’t control, the less we will do with the things we can control.”

VOLUME XI

YESTERDAY’S LOSS CAN PRODUCE TOMORROW’S SUCCESS

March 15, 1963, Provo, Utah: Arizona State defeats UCLA 93-79 in the first game of the NCAA Western Regional Tournament . . . and the final score made the game sound closer than it was. Arizona State was leading 62-31 at halftime.

 That season was Coach Wooden’s 17th at UCLA; that appearance was his fifth NCAA tournament, and in those tournament games, he had a painful record of only three wins and nine losses.

 But something was different about this particular game. Coach Wooden had just added a new dimension to his defense: a full-court 2-2-1 zone press that was designed to force teams to shoot the ball quickly. It had worked to perfection in the Arizona State game; the Sun Devils were forced over and over again to shoot the ball quickly. Unfortunately for UCLA, they couldn’t miss a shot.

 But Coach Wooden liked what he saw.

 The final score did not discourage Coach or cause him to panic because of his philosophy: “Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing that you made the effort to do the best of which you are capable.“

 To break down his point further, Coach included some explanations of how this philosophy of success applied to his overall approach to coaching:

 1. “In my opinion, a mark received in class is no more valid a way to judge the success of a student than scores validly determine the success of a sporting event. It may determine a winner but not necessarily success.“

2. “If you truly do your best, and only you really know, then you are successful and the actual score is immaterial whether it was favorable or unfavorable."

 Coach Wooden said that although Arizona State had broken the press quickly and shot the ball extremely well, he liked the effect that the press had on them. He thought Arizona State had just had a great day shooting and they would've been equally effective against whatever defense he had played. In spite of the score that came down against his own team, Coach was very pleased with the way the 2-2-1 press sped the game up. He decided that, in spite of the loss, he would keep the 2-2-1 press and bring it back the next year as the primary activator of his defense.

 March 20, 1965; New York City: The best high school player in the country, Lewis Alcindor (later known as Kareem Abdul Jabbar), watches the telecast of UCLA winning their second consecutive National Championship defeating Michigan 91-80 using their now-famous 2-2-1 press to speed the game up. Alcindor decides UCLA might be the place he wanted to play because he liked their pressing/fast break style.

 March 31, 1975; San Diego California: UCLA defeats Kentucky 92-85 to give John Wooden his 10th National Championship in the last 12 seasons. Since that loss at Arizona State in 1963, Coach Wooden has now enjoyed a record of 44 wins and one loss in the NCAA Tournament. This includes seven straight National Championships and 38 consecutive wins in tournament games – and the   2-2-1 press had been a key ingredient.

 Sometimes when an individual, team or business faces a loss, they want to change their strategy and try something new just because they aren’t happy about the final numbers. Instead of looking at the big picture application of the lessons learned or the overall implications of the game, they are quick to embrace something different just because they are desperate to see a different result on the scoreboard. Those thinkers are sometimes referred to as “The Idea of The Month Club.“

 It’s lucky for UCLA fans that John Wooden’s definition of success prevented him from joining that club.

 “Not all change is progress, but there is no progress without change.“ – John Wooden

VOLUME XII

THE PYRAMID OF SUCCESS

When Coach Wooden coined his definition of success in 1934 (“Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to do the best of which you are capable.“) his philosophy was clear: He had defined the goal for which he wanted his students to strive.

 As a teacher, Coach Wooden quickly realized he was only halfway there, however. "The definition was not having the desired effect on the students who were under my supervision,” he once explained. “It was abject, just a definition.” He recognized that his students needed something more – a diagram, a guide, a map – something they could see and follow to their ultimate destination. He remembered the “Ladder of Achievement” that his own high school coach, Glen Curtiss, had used to inspire his teams. But Coach Wooden wanted something unique to embody his own personal coaching philosophy.

 While he was a student at Purdue, Coach had studied the Great Pyramid of Giza. Built on a strong foundation with huge cornerstones that were the most important part of the structure, it rose to an apex that gave it its distinct shape. The symbolism fit. For the next 14 years, Coach chose 15 blocks and 10 pieces of mortar for his Pyramid of Success that he believed represented the qualities and characteristics an individual or team would need to meet the definition he had established.

 Coach made many changes to the Pyramid over the years he spent developing it. Only the original cornerstones of industriousness and enthusiasm, and the mortar of faith and patience at the apex were never altered from his first draft to its finished form. But as he perfected his design, each block was strategically placed.

 Consider Coach Wooden’s thoughts as he was designing the Pyramid:

 “Any structure must be built on a solid foundation and the cornerstones of the foundation are the most significant part of it. You will note that the cornerstones of this structure are industriousness and enthusiasm.

 The heart of the body is extremely important and since architects have been known to stress the heart of buildings that they have created, I selected three outstanding essentials: condition, skill and team spirit to comprise the heart of the structure.

 Although a greater amount of space could be devoted to any individual heading in the pyramid, I believe that the very brief comments under each should suffice and encourage the person to give the particular point additional thought.

 Before discontinuing the explanation, I should like to call attention to the top of the structure. The apex is success and it must be remembered that it is success according to my definition.

 Furthermore, success is not easy to attain and the connecting points, faith and patience to the apex are meant to indicate this.

 Also, the connecting blocks, poise and confidence, upon which competitive greatness rest are vitally interwoven in the process of reaching the apex. Confidence and poise both come from being prepared and are vital requisites for being a good competitor. Those who lack confidence in themselves are certain to be lacking in poise and will be pressing when the going gets tough. The front runners are easy to find, but all coaches are constantly searching for those individuals who excel when excellent performance is necessary.”

Coach’s persistence paid off. His 14 years of work and refinement culminated in precisely the right tool that his students needed to help guide them on their own path to success. Over the course of his lifetime, Coach would send out more than 75,000 pyramids, just responding to requests he received personally.

 It is just one way that Coach Wooden positively affected the lives of millions of people in the last sixty years and will for generations to come.

Yours in coaching,

VOLUME XIII

HARD WORK

  Click here to watch short Coach Wooden Video Clip

When Coach Wooden coined his definition of success in 1934 (“Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to do the best of which you are capable.“) his philosophy was clear: He had defined the goal for which he wanted his students to strive.

 In 1934, when Coach Wooden began building his Pyramid of Success, he chose “Industriousness” as one of the cornerstones. While many other blocks were moved and redefined in the next 14 years the Pyramid developed, industriousness was never moved nor did its definition change: "There is no substitute for work. Worthwhile results come from hard work and careful planning."

 Industriousness has two parts: work and planning. This issue will discuss work.

 Coach Wooden understood the value of hard work growing up on a farm in Indiana. He rose early every morning before going to school to help milk the cows and do other chores required; when he arrived home from school there were always more chores to do as well as completing his homework. His father always required that the farm work and school work got done before any other activities.

 “Nothing will work unless you do,” Coach often remarked later. It was a mantra by which he lived his life. The summer before his senior year in high school, Coach Wooden hitchhiked to Kansas to work in the wheat fields but when he arrived in Lawrence, he learned that the crop was not ready for harvest. With no harvesting job available, Coach got a job pouring concrete for the University’s new football stadium instead. He slept on the floor of the campus gymnasium.

 While attending Purdue University and earning All-American honors three times for basketball, Coach Wooden also found time to publish and sell the official Purdue program. During football season, he worked in the training room helping to tape ankles in addition to helping paint the football stadium for 35 cents an hour.

 During his first season as head basketball coach at UCLA, Coach Wooden worked from 6 AM until noon as a truck dispatcher for a local dairy company. Upon arriving on campus with his morning job completed, his first duty was to mop the gym floor so it would be ready for practice in the afternoon.

 “There is no substitute for work,” he was fond of saying. “If you're looking for the easy way, the shortcut, the trick - you may get something done for a while, but it will not be lasting and you will not be developing your ability.”

 And even after the basketball season ended each year, Coach Wooden didn’t coast off his team’s victories; he turned his mind to the next season. Asked once about his off-season regimen, Coach Wooden described in detail how he filled his downtime in coaching:

 About two weeks after the season is over I would choose a basketball or coaching technique to research. It might be the fast-break, rebounding, the jump shot, free-throw shooting, defensive foot work, zone attack, zone defense; it might be anything. So about 2 to 3 weeks, no set time, after the season I would go through all the issues of Scholastic Coach and Athletic Journal and single out all articles on that topic. I’d also go through all the articles and books on basketball that I could find and concentrate on the selected topic.

 Once I selected the appropriate literature I’d take ideas out of every one. Then I’d start a process of crossing out and making a composite list. Towards the end of summer I’d have a pretty good composite theme on the topic.

 If someone has something that's been very good, let's say free-throw shooting, I’d try to talk to that individual and get further information as to his ideas. If some coach seemed to attack zones really well, I’d contact him. If all coaches agree on one thing, it must be pretty good. If someone has done real well in a specific area, why were they successful? I want to know. I did that for I'd say about 20 of my 27 years at UCLA. I took a different topic every year.

 Throughout his life from the time he was a boy until his retirement from coaching, hard work was a cornerstone of not only Coach Wooden’s Pyramid of Success, but his own successful life.

 "The harder you work, the more luck you will have" - John Wooden

 Yours in coaching,

VOLUME XIV

CAREFUL PLANNING

Click here to watch short Coach Wooden video clip

Industriousness is defined in the Pyramid of Success as follows: "There is no substitute for work. Worthwhile results come from hard work and careful planning."

While many people focus on Coach’s emphasis on hard work, that is only half of the equation. Careful planning, which he was careful to include in the definition, is equally important.

"Failure to prepare is preparing to fail," was one of John Wooden’s favorite maxims. He employed it for his teams as well as in his personal life, stressing to them the importance of preparing properly in order maintain the balance necessary for true success and fulfillment. "The most important word in our language is ‘love’ and the second most important word is ‘balance,’" he was fond of saying.

 In order to execute properly and keep balance in his life between his job and his family, Coach Wooden was an expert in time management. This required very careful planning, indeed.

Coach did not equate industriousness to three or four hour practices everyday with his team simply to put in the extra hours, nor did he think it necessary to work six days a week for ten hours a day to become a great basketball coach. That would have thrown off the all-important balance that proper preparation could help maintain.

Instead, John Wooden's basketball practices at UCLA were between 90 minutes and two hours long – maximum – depending on what part of the season it was. Far shorter than the practice time of most of his peers, the practices always started and stopped on time; they were not made longer if the team was not performing well and seemed to need additional work. His secret was simple: extraordinary preparation.

Every detail was recorded on a 3x5 card that Coach and all his assistants carried. These cards gave a minute-by-minute breakdown, as well as how many basketballs would be needed at each area of the court at each point in time for each and every drill to be run that day.

“I kept notes with the specifics of every minute of every hour of every practice we ever had at UCLA. When I planned a day’s practice, I’d look back to see what we had done on the corresponding day the previous year and the year before that,” he wrote later. These notes allowed him to “track the practice routines of every single player for every single practice session he participated in while I was coaching him.”

In fact, Coach laughed a little about his own meticulous preparation in an interview in 2002: I could tell you what we did every minute of practice in my 27 years at UCLA. I could go back to the 48-49 year and tell you what we did on November the 15th minute by minute. I think that doing those plans helped me tremendously as I could always refer back to them. I would always make little notations following each practice, maybe some activities went too long, a couple of minutes or 5 minute too long on this, or we need a bit more attention to this.”

Coach Wooden’s careful planning, precise execution of his plan, immediate written results of his plan, evaluation of those results, and then detailed adjustments to his next plan were a critical cornerstone to his success.

This constant attention to detail and continuous improvement built the consistency which led to the greatest dynasty in the history of college basketball. “Big things are accomplished only through the perfection of minor details,” he said. “If you do not have the time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?”

VOLUME XV

ENTHUSIASM

Click here to watch short Video Clip of Coach Wooden

In 1934, when Coach Wooden began building his Pyramid of Success, he chose Enthusiasm as the second of his cornerstones. While many other blocks were moved and redefined in the next 14 years as he developed his Pyramid, Enthusiasm was never moved.

 Enthusiasm is defined in the Pyramid of Success as follows:

 "Brushes off upon those with whom you come in contact. You must truly enjoy what you are doing."

 Coach Wooden believed that enthusiasm was the igniter that turned hard work into industriousness.

 "Hard work without enthusiasm leads to tedium. Enthusiasm without industriousness leads to unrealized potential. When combined, they cement a solid foundation."

 Coach Wooden’s father, Joshua, had given his sons two sets of threes. The second set of threes: “don't whine, don’t complain, don't make excuses” was his advice on how to deal with adversity and how to always keep a positive attitude.

 This advice to his son strongly influenced Coach Wooden in choosing enthusiasm as one of the cornerstones of his Pyramid of Success. But Coach Wooden's definition "you must truly enjoy what you're doing" provides a challenge to take it a step further. Choose a career that provides work that you can enjoy. Coach did not believe that you could ever reach your full potential working in a field unless you genuinely were happy with the work you had the opportunity to accomplish.

 In fact, Coach Wooden’s advice was very clear for those working at a job that they did not enjoy:

 “Complaining, whining and making excuses just keep you out of the present. If your complaints are constant, serious and genuine about your calling, then leave when practical.”

 “If you have a job that you enjoy but there are negative external conditions that you don't have control over, you must not let them bother you and dampen your enthusiasm.”

 Coach Wooden has stated that he allowed the difficult entrance requirements and poor facilities at UCLA to bother him for the first twelve or thirteen years of his coaching career. It wasn’t until he changed his attitude or as coach said "embraced my own Pyramid" and got his enthusiasm back that he began winning National Championships.

 Here is some additional wisdom from Coach Wooden concerning enthusiasm:

 “The more concerned we become over the things we can’t control, the less we will do with the things we can control.”

 “People are usually as happy as they make up their mind to be.”

 “Things turn out best for those who make the best of the way things turn out.”

 When expanding on the idea that enthusiasm: "brushes off upon those with whom you come in contact", Coach Wooden made it clear that he felt that an enthusiastic, positive, optimistic attitude is an absolute requirement of leadership.

 “More often than we ever suspect, the lives of others we affect.”

 As a leader you should always be aware of your tone of voice and know that sometimes even a simple sentence said with a negative tone can diminish the enthusiasm of those you work with and put productive results in jeopardy.

VOLUME XVI

FRIENDSHIP

Watch short video clip of Coach Wooden 

As you may recall, the fifth point in Joshua Wooden's seven point creed for his sons was “Make friendship a fine art.” So it should come as no surprise that Coach Wooden included friendship as one of the blocks in the foundation of his Pyramid of Success, defining it as something that: “Comes from mutual esteem, respect and devotion. Like marriage, it must not be taken for granted but requires a joint effort.”

 The idea of work as a requisite component of friendship was one Coach Wooden took very seriously. “We tend to consider it to be friendship when somebody is doing something for us” he said. “That is not friendship. That is one-sided . . . If only one side works at it then it won't be successful. Each must work at it and each must give to receive.”

In issue #7, we discussed several examples of Coach Wooden’s philosophy on friendship. In this issue, we would like to offer some insight as to how those philosophies fit in with Coach’s goals for the player-coach relationship.

By using the idea of friendship, Coach Wooden did not believe that he needed to be “buddies” with his players. He did, however, consider it critical that his players knew that he was genuinely interested in them as people and not just as basketball players. He also wanted them to feel they were working with him, not for him.

The same idea comes into play in the workplace. Common sense tells us (and numerous studies confirm it) that the relationship between an employee and his or her direct supervisor is the most important factor in determining whether or not the employee will retain his or her job. If the employer feels the employee is giving a solid effort and contributing to the team goal, the job is safe from downsizing or termination. If the employee feels the employer cares about the people doing the work and not just the job to be done, the employee is far less likely to look for a job elsewhere.

In order to maintain this balance of “mutual esteem,” Coach Wooden recommended that leaders follow a collection of rules that had proven effective in his own relationships:

1. Keep a close, personal player relationship, but keep their respect. Be sincerely interested in their personal problems and easy to approach.

2. Maintain discipline without being dictatorial. Be fair and lead, rather than drive.

3. Study and respect the individuality of each player and handle them accordingly. Treat each person as he/she deserves to be treated.

4. Try to develop the same sense of responsibility in all.

5. Analyze yourself as well as your players, and be governed accordingly.

The men who played basketball for John Wooden at UCLA, and thousands of the other people with whom he interacted in any number of capacities, all shared the same sentiment about Coach Wooden: he was a coach, he was a teacher, and he was a friend. He was never afraid of a little elbow grease to get the job done, Coach was always willing to apply his tireless work ethic to maintaining solid relationships as much as anything else.

“You are honored for what you give, not for what you get.” - John Wooden

VOLUME XVII

COOPERATION

Watch a short video clip of Coach Wooden

In the Pyramid of Success, Cooperation is defined as something one should do: “with all levels of your co-workers. Listen if you want to be heard. Be interested in finding the best way, not in having your own way.”

Coach Wooden expanded upon the importance of cooperation as he reflected on the various ways in which technology and progress are bringing people together like never before. He pointed to all the people involved in developing and operating high-speed travel that we use to crisscross the country. He looked at the space program and how many thousands of people worked together at every level to make every launch possible. He was in awe of global media that could beam images from around the globe into our homes in a matter of moments because a chain of people were working together to bring us news about other human beings elsewhere in the world.

“It’s a small world,” Coach said. “When you stop and think of the food we eat, the means of transportation that gets us from place to place, the clothes we wear; almost every essential for our daily life someone else is responsible for, not ourselves. In everything around us, we need others in every way and the surest way to have cooperation of others, so that we can make the most of our own ability, is to be cooperative ourselves.”

Breaking down his definition of the concept, there are three components to Coach Wooden’s definition of cooperation:

1. “With all levels of your coworkers.”
At the very first John Wooden Course, a young man posed this question: “Coach Wooden, next week I will be starting my first job as a manager in a brand-new department. What advice can you give me?”

Coach replied, “Make sure the people in your department know that they're working with you not for you.”

The young man nodded enthusiastically and responded, “Coach Wooden what other advice can you give me?”

Coach smiled, then repeated slowly and carefully: “Make sure the people in your department know that they're working with you not for you.”

2. “Listen if you want to be heard.”

One night I was having an energetic but amicable telephone conversation with my mother-in-law, Nan Wooden (Coach’s daughter), on a topic where we simply did not agree. Nan was in the middle of stating her position when she stopped suddenly and asked me: “Honey, are you listening to what I'm saying or are you just thinking about what you're going to say when I'm through talking?”

I was caught. I had been thinking about what I was going to say when she was through talking rather than actually listening to her words. Be a better listener than I was on that occasion; you’ll get far better cooperation.

3. “Be interested in finding the best way, not in having your own way.”

In the 1970 National Championship game, UCLA faced Jacksonville University and their great All-American center, Artis Gilmore. Early in the game, things weren’t going well for UCLA; they were trailing in the score and Gilmore was dominating the game. After a timeout, the Bruins made a key change in their strategy against Gilmore and the game turned around. At the end, Gilmore had made only 9 out of 29 shots and UCLA won their sixth national title, 80-69.

What makes this story unique, however, is that the change in strategy that Coach Wooden implemented had been the suggestion of one of his players, Sidney Wicks. Because he was willing to listen to others - and had created an environment where people at every level of the team felt safe sharing ideas because they knew all shared a common goal - the team was able to succeed at the highest level of competition. This moment perfectly illustrates the importance of one of Coach’s favorite expressions, “What is right is more important than who is right.”

We can only reach our full potential if we have the cooperation of others. Coach Wooden's definition is a great checklist to help us understand how to gain, and maintain, that all-important cooperation.

VOLUME XVIII

LOYALTY

Cliick here to watch short video clip with John Wooden on Loyalty

In the Pyramid of Success, Loyalty is defined as a trait one owes: “To yourself and to all those depending upon you. Keep your self-respect.”

“The third block between the cornerstones of the base of the structure is loyalty,” Coach Wooden said, describing the completion of the Pyramid’s foundation. “I do not see how anyone can attain true peace of mind without having something to which they must show loyalty; someone to whom they must express loyalty at all times.”

At the center of the foundation of the Pyramid of Success, loyalty is positioned between friendship and cooperation. This is no accident. Loyalty is the glue that holds the other two together. As Coach remarked: “Once we have taken the steps towards friendship we must remain loyal to our friends, lest the friendship fall apart.”

In my 30 years of teaching Coach Wooden’s Pyramid to businesses, individuals, and teams, the same question always arises when we begin to discuss the loyalty block: How can I get my employees or team members to be more loyal to the company or to me? The logic of this question is misplaced, however, because it does not take into account a fundamental truth. Loyalty can only be given, not demanded, from others. Loyalty and respect have something in common - they are both something you can only get if you give.

The definition of loyalty has three components:

“Loyalty to yourself.” This simply means that you have a set of core values that guide your behavior no matter what the circumstances are. A core value that Coach Wooden possessed was that he was a man of his word. In 1948, Coach Wooden demonstrated this in a most tangible way when he was offered a job by both Minnesota and UCLA. Preferring to stay in the Midwest, his first choice was Minnesota; however, Minnesota wasn’t quite ready to make a firm offer and UCLA needed an answer, so the Golden Gophers promised to call by six o’clock Sunday night with their deal so Coach could give both schools his decision. When the deadline passed and he had not heard from Minnesota, Coach Wooden accepted the Bruins’ offer instead. When Minnesota finally got through later that night - a blizzard had knocked out their phone lines - Coach kindly but firmly let them know that he’d already committed to UCLA and that he would not break his word.

“Loyalty to all those depending upon you.” Coach Wooden viewed loyalty as “the force that forges individuals into a team.” The loyalty Coach demonstrated to his players was palpable. He genuinely loved them all and cared about them as people; they knew it and they knew that their coach would always stand up for them. In another example from 1948, after winning the conference championship at Indiana State, Coach Wooden and his team were invited to participate in the NAIA National Championship tournament in Kansas City. Coach refused the invitation, however, because he would not be allowed to bring Clarence Walker, an African-American player who would have been prohibited from participating solely because of his race. The following season, Indiana State won their conference again and was once more invited to the tournament. This time the NAIA relented, and Clarence was allowed to participate. A significant change for the better had been accomplished because Coach had refused to compromise the loyalty due to a hard-working and well-deserving member of his team.

“Keep your self-respect.” This is a direct result of maintaining loyalty to one’s personal values and to those with whom one interacts. “The goal is to satisfy not everyone else’s expectations, but your own,” Coach liked to say. “Be more concerned with your character than with your reputation. Character is what you really are; reputation is merely what you are perceived to be.”

VOLUME XIX

SELF-CONTROL

Click here to watch short video clip of Coach Wooden

The second tier of the Pyramid of Success has four blocks: self-control, alertness, initiative and intentness.

Coach Wooden chose to direct his definition of self-control at the individual by urging him or her to "Practice self-discipline and keep emotions under control. Good judgment and common sense are essential."

He later elaborated on the importance of the trait by pointing out its role in making all other aspects of leadership more effective: "Self-control, regardless of what we are doing, whether it involves a physical act or a mental decision, must be maintained to produce desirable results. If emotion takes over, reason usually flies out the window and the acts or decisions are not likely to be as productive as they should be.”

This is not only true on the basketball court or in the workplace, but in the home, as well. “Even if it is disciplining your children, and our children cry out for and need discipline - it must be done with reason to be effective,” Coach Wooden insisted. “If we lose reason in our discipline of our children, it will not be effective. You cannot antagonize and be a positive influence and you will antagonize when you discipline through emotion. Remember that discipline is not to punish but it’s to correct, to improve, to prevent, to help, so we must maintain our self-control at all times if we are going to function anywhere near our own particular level of competence, whatever that might be. Self-control is self-discipline.”

As Coach often said, “You cannot antagonize and influence at the same time.”

Coach Wooden did not allow the use of profanity at practice, because he believed it indicated a lack of self-control. Coach did not believe that a person could have control over his or her body if that person did not have control over his or her mind, reflected in the manner by which they spoke.

Coach never used profanity himself. His players recall that when Coach wanted to place emphasis on an instruction he would say “Goodness gracious sakes alive!”

What does this mean for us? Coach stressed that self-control requires us to keep our emotions under control at all times. We must make decisions based on reason, not fear, since fear is an emotion and therefore cannot be reasonable. Lack of self-control will compromise our judgment, common sense and confidence.

We must also maintain our self-control when others communicate with us in an antagonistic manner. If we allow somebody else's communication to make us angry, we have unwittingly granted them control over our own emotions, rather than maintaining control of ourselves. If you don't like the manner in which someone is talking to you, try to concentrate on the information and why they are communicating it rather than how they are saying it. In this way, you can still absorb the information being communicated, but can do so without having your own emotions affected by the other person. Don’t let anybody steal your smile.

The example we set is our most powerful teaching tool. If we expect those that we parent or supervise to act with self-control, we must maintain self-control ourselves.

“Discipline yourself and others won't need to."— John Wooden

VOLUME XX

ALERTNESS 

Click here to watch short Coach Wooden Video Clip

The second block in the second tier of the Pyramid of Success is Alertness.

Coach Wooden defined this trait in the Pyramid as: “Be observing constantly. Stay open-minded. Be eager to learn and improve.”

He considered alertness essential to growing as a person; often pointing out that Abraham Lincoln once remarked: "I never met a person from whom I did not learn something; of course most of the time it was something not to do.” Coach would then add: “But that's learning just the same.”

“We must be alert and alive and be observing constantly, seeing the things that are going on around us,” Coach said. “Otherwise, we are going to miss so many things from which we could improve ourselves. We must not get lost in our own narrow tunnel vision and selfish ways.”

Beyond observing all the time, however, is the important detail of staying open-minded. Coach Wooden always stressed the importance of being open-minded in everything in order to take advantage of every opportunity to learn something new. “The assistants were free to disagree,” Coach said about his coaching team at UCLA. “Some wouldn't disagree that much while others frequently disagreed. I wanted them free to make suggestions. I think a yes-man as an assistant is absolutely no good at all. You need someone who is going to take issue. I wanted them to have ideas of their own and yet, at the same time, know that only one can make the final decision . . . If the decision that I made was contrary to what they believed, they had to accept it as if it were their own, even though they disagreed. That's something I learned in coaching, whether it be with assistants or players; when you disagree, don't be disagreeable about it.”

In fact, it’s rather interesting to see just how open-minded Coach really was in terms of welcoming suggestions, and how he encouraged his assistants to be open-minded, too. A number of former assistant coaches offered comments about Coach Wooden’s willingness to listen to their ideas and to learn from them if they might help the team improve:

Eddie Powell: “Yes I was free to disagree; in fact, he encouraged me to speak my mind.”

William Putnam: “He was always looking for help, comments, and any kind of disagreement.”

Doug Sale: “Oh yes, I was very free to disagree. He encouraged it.”

Gary Cunningham: “We were free to disagree. He did not want yes-men. He wanted people who would express their ideas.”

Jerry Norman: “Coach was a great person to work with in that respect because he was very open-minded. He'd challenge you on a lot of these things - he was very challenging - but not on whether he liked it or not, but on how much you're sold on it.”

Denny Crum: “He was always open-minded and willing to try something if I could justify it in our meetings.”

The third part of Coach Wooden’s definition of Alertness in the Pyramid of Success is “Be eager to learn and improve.” Examples of Coach Wooden's commitment to this particular mantra were discussed in detail in issue #6, but it never hurts to revisit the topic, since enthusiasm for learning and improving was so important to his overall philosophy. He felt that a person must be ready and willing to embrace whatever lessons - positive or negative - that life threw in their way. It is the surest way to grow.

No matter how knowledgeable or experienced we believe we are on a subject, there is always something more to learn. Coach Wooden believed this firmly, dedicating himself to learning something new every single day. As he was so fond of saying, “It's what you learn after you know it all that counts.”

VOLUME XXI

INITIATIVE

The third block in the second tier of the Pyramid of Success is Initiative.

Coach Wooden chose to direct his definition of this trait at the individual by urging him or her to: “Cultivate the ability to make decisions and think alone. Do not be afraid of failure, but learn from it.”

Coach Wooden’s college coach at Purdue, Piggy Lambert, once inspired Coach with these words: “The team that makes the most mistakes usually wins.” He was emphasizing that it is the doers who make mistakes; this was an important lesson in shaping Coach Wooden’s teaching philosophy.

Coach wanted mistakes of commission, not of omission or of carelessness - in other words, he wanted his team to be made up of doers. “We must not be afraid to act,” he said. “If we are afraid to do something for fear of making a mistake, we will not do anything at all. That is the worst mistake of all. You learn through adversity. We get stronger through adversity.” Coach firmly believed that if you were not making any mistakes, you were not working close enough to the edge of your potential.

One of Coach’s favorite poems was a short verse that embraced exactly this concept:

When I look back, it seems to me,
That all the grief that had to be,
Left me when the pain was o’er,
Stronger than I was before.

Coach Wooden once described the needed behaviors and character traits of a great leader as the same behaviors and character traits of a great parent. “We must not be afraid to fail,” he insisted. “We, as parents, I think, deprive our children, the ones we love the most and want to help the most, of the development of initiative by making decisions for them too long in certain areas. Lincoln said: "The worst thing a parent could do for his children is doing things that they could and should do for themselves." Give them the opportunity to fail. Let them learn from it so that they won't make that same mistake again when you are not there telling them what or what not to do. Initiative will help us overcome many stumbling blocks.”

The same lesson is, of course, applicable to a teacher or coach or mentor - anyone in a position of leadership. Coach often reminded us that if we make a decision based on careful planning while using all the information available to us at the time, and act with self control - but it doesn't lead to the results we’d hoped for, that doesn't mean we made a bad decision. It just means it's a decision that didn't work out. The result should not discourage us from taking initiative in the future.

In my 30 years of working with Coach Wooden in my basketball camps, the most proactive request that I received from parents was: “Please help my child to stop being afraid of making a mistake.” I loved hearing that because it meant that the parents recognized the profound importance of teaching initiative from an early age.

The two Wooden fundamentals that Coach stressed to eliminate this fear of failure are:

1. “The people that don't make mistakes are the people that don't do anything.”

2. “The worst thing you can do when action is needed is to take no action at all.”

Be a doer! Take initiative! Never be afraid to make a mistake! As Coach Wooden loved to say: “A mistake is valuable if you do four things with it: recognize it, admit it, learn from it, forget it.”

VOLUME XXII

INTENTNESS

The fourth block in the second tier of the Pyramid of Success is Intentness.

While not a word we generally encounter in everyday conversation, “intentness” is a concept that Coach Wooden felt was an essential part of personal success. He chose to direct his definition of “intentness” at the individual by urging him or her to: “Set a realistic goal. Concentrate on its achievement by resisting all temptations and being determined and persistent.”

Coach once summarized this concept as “patience with action” —that is, having the determination, stamina, and resolve to stay the course when things aren’t going well. Armed with persistence and realistic goals, a person embodies intentness by the manner in which he or she pursues each ambition.

Unlike some motivators who tout the idea that goals should be astronomically high, Coach took a far more practical perspective. “There is a tendency at times to set goals that are so idealistic that they are unattainable and thus become counterproductive,” he once said. “I think goals should be difficult to achieve because things easily achieved or attained usually aren't meaningful, don't last too long or are not truly worthwhile. So goals should be difficult, but in the realm of possibility.”

Intentness is the thing that keeps a person reaching for the next achievement, to make each possibility a reality. Coach added this thought about striving toward goals: “Realizing that the road to their achievement could be difficult and certain adversity may force you to change the method of attack, you may have to go around, under, over, backup and look the situation over. Try a different method. But you must not quit. Be intent, persistent and determined to reach your realistic objective.”

In 1959 Coach Wooden had the poorest season of his UCLA career winning 14 games and losing 12. Coach liked to say that: "Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be.” He was determined not to hang up his hat. Instead, he rolled up his sleeves and set about trying to determine what he needed to change about his approach to coaching.

Four years later, in 1963, UCLA lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Wooden had been coaching at UCLA for 15 years and made it to the NCAA tournament five times while posting a tournament record of three wins and nine losses - the worst record of any of the coaches that participated in the tournament that year.

But again he attacked the next season with deliberate intentness, determined to make improvements to his coaching techniques and setting a goal of improving his team’s final standing. In 1964, Coach Wooden won his first national championship. He would go on to win an unprecedented 10 national championships in his last 12 years of coaching at UCLA and in 2009 was voted by Sporting News as the greatest coach in the history of American athletics.

It was a journey that displayed the ultimate in intentness. The point is further illustrated by one of Coach Wooden’s favorite handouts to share with people struggling to grasp intentness:

Failed in business 1831 Defeated for the legislature 1832

Again failed in business 1833

Elected to the legislature 1834

Sweetheart died 1835

Had a nervous breakdown 1836

Defeated for Speaker 1838

Defeated for Elector 1840 

Defeated for Congress 1843

Elected to Congress 1846 

Defeated for Congress 1848

Defeated for Senate 1855 

Defeated for Vice President 1856

Elected President 1860 

This is a brief summary of the life and trials of Abraham Lincoln.

Without intentness, the other qualities in the second tier of the pyramid are meaningless. It is intentness that gives us the stamina and determination to execute the other traits properly over the long haul in the face of adversity.

VOLUME XXIII

CONDITION

Coach Wooden was deliberate about the placement of the blocks on his Pyramid of Success, and placed at the center three traits he believed formed the core of his philosophy, writing: “One of the most important organs in our body is the heart. Three outstanding essentials - condition, skill, and team spirit - comprise the heart of the pyramid. All are of equal importance.”

Coach emphasized that this tier does not apply only to athletics; these qualities are required for any individual or team to be successful. "Ability may get you to the top,” he liked to say, “but it takes character to stay there." And it was condition that Coach referred to as the "character block of the pyramid."

As defined by Coach, condition consisted of several parts: “Mental – Moral – Physical. Rest, exercise and diet must be considered. Moderation must be practiced. Dissipation must be eliminated.”

Because he had worked so long with basketball teams, Coach knew that most people would automatically assume that his interest in condition was strictly physical. “That is true,” Coach explained, “but only to a degree. For how can you attain and maintain desirable physical condition without moral conditioning and mental conditioning? There is no way and you cannot have moral conditioning without spiritual conditioning. You must have spiritual, mental and moral condition to come close to achieving the type of physical conditioning that we want.”

Each fall, before the start of the basketball season, Coach would meet with the prospective candidates for the team. He stressed to them the importance of being the best-conditioned team possible, warning them: “Your responsibility begins when practice ends until you come back for the next practice because you can tear down between practices more than we can build up during practice. You can do this by a lack of moderation, by dissipation, and by immoral conduct. So you have a responsibility, too. Each of us must live up to our responsibilities if we are going to be as close as possible to the type of condition to which we aspire.”

In Coach’s eyes, a failure to address spiritual, moral and mental conditioning will leave even the best physical or professional conditioning limited. He felt it was essential to identify the training demands required by the job in order to attain proper conditioning.

The following are the training demands Coach identified for his players:
• No use of alcoholic beverages of any kind.
• No smoking.
• No use of profanity.
• Be a gentleman in all ways at all times.
• Be on time whenever time is involved.

Clearly, Coach Wooden’s training demands went far beyond just physical requirements. Coach did not believe moral conditioning required a long list of rules. His suggestion was simply to: “Practice moderation and balance in all that you do.”

Coach once commented that many believed that his players were simply in better physical condition than their opponents. Coach added: "They may have been, but they also had tremendous mental and emotional conditioning."

Every profession requires unique and specific conditioning.

Whether you are a surgeon, lawyer, salesperson, teacher, construction worker, journalist or deep-sea diver, your profession requires a specific type of conditioning. Whatever specific conditioning your job requires must be preceded by spiritual, mental, and moral conditioning if you are to reach your potential. Try to identify what the specific training demands are needed for your own life and career, and commit yourself to following that regimen.

Whether you are currently a coach or team member, you have responsibility. As we climb Coach Wooden’s Pyramid of Success, we should all be aspiring towards optimal conditioning for whatever our pursuit in life may be.

VOLUME XXIV

SKILL

Skill is defined on the Pyramid of Success as: “A knowledge of and the ability to properly and quickly execute the fundamentals. Be prepared and cover every little detail.”

The result of knowledge and preparation, skill is an essential part of achieving goals. Coach Wooden described the Skill block this way: “At the center of this structure the next block is skill, the knowledge of and the ability to not only properly but quickly execute the fundamentals. This is necessary in any profession. A surgeon must have it. He must not only be able to perform delicate surgery. He must be able to do it quickly because he may lose the patient if he can't do it quickly. An attorney must not only have the skills. He must be able to react quickly in certain situations that come up in the courtroom or he may lose the case. In every profession, the ability to execute and execute quickly are essential to success. This requires careful preparation of all details, as failure to prepare is preparing to fail.”

Coach Wooden’s knowledge in the area of coaching basketball is legendary. It is reflected not only in his coaching achievements but also in the 452 page textbook he wrote, Practical Modern Basketball, which covers every area of coaching basketball from the requirements of leadership to which statistics you should track in practice.

Whether it was attending Frank Leahy’s Notre Dame Football practices to learn time management, sending out surveys to the top coaches in the country after every season to increase his knowledge in a particular area, taking psychology classes or attending basketball clinics Coach Wooden's knowledge was a result of his commitment to be a lifelong learner.

His life reflected two of his favorite quotes: “It's what you learn after you know it all that counts.” and “If you are through learning you are through.”

A good leader creates an environment of lifelong learning not only for himself but also for everybody within the organization. Coach Wooden did this not only by the example he set, but also by always being open-minded and encouraging suggestions. Coach Wooden's assistants were excited about learning new ideas because they knew that when they presented them, Coach would listen and consider implementing those suggestions.

Coach Wooden's two-hour practices were the ultimate presentation of a skillful coach. They ran with the precision of a Swiss watch: five- and ten-minute drills were perfectly orchestrated. Coaches and players moved quickly from basket to basket; the correct number of basketballs needed for particular drills were always properly positioned and waiting; when the scrimmage was ready to start the stat keepers were seated, pencils sharpened and charts ready.

There was no wasted time. There was no wasted motion. There was only a demonstration of “properly” and “quickly” getting married.

The amazing practices were not just a result of Coach Wooden’s knowledge. The other component was the two hours of careful preparation every day for the two-hour practice, with every detail covered and everybody in the loop as to exactly how it would all come together.

Whether you’re a concert pianist, an orthopedic surgeon or a manger conducting a meeting, a skillful performance must be preceded by knowledge and preparation. Only then can we perform “properly and quickly” in such a way that will allow us to use our skill to its maximum potential.

VOLUME XXV

TEAM SPIRIT

Team Spirit is defined on the Pyramid of Success as: “A genuine consideration for others. An eagerness to sacrifice personal interests of glory for the welfare of all.”

Coach Wooden described Team Spirit this way: “The third block in the center of this structure is listed as Team Spirit, but this is no more than consideration for others. We must have consideration for others if we are going to develop our own capabilities and we must work together for the welfare of all. In group work it is amazing how much can be accomplished if no one worries about who will get the credit.”

Each season, Coach shared with his players a handout entitled “Team Spirit,” which he felt captured the essence of the trait:

We want no ‘man’ players, no ‘stars’ . . . No chain is stronger than its weakest link; no team is stronger than its weakest player. One player attempting to ‘grandstand’ can wreck the best team ever organized. We must be ‘one for all and all for one’ with every boy giving his very best every second of the game. The team is first, individual credit is second. There is no place for selfishness, egotism, or envy on our squad.

Building team spirit is the responsibility of a leader. It is the ability to get everybody in a group eager, not simply willing, to put “we” ahead of “me.” Team spirit is not always an automatic trait. Here are some suggestions, based on Coach Wooden's philosophy, for developing it:

1. “Be a humble leader.” The group must know that they work with you, not for you. If something good happens as a result of a suggestion you received, give credit to the person who made the suggestion. If something bad happens as a result of a suggestion that you received, take the blame. As coach liked to say: “The star of the team is the team.”

2. “Have some rules or suggestions regarding how team members communicate with each other.” One of Coach Wooden's three rules for practice was "Never criticize a teammate.” In the workplace, try using Napoleon Hill’s advice: “If you have something to say to somebody or about somebody, think if it will help them or hurt them. If it will help them say it; if it will hurt them, don't.” Create a culture where negative criticism and gossip are not accepted.

3. “Praise publicly and criticize privately.” When you praise, give praise to those who are seldom acknowledged. Coach Wooden did this when he spoke to the media about his team. In the workplace, for example, praise your “backbone team” (clerical staff) or “first contact team” (receptionists). Coach used the analogy of a race car and pointed out that a bolt that keeps a wheel on the car is just as important as the powerful engine that runs it. Everybody should know why their job is important and feel that their effort is appreciated.

4. “Let team members know that their personal goals only have a chance of being accomplished if the team accomplishes its goals.” You can't get a pay raise if the company goes out of business.

5. “Share with your team the joy and importance of giving.” Coach Wooden described it this way: “Winning teams are characterized by unselfish team play. I believe that teaching our players to look for the pass first, and the shot second, helps build team spirit. I try to build this concept off the court too.” Coach Wooden often encouraged his players by reminding them that “You cannot live a perfect day without doing something for someone without the thought of repayment.”

Coach also liked to quote a passage he’d once read, which stated: “There's a mystical law of nature that the three things that mankind craves most - freedom, happiness, and peace of mind - cannot be attained without giving them to someone else.” Team spirit results when the leader inspires those same traits within his or her team, and in so doing, unites all of the members to work towards their shared goal.

“I try to emphasize to my players that you must give to receive,” Coach wrote. “This is something that holds true in basketball and in life.”

VOLUME XXVI

POISE

We will now begin discussing the blocks on the fourth tier on the Pyramid of Success: poise and confidence.

Poise is defined on the Pyramid of Success as: “Just being yourself. Being at ease in any situation. Never fighting yourself.” 

“Poise is much like self-control,” Coach Wooden said. “Many people over the years have noticed that and mentioned it to me, but I don't consider the two to be quite the same. I again have my own definition for poise - a very simple definition: ‘Just being yourself.’ When you maintain your poise you’re being yourself. You're not acting. You're not trying to be something you're not. You are yourself therefore you're going to be able to function closer to your own particular abilities.”

Coach Wooden viewed Poise and Confidence as an outgrowth of the twelve blocks below them. He described that relationship as follows: “Let's say if you're industrious,” he said. “If you’re enthusiastic, if you're friendly, if you're loyal, if you're cooperative and if you maintain self-control and if you're alert and alive and observing constantly and if you have initiative and aren’t afraid to fail, knowing quite well that you are imperfect and you are going to fail at times and if you're intent on reaching realistic objectives and attaining poise and confidence and if you conditioned yourself for doing these things and if you work at it and you’re skilled and you can execute not only properly but quickly and if you're imbued with consideration for others - you'll have poise and confidence and it will be true. It will not be false. It will not be whistling in the dark at all.”

If you have poise you will be true to yourself under all circumstances - and “Be true to yourself” was the first item in the seven point creed that Coach received from his father. As Coach himself later stated: “If you sacrifice principle trying to please everyone, you end up pleasing no one.”

In his book Practical Modern Basketball, Coach Wooden describes the importance of a coach being a philosopher in the following manner: “Webster tells us that, among other things, a philosopher is a person who meets all events, whether favorable or unfavorable, with calmness and composure.”

A philosopher has poise.

Coach expanded upon this concept by pointing out additional circumstances under which a coach must keep his or her poise:
The coach must recognize that his profession places him in the public eye and he will, at times, receive both unjustifiable criticism and undeserved praise, and he or she must not be unduly affected by either.

But this advice is not true only for coaches; it can be applied to a parent, a supervisor, a friend or any position where we work with others.

Some lines from one of Coach Wooden’s favorite poems “If” by Rudyard Kipling describe the essence of poise quite well:
If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you . . .
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch . . .
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And—which is more—you'll be a Man my son!

We all need poise to perform to our potential.

VOLUME XXVII

CONFIDENCE

We will now continue discussing the fourth tier on the Pyramid of Success: Poise and Confidence.

We covered poise last time; now, we are turning to confidence, defined on the Pyramid of Success as: “Respect without fear. May come from being prepared and keeping all things in proper perspective.”

This definition reflects one of Coach Wooden’s favorite quotes: “Failure to prepare is preparing to fail.”

Coach Wooden believed that confidence was an essential part of success. “You can't expect others to have confidence in you if you don't have confidence in yourself,” he said.

When he was asked how a person could acquire confidence, Coach responded in much the same manner as when he was asked how a person could gain poise. “Is it easy?” he wrote.

Not at all. It's very very difficult. How can we acquire it? By being industrious, enthusiastic, friendly, cooperative and loyal. By maintaining our self-control. By being alert and alive and constantly observing the things that are going on around about us and not getting lost in our own narrow tunnel vision. By having initiative and not being afraid to fail, realizing that we are not perfect and we're going to fail on occasion. By being intent and persistent on reaching the realistic goals that we set for ourselves. By being conditioned morally, mentally, emotionally and physically. By being skilled. By knowing what we are doing. By being able to do it and doing it quickly. And by having consideration for others. This foundation will bring poise and confidence that will be real.

It may come as a surprise to some readers that in his book Practical Modern Basketball, Coach Wooden does not mention either confidence or poise as desirable personality traits of a coach or an assistant coach. That does not mean he didn’t think they were an important part of leadership; on the contrary, he considered them essential.

But Coach believed they could only be present as a byproduct of the blocks on the pyramid listed below them. In other words, poise and confidence do not exist in a vacuum. Confidence without a strong foundation is simply arrogance. “Have respect without fear for every opponent and confidence without cockiness in regard to yourself,” Coach warned his players.

Coach Wooden made it clear that his level of confidence was unrelated to who the competition was. His confidence was a result of the knowledge that he had done everything within his capability to prepare himself and his team to perform at their highest level - not only with regard to their basketball skills, but in terms of their personal character as well.

Coach also cautioned us about the pitfalls of false or unearned confidence that gives us the assumption that our success in the past would somehow repeat itself without the same hard work and preparation. He was very fond of the saying, “When success turns your head, you face failure.”

Swen Nater’s poem on confidence reflects this philosophy of his old UCLA coach quite well:

Confidence, a noble trait,
Surprisingly cannot be bought.
With preparation at the gate,
You’ll doubtless find that it's been brought.

VOLUME XXVIII

COMPETITIVE GREATNESS

The top block on the Pyramid of Success, Competitive Greatness, is defined as: “Be at your best when your best is needed. Enjoyment of a difficult challenge.”

Coach Wooden never mentioned being competitive in association with winning or being a great competitor in association with being a winner. For John Wooden, being a great competitor was not about winning or losing.

He had a much higher standard.

Coach described competitive greatness this way: “The next and last block in the structure just above poise and confidence is competitive greatness. This is the ability to be at your very best when your very best is needed... What a wonderful thing competitive greatness is; enjoying it when things are difficult. Grantland Rice in his Great Competitor said in part:

Beyond the winning and the goal,
Beyond the glory and the fame,
He feels the flame within his soul,
Born of the spirit of the game,
And where the barriers may wait,
Built up by the opposing Gods,
He finds a thrill in bucking fate,
And riding down the endless odds.

Where others wither in the fire
Or fall below some raw mishap,
Where others lag behind or tire
And break beneath the handicap,
He finds a new and deeper thrill
To take him on the uphill spin,
Because the test is greater still,
And something he can revel in.

Yes, the true competitor revels in it when it's difficult. That is the greatest fun.

Coach viewed difficult situations as opportunities for fun that don't often occur. He described it this way: “There's more pleasure in being involved in something that’s difficult than there is in being involved in something that anybody else could do. Most of our daily tasks that you and I do; anybody else could do, most of them. They’re easy but there is no joy in those, but there is joy in being involved in something that is more difficult.”

Coach described his attitude towards competition in basketball games as an example: “Now our alumni at UCLA when I was there felt there was joy in beating some team by 50 points. There was no joy in that. There’s real joy in playing against somebody about your own level of competency. That's the joy, the joy in the competition that brings real joy.”

Coach often referenced the quote: "When the going gets tough, the tough get going” to describe how a competitor reacts to a difficult situation.

Being competitively great according to Coach had two simple parts: “real love of a hard battle” and “being at your best when your best is needed.” He felt that “being at your best when your best is needed” is a result of being prepared: having the other blocks of the Pyramid in place.

Sometimes when great competitors rise to the occasion they are described as lucky. I would add Coach Wooden’s favorite definition of luck:

“Luck is when preparation meets opportunity.”

VOLUME XXIX

FAITH

There are five character qualities on each side of the blocks on the Pyramid of Success that Coach Wooden referred to as the “mortar” that held the other blocks together. These character qualities bond the 15 character traits we have already discussed and make them sturdy, solid, and unshakable. 

The mortar on the left side of the Pyramid is made up of ambition, adaptability, resourcefulness, fight, and faith. The mortar on the right side is sincerity, honesty, reliability, integrity and patience. In this issue we will begin discussing faith; next week we will focus on its partner, patience.

Coach Wooden explained his strategic placement of faith and patience by describing how they are “leading up from competitive greatness to the top, success, (according to my definition), up at the apex. On one side I have patience, and on the other side I have faith. You need those two things.”

More than once, Coach remarked that faith and patience could have been placed at the very top or the very bottom of the Pyramid because he believed that both of these qualities are both the goals and the bedrock of what we need to maintain the other blocks on the Pyramid as we overcome obstacles on our journey to success.

Just as Coach Wooden made enthusiasm and industriousness the cornerstones of his Pyramid and explained that poise and confidence are a result of the blocks below them, he ultimately chose purposely to have success resting on top of nothing other than faith and patience.

Coach summed it up this way: "Distrust begets distrust; it takes trust, faith and patience to acquire peace of mind."

If we expect people to have faith in us, we must have faith in them. Faith is required to bring out the best in people - both in others and in ourselves. Abraham Lincoln described the value of having faith in others this way: “It's better to trust and be disappointed occasionally than to distrust and be miserable all the time.”

But faith for Coach went even farther. He believed that we needed to trust in something higher than ourselves, that there was an ultimate plan at work of which we were an essential component. “We must have faith that if we do the things we know we should do things will work out as they should,” he said. “This doesn't mean that they will necessarily be the way we would want them to, but as they should. We should not expect more than that.”

Coach liked to remind us; too, that faith must be accompanied by work: “Too often we just want things to work out the way we want them to but we don't want to pay the price, so to speak, of doing the things that would help that become reality.” In other words, faith is not simply sitting back and hoping for a positive outcome but, rather, rolling up our sleeves and really investing ourselves in the matter with the faith that things will end up for the best.

As leaders, it is essential for each of us to communicate this faith to our teams. We have to show each person that we have faith in his or her ability to get the job done, and that we have faith in our shared vision that our efforts will not be wasted. As Coach liked to say: “It's not what you think you are, but what you think.”

Whether we review the legacy of Abraham Lincoln, John Wooden, or even someone like Steve Jobs - at the core of their lives we will find that they had faith in their beliefs and their goals, and that they placed faith in others to work alongside them in realizing their vision. What a wonderful legacy each man left. That’s the power of faith.

VOLUME XXX

PATIENCE

This week we will be discussing the other piece of mortar at the top of the Pyramid of Success: patience.

Coach Wooden explained the importance of patience this way: “From this last block, competitive greatness, leading up to the apex on which success rests (according to my definition), on one side I have patience and on the other side I have faith.” He viewed patience as a trait that is absolutely essential in achieving success. “Good things take time,” he explained.

He was quick to acknowledge the reality of life, however, that we rarely want to wait for the necessary progress to reach the end result; but this impatience is something that is often tempered by maturity and wisdom. On the other hand, there is often a complacency that comes with age that can stifle potential growth. Coach remarked that young people “seem to want things to happen too quickly. They think all change is progress but sometimes, as we get older, many of us are satisfied with the status quo. We forget that there is no progress without change. There is an even spot there somewhere. We must realize both. There is no progress without change but not all change is progress.”

Coach Wooden’s upbringing on a farm in Indiana gave him a foundation for his patience. He learned that there was a season to plant, a season to water, and a season to harvest. The planting and watering required hard work, but without that work and patience through the growing season, there would be no harvest.

When Coach Wooden became the head coach at UCLA in 1948, he was led to believe that his team would have a new arena by the end of his third season. The arena was not ready for the team until 1965, at the start of John Wooden's eighteenth season. The wait was sometimes incredibly frustrating, but Wooden always felt it was worth it. Similarly, despite his famous record of 10 national championships in his 27-year coaching career at UCLA, he did not win his first championship until his 16th season with the Bruins.

Coach viewed it this way: “When we are patient, we’ll have a greater appreciation of our success.”

Patience is mortar that supports many blocks of the Pyramid.

We must have patience to maintain our enthusiasm and industriousness when pursuing our goals. It is patience that reminds us that our hard work will pay off - that worthwhile goals take time to achieve. As William Shakespeare wrote: “How poor they are that have not patience! What wound did ever heal, but by degrees?”

We must have patience to be a good listener, which is a requirement of cooperation. We must have patience with our students to have the self-control required to become a successful coach. In his book Practical Modern Basketball, Coach Wooden wrote: “Lack of patience is possibly the greatest fault of the beginning coach. Don't expect too much. Progress comes slowly in many respects. The formation of new habits and the breaking of old are no quick change propositions.”

Patience is required to maintain our intentness in the face of adversity. As Benjamin Franklin said: “Genius is nothing but a greater aptitude for patience.” Or as Isaac Newton wrote: “If I have ever made any valuable discoveries, it has been owing more to patient attention than to any other talent.”

Coach was always quick to remind us that patience, like faith, requires work. He did not view patience as waiting on the sidelines to find out what the future might bring but rather, as he stated in his book The Essential Wooden, “It is calm self possession in confronting the necessary fits and starts, obstacles and delays that are part and parcel of achieving anything worthwhile.”

Being patient with ourselves is what allows us to bounce back from adversity. “All change may not be progress, but all progress is the result of change.”

VOLUME XXXI

AMBITION

On the left side of the Pyramid of Success, below faith, there are four additional pieces of mortar: ambition, adaptability, resourcefulness and fight. These are qualities that encompass the resolve, ingenuity and resilience of the human spirit. This week we will discuss ambition.

In his book "Coach Wooden's Pyramid of Success”, with Jay Carty, Coach Wooden defined ambition and its importance in the following manner:

“Ambition is a feeling or a desire to achieve a goal. Usually that goal revolves around a person's definition of success or greatness. I believe we are most likely to succeed when ambition is focused on noble and worthy purposes and outcomes rather than on goals set out of selfishness. If our ambition is to be highly publicized, receive a lot of recognition, attain a position of power or prestige, or make a lot of money, we do not have noble goals. If we are focused away from ourselves and on the team and others, we possess noble goals.”

Under each piece of mortar on the Pyramid, in parentheses, there is some brief application advice for that mortar. In the original Pyramid under ambition the application advice was: “(properly focused)”. Later Coach changed the application advice for ambition to: “(for noble goals)”. Coach’s motivation for the change is clear. He wanted to make certain that we understand that our ambition is "properly focused" when it is for a "noble goal".

Coach clearly defined ambition as an important quality; as the saying goes: "Those who plan to accomplish nothing always reach their goal." Ambition, when properly focused, can be a tremendous asset but if it is out of focus it can be a fatal flaw for any team. We should make sure that we do not have members of our team whose ambition equates to a “win at all cost" mentality. We want people who are great competitors but are equally intent on playing by the rules. As Coach Wooden put it: "Never let ambition cause you to sacrifice your integrity or diminish your efforts on any other aspect of the Pyramid. At the same time you'll never reach a serious goal unless you have the intention to do so.”

A goal is noble when its accomplishment benefits others. Coach Wooden had great ambition as a coach. He wanted to win a national championship but that was not his goal. His goal was to get the best possible players and help them become the best they could become as players and as citizens. He also wanted them to improve as a team. Coach liked to refer to the championships as “icing on the cake” while reminding us that “doing our best” was the cake.

Coach’s quote: "Be more concerned with what you can do for others than what others can do for you - you'll be surprised at the results." describes the importance of including others on our journey to success.

If we are to attain success, we must have ambition with integrity, directed at a noble goal. Selfish personal ambition will not accomplish this. As Coach liked to say "Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there."

Coach advises us to keep our ambitions in proper perspective: “Do not get so concerned with making a living that you forget to make a life”.

VOLUME XXXII

SINCERITY

On the right side of the Pyramid of Success, below patience, there are four additional pieces of mortar: sincerity, honesty, reliability and integrity. These are qualities that, together, encompass the genuineness, strength and impact of human character. This week we will discuss sincerity.

In his book Coach Wooden's Pyramid of Success, with Jay Carty, Coach Wooden defined sincerity and its importance in the following manner:

Friendship, loyalty, cooperation and team spirit each occupy building blocks in the Pyramid of Success. What do these blocks say about success? They tell us that we cannot become successful unless we interact with others. Sincerity is the mortar that binds together the blocks of friendship, loyalty, cooperation and team spirit. Therefore, sincerity is also necessary to reach the apex.

Sincerity may not make a friend, but it will keep one. It often takes a while to be validated, but once a person knows that our word, character and steadfastness have withstood the test of life, a firm friendship can be established and maintained.

When we realize that a friend can be counted on during times of need, when we see that his or her values don't blow around in the breeze, and when he or she stands up for us, we are far more apt to stand up for him or her – and vice versa.

Under each piece of mortar on the Pyramid, in parentheses, there is some brief application advice for that mortar. In the original version of the Pyramid, Coach had suggested that sincerity was a trait that: “makes friends.” After revising the Pyramid years later, Coach changed the application advice for sincerity to instead read: “keeps friends.” Coach had an important motivation for this change. He wanted to make certain that we understand that sincerity will help us do something more important than simply winning over new friends but would, in fact, allow us to earn their trust and loyalty in such a way that we would be able to maintain and grow those friendships into lasting and mutually edifying relationships.

Coach’s aim in promoting sincerity was to challenge us to speak and act in truth about our beliefs, goals, loyalty, and team spirit. Whether it is a military leader or an office manager or a basketball coach, people who are following a sincere and honest leader will do more for him or her than they will for an insincere one - especially when the pressure is on.

The Oxford English Dictionary notes that the word “sincerity” stems from the Latin word “sincerus,” which means “clean, pure sound.” The root word itself, “sincerus” may have actually originally been a compound of “sin” (one) and “crescere” (to grow) - referring to something that grows and develops, untainted by anything else. That’s a wonderful picture of what sincerity really is: a striving to grow toward a goal unsullied or uncorrupted by anything less than pure motives. That’s the kind of growth that inspires confidence and a willingness to follow.

But beyond that, the definition also reminds us that when we are sincere with each other, we can grow together as one toward our shared purpose.

VOLUME XXXIII

ADAPTABILITY

On the left side of the Pyramid of Success, below faith, there are four additional pieces of mortar: ambition, adaptability, resourcefulness and fight. These are qualities that encompass the resolve, ingenuity and resilience of the human spirit. This week we will discuss adaptability.

 In his book Coach Wooden's Pyramid of Success, with Jay Carty, Coach Wooden defined adaptability and its importance in the following manner:

 Adaptability is being able to adjust to any situation at any given time.

 In life, we all know that we can only be sure of a few things, specifically death and taxes. We can also count on change. We need to recognize change, grow with it and learn from it. Since change is inevitable, people who are inflexible, bullheaded or stubborn will never make it to the apex of the Pyramid. If we want to succeed we must readily adapt to circumstances as they unfold – this includes both what we cannot change and what will take some time to change.

If we fail to adapt, we fail to move forward.

Under each piece of mortar on the Pyramid, in parentheses, there is some brief application advice for that mortar. Under adaptability the application advice is: “to any situation.” Coach described the essence of adaptability in his book Practical Modern Basketball this way: "Be flexible enough to be able to adjust to the environment and to the occasion."

The key to being effective in our adaptability is recognizing the situation and determining whether or not we can change it or whether we simply need to make the best of it and move forward.

Coach had three great quotes that describe this strategy:

1. “Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.”
2. “The more concerned we become over the things we can't control, the less we will do with the things we can control.”
3. “Things turn out the best for those who make the best of the way things turn out.”

When Coach arrived at UCLA 1948, he had a gym with only two baskets, which he shared with other sports during his practice period. At Indiana State, where he had come from, he had six baskets and a private facility. He recognized that he could not change the situation at UCLA, so he adapted and made the best of it.

When Kareem Abdul Jabbar came to UCLA, Coach adapted his style of play and practice routine to take advantage of Kareem’s unusual talent, although he had already won two national championships with his prior system. Coach recognized that this was a situation that he could and would need to change so that the team could reach its potential.

Coach summed it up this way in his book with Jay Carty:

We change what we can, but if we get too concerned, involved and engrossed in circumstances over which we have no control or can't change, those circumstances are going to have a negative impact on events and outcomes we can control.

VOLUME XXXIV

HONESTY

On the right side of the Pyramid of Success, below patience, there are four additional pieces of mortar: sincerity, honesty, reliability and integrity. These are qualities that encompass the genuineness, strength, and impact of human character. This week we will discuss honesty.

In his book Coach Wooden's Pyramid of Success, with Jay Carty, Coach Wooden defined honesty and its importance in the following manner:

Honesty is doing the things that we know are right and not giving in to the temptation to do the things that we know are wrong. Honesty must occur at all times, in both thought and action. Honest people stay on the narrow way, regardless of the consequences. If we are honest, our integrity will not allow us to compromise – ever.

A dishonest act is an attempt to deceive someone. It is possible to be so deceptive that we even deceive ourselves. We do this when we want to justify a lie because of circumstances or as payback when someone has been dishonest with us. Dishonesty – no matter the reason – destroys our credibility, ruins our reputation and costs us our self respect.

Under each piece of mortar on the Pyramid, in parentheses, there is some brief application advice for that mortar. In the original Pyramid under honesty, the application advice was: “in all ways.” Later Coach changed the application advice for honesty to: “in thought and action.” Coach had an important motivation for the change. He wanted to make certain that we understand that honesty starts with not giving in to the temptation of dishonest thoughts, which can ultimately lead to dishonest actions.

Coach’s Father, Joshua, had taught him: "Never lie. Never cheat. Never steal." He also taught him: "Be true to yourself." Coach believed that honesty encompassed not only telling the truth but also always acting in accordance with your core values.

Coach described one of his core values this way: "Revenge is the weak pleasure of a little and narrow mind” or “Time spent getting even would be better spent trying to get ahead."

In his book Coach Wooden’s Pyramid of Success, Coach gave an example of when he felt he was dishonest: “When I was a high school coach, four of my five starters came down with measles and had to miss a game. The opposing coach ran up the score that night. I was not happy and got revenge. In striking back, I wasn't true to my values, and I later apologized for my actions.”

Coach felt that by not "being true to himself" he was not being honest.

Coach characterized the challenge of being truly honest all the time this way: "The greatest conquest of man is the conquering of himself."

He also reminded us that honesty has a great reward: “There is no pillow as soft as a clear conscience.”

VOLUME XXXV

RESOURCEFULNESS

On the left side of the Pyramid of Success, below faith, there are four additional pieces of mortar: ambition, adaptability, resourcefulness and fight. These are qualities that encompass the resolve, ingenuity and resilience of the human spirit. This week we will discuss resourcefulness.

In his book Coach Wooden's Pyramid of Success, with Jay Carty, Coach Wooden defined resourcefulness and its importance in the following manner:

Resourcefulness is using our wits, proper judgment and common sense to solve problems and meet challenges. It is using initiative in difficult situations and involves inventing, creating, imagining, synthesizing, evaluating, classifying, observing and analyzing solutions to overcome the trials that life throws at us. Resourcefulness is dreaming up ways to meet our goals.

Coach emphasized resourcefulness as an important personal trait for any coach in his book Practical Modern Basketball: "Each individual and each team present a different and separate problem; mentally, morally, physically, socially, and spiritually. Use the proper approach for each."

All of us can find employment in the Excuses Department or Solutions Department. It is resourcefulness that allows us to maintain a position in the Solutions Department. Dwight Morrow put it this way: “There are no hopeless situations, there are only hopeless men.”

When Coach played basketball at Purdue University, there were no athletic scholarships. Coach had to meet the demands of being an outstanding student and the practice time required to be a three-time All-American and ultimately the college player of the year. He also needed to make money. Coach tapped into his resourcefulness by walking the aisle of the train going to the Purdue - Chicago football games and selling sandwiches, candy bars and fruit. He also made lapel pins and sold them as well. During his last two years at Purdue he had basketball programs printed and hired people to sell them at his home games. Coach stated: "Today they would call that an entrepreneurial spirit. I just call it resourcefulness."

The “Solutions Department” is always open or as Coach liked to say: “A good place to find a helping hand is at the end of your arm.”

Coach lived in a fraternity house while attending college. He initially attempted studying in the evenings but had a lot of difficulty because there was so much movement and people wanting to chat and socialize. His resourceful solution was to go to bed early in the evening and wake up at 3 AM to attend to his studies. He was then able to accomplish in two or three hours what previously took four or five.

Coach did not view resourcefulness as finding a trick or a shortcut. He would remind us: “If you keep too busy learning the tricks of the trade, you may never learn the trade.”

Resourcefulness is rather the ability to act effectively or imaginatively, especially in difficult situations, and as Coach defines it, using “proper judgment.”

VOLUME XXXVI

RELIABILITY

On the right side of the Pyramid of Success, below patience, there are four additional pieces of mortar: sincerity, honesty, reliability and integrity. These are qualities that, together, encompass the genuineness, strength, and impact of human character. This week we will discuss reliability.

In his book Coach Wooden‘s Pyramid of Success, with Jay Carty, Coach Wooden defined reliability and its importance in the following manner:

When we are reliable, others know that they can depend on us. They know that we will make the effort to do our best, whatever the situation might be. They know we won't run, cower or become paralyzed by fear. They have learned to count on our consistency and trustworthiness. We'll still be there making the effort to do our best long after the weaker ones have faded. People can bet the farm on us and still be able to sleep at night. Reliability earns the respect of those around us.

Capability doesn't have anything to do with reliability. Some people don't have as much capability as others have, but they make up for their lack by being reliable.

Under each piece of mortar on the Pyramid, in parentheses, there is some brief application advice for that mortar. In the original version of the Pyramid, Coach had suggested that reliability was an important trait because: “others depend upon you.” After revising the Pyramid years later, Coach changed the application advice for reliability to instead read: “creates respect.” Coach had an important motivation for this change. He wanted to make certain that we understand that reliability is necessary for us to be successful, because it earns the respect and trust of others.

Coach emphasized reliability as an important personal trait for any coach in his book Practical Modern Basketball: "Your players must know that they can depend upon you and so must all of your co-workers and neighbors.”

Although he coached basketball at UCLA for 27 years, Coach never took a shortcut in his preparation for each daily practice. In his 27th season he was still spending two hours to plan his two-hour practice session. He earned the respect of all of his teams because they knew they could rely on him to be prepared and give his best effort every practice.

Reliability is a trademark of good character. As Coach liked to say: "Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there."

When we are reliable we are consistent in our efforts, regardless of previous achievements. Coach put it this way: “It's so easy to relax, to cut corners, to let down after you've reached your goal, and begin thinking you can just ‘turn it on’ automatically, without proper preparation. It takes real character to keep working as hard or even harder once you're there.”

A person who is reliable is following two great pieces of advice from Coach Wooden:

“Discipline yourself so others won't have to.”

“Earn the right to be proud and confident.”

VOLUME XXXVII

FIGHT

On the left side of the Pyramid of Success, below faith, there are four additional pieces of mortar: ambition, adaptability, resourcefulness and fight. These are qualities that encompass the resolve, ingenuity and resilience of the human spirit. This week we will discuss fight.

In his book Coach Wooden's Pyramid of Success, with Jay Carty, Coach Wooden defined fight and its importance in the following manner:

Fight is a determined effort to do the very best we can do...It's digging in, gritting our teeth, standing our ground.

When we have fight, we are always ready to respond. We are quick but we don't hurry. We make fewer mistakes because we have the level of our intensity under control. A player with fight has a contained fire burning in his or her belly. This emerges as focused passion. Players with fight never lose a game; they just run out of time.

Perhaps I should have chosen a different word. Fight has some negative connotations that I don't want to communicate. In no way is this mortar quality about an opponent. There was a time when I would talk about "being better than the opponent." I don't anymore. Make no mistake; I always want to win, but I never fight with an opponent. My fight is within me - it is the struggle to be the best I can be at whatever I do.

There is no such thing as losing when we've made the effort to do the best we can. If we use our fight and determination to do our best, success will take care of itself.

Under each piece of mortar on the Pyramid, in parentheses, there is some brief application advice or a description of that mortar. In the original Pyramid under “Fight,” Coach wrote: “effort and hustle.” Later, when Coach revised and perfected the Pyramid, he changed the description to read: “determined effort.” Coach’s motivation for the change was clear. He wanted to make certain we understood that just making an effort was not real fight. Fight isn’t about simply expending energy; it’s about determination, which is having a fixed purpose or fixation of will. This clear sense of purpose is a key adjective for the kind of fight Coach believed in. It means that this effort has a “never say never” attitude attached to it.

Fight is one of the pieces of mortar that holds the pyramid block Competitive Greatness in place. When we have fight and competitive greatness, we are not fearful of adversity nor are we deterred when we face it.

A person who has fight is following two great pieces of advice from Coach Wooden:

1) “The person who is afraid to risk failure seldom has to face success,” and

2) “The person who is not afraid of failure seldom has to face it.”

Coach described adversity this way: “Adversity is the state in which man most easily becomes acquainted with himself, being especially free of admirers then."

Fight enables us to rise to the occasion - and that’s a pretty good trait for any character!

VOLUME XXXVIII

INTEGRITY

On the right side of the Pyramid of Success, below patience, there are four additional pieces of mortar: integrity, reliability, honesty and sincerity. These are qualities that, together, encompass the genuineness, strength, and impact of human character. This week we will discuss integrity.

In his book Coach Wooden‘s Pyramid of Success, with Jay Carty, Coach Wooden defined integrity and its importance in the following manner:

Integrity in its simplest form is purity of intention. It's keeping a clean conscience. But it is also a composite of some of the other mortar qualities in the pyramid. To some extent, integrity contains a bit of reliability, a healthy helping of honesty and a portion of sincerity. However, I believe that the component of purity of intention is important enough to give integrity the status of mortar in its own right.

Purity of intention is really a reflection of the heart and having a pure heart is so important that I placed it near the top of the pyramid, just under patience. The heart of a person with integrity always wants to do what's right, once he or she is sure what "right” is.

I wanted my players to become men of integrity. When we have integrity, we are not going to do anything that will be demeaning to anybody else, either on or off the court.

The five people who first come to mind that best reflect the quality of integrity are Jesus, my dad, Abraham Lincoln, Mother Theresa and Billy Graham. The order of the last three really doesn't matter.

One of the common threads between these people is that each was genuinely concerned about the betterment of others - and Dr.Graham still is. The critics of each might not agree, but in my mind the integrity of their commitments to regard others as more important than themselves sets them apart. Mother Teresa has been quoted as saying, "A life not lived for others is not a life."

Under each piece of mortar on the Pyramid, in parentheses, there is some brief application advice for that mortar. In the original version of the Pyramid, Coach had suggested that integrity was an important trait because it: “speaks for itself.” After revising the Pyramid years later, Coach changed the application advice for integrity to read instead: “purity of intention.” Coach had an important motivation for this change - he wanted to make certain that we understand that integrity is the result of a pure heart. A heart that believes, as Coach liked to say, "The most important word in our language is love."

Coach emphasized integrity as an important personal trait for any coach in his book Practical Modern Basketball. “A coach who is not a sound and honest man has no place in the development of our youth.”

The word integrity stems from the Latin adjective integer (whole, complete). Integrity when used as a character term is defined as the quality of being unimpaired or an adherence to moral principles.

Coach believed that we are whole, complete, unimpaired and of good moral principles when we live a life committed to helping others.

Coach never had an unlisted phone number. He always made his best effort to visit with anyone who sought his help. There are countless stories from people of all walks of life who received encouragement and assistance from Coach whether it was a phone call, a letter or a visit.

The legacy of his integrity (purity of intention) is summarized by two of his favorite quotes.

1.) “Kindness in words creates confidence, Kindness in thinking creates profoundness, Kindness in giving creates love.” Lao-Tse

2.) “You cannot live a perfect day without doing something for someone without a thought of repayment.”

VOLUME XXXIX

The Coach as a Teacher - Part 1 (Teach by example - You haven't taught until they have learned.) 

Coach Wooden established four essential components of being a successful coach: The Coach as a Philosopher, as an Example, as a Teacher, and as a Leader.

This issue will discuss the coach as a teacher.

An important characteristic of being an effective teacher is setting a good example. Consistent behavior provides an example. Consistent behavior can only be produced if we have a philosophy that governs our actions. Without a philosophy our actions will lack consistency because they will simply be reactions to the behaviors of others.

Coach’s philosophy, as discussed in our first thirty eight issues, guided his personal behavior. His behavior created the example that he set which was his greatest teaching tool as a coach. A favorite poem of Coach Wooden’s summarizes this idea:

No written word
Nor spoken plea
Can teach our youth
What they should be.

Nor all the books
On all the shelves.
It’s what the teachers
Are themselves.

In his book Practical Modern Basketball Coach Wooden discussed the coach’s role as a teacher in the following manner:

Since the most important responsibility of a coach in regard to the actual playing of the game is to teach his players properly and effectively to execute the various fundamentals of the game, he is, first of all, a teacher.

Coach continued by explaining the “Laws of Learning”:

A fundamental must be explained and demonstrated, the correct demonstration must be imitated by the players, their demonstration must be constructively criticized and corrected, and then the players must repeat and repeat the execution of the proper model until the correct habit has been formed to the point where they will react instinctively in the correct manner.

The work environment following the laws of learning can be beneficial. Sometimes we hurriedly give a team member an assignment with a deadline and walk away. We are disappointed when the work product does not meet our expectations. I describe this delegation technique as "Drop and Run”. This methodology does not always produce desirable results.

Coach would caution us: "Be quick but don't hurry."

The first step in the laws of learning "explanation" is communicating to the team member the purpose of the task and sometimes how it fits in “the big picture”. This communication helps transform an employee into a team member. In the delegation/teaching process it is helpful to feed our team members the corporate breakfast of champions: "facilitate feedback". The simple question "What are your thoughts?" will further energize the team member as they begin to understand that they are truly working with you, not for you.

The steps of demonstration, imitation of demonstration and constructive criticism of the imitation are critical as they ensure that you and the team member are "both on the same page".

The extra five minutes you spend in following the laws of learning when assigning a task may seem like a lot in today's fast paced business environment.

The value of taking the extra time is encapsulated in one of Coach’s favorite quotes: "If you do not have the time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?"

Confucius provided a student’s perspective with regards to the art of learning: "I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand."

As Coach liked to say: "You haven't taught until they have learned.”

VOLUME XL

The Coach as a Teacher - Part 2 (The coach - player (teacher - student) relationship)

Coach Wooden established four essential components of being a successful coach: The Coach as a Philosopher, as an Example, as a Teacher, and as a Leader.

This week we will focus on the coach – player (teacher – student) relationship.

Coach Wooden described a coach's role as a teacher in the following manner:

The coach must never forget that he is, first of all, a teacher. He must come (be present), see (diagnose), and conquer (correct).

A student is more likely to be receptive to the correction of his teacher when they have a good relationship. Coach Wooden described eight key elements of a good teacher- student (coach-player) relationship. Coach’s comments are italicized. I have inserted my commentary after some of the points.

1. Keep a close personal-player relationship, but keep their respect. Be sincerely interested in their personal problems and easy to approach.

We don't need to take our employees/team members to TGI Friday’s for drinks and appetizers, but we do need to have a sincere interest in their personal problems. It can be very beneficial to have an hour each day when your office door is open and team members know that during that time they can come and talk to you about anything that they may have on their mind.

2. Maintain discipline without being dictatorial. Be fair and lead rather than drive.

As Coach liked to say: “You cannot antagonize and influence at the same time.”

3. Study and respect the individuality of each player and work with them accordingly. Treat each man as he deserves to be treated.

We should develop a communication/teaching style that is most effective with each student. They each have their own idiosyncrasies and may need a slightly different approach.

4. Try to develop the same sense of responsibility in all.

As Abraham Lincoln said: “The worst things you can do for those you love are the things they could and should do for themselves.”

5. Analyze yourself as well as your players and be governed accordingly.

As Coach liked to say: “The ability to see the good in others and the bad in ourselves is perfect vision.”.

6. Approval is a great motivator. Use the "pat on the back," especially after severe criticism.

As Coach liked to say: “A soft answer turneth away wrath.”

7. If you teach loyalty, honesty, and respect for the rights of others, you will be taking a big step toward a cooperative team with proper team spirit. Jealousy, egotism, envy, criticism and razzing of each other can ruin this.

Teaching employees to clean up their own break room (including the microwave) or athletes to clean up their own locker room is one way of teaching respect for the rights of others.

8. Consider the team first, but don't sacrifice a boy just to prove a point.

How important is the teacher – student, coach – player or supervisor - employee relationship? Consider this:

“The #1 reason employees leave jobs is a poor relationship with their immediate supervisor.” (The Gallup Organization)

 These relationships can be difficult sometimes. Coach would remind us: “Let us overcome the angry man with gentleness.”

VOLUME XLI

The Coach as a Teacher - Part 3 (When success turns your head, you face failure.)

Coach Wooden defined important aspects of the coach as a teacher in the following manner:

He must continuously be exploring for ways to improve himself in order that he may improve others and welcome every person and everything that may be helpful to him. As has been said, he must remember, "Others, too, have brains."

Coach then listed criteria that he believed might be helpful to define an effective teacher. His list and applicable maxims are italicized; my commentary follows.

1. Knowledge of your subject.

It's what you learn after you know it all that counts.

Coach gained his knowledge of basketball from his experience as a player and the wisdom of his coaches (Earl Warner, Glenn Curtiss and Piggy Lambert). As a college player he interviewed opposing coaches to gain insight into their strategies. As a high school coach he attended Frank Leahy's Notre Dame Football practices and learned time management. After every season he sent out his research survey on a particular basketball topic to coaches who were outstanding in that field. Through the end of his career he attended every coaching clinic he could; always with an open mind, wanting to learn more. Although many considered him a "subject matter expert" he constantly sought more knowledge.

2. General knowledge.

Learn as if you were going to live forever, live as if you were to die tomorrow.

Coach took several classes in psychology as he thought it would help him become a better teacher. He was an avid reader on a variety of subjects. The numerous books that he read about Mother Theresa and Abraham Lincoln helped him formulate his philosophy of life which he shared with his students. Coach truly had intellectual balance.

3. Teaching skill.

You get ideas across better through listening and a pat- on- the - back method than you do with a kick in the pants.

Coach firmly believed that a great teacher always learns from his students.

4. Professional attitude.

Learn to disagree without being disagreeable.

There is likely to be conflict in any work environment. Working through these situations with an open mind, calmness and reason is the mark of a true professional.

5. Discipline.

You cannot antagonize and be a positive influence and you will antagonize when you discipline through emotion.

Discipline is required in any learning environment. It is helpful to remember that the purpose of discipline is to teach, not to punish.

6. Classroom (floor) organization.

There is no substitute for hard work and careful planning.

Coach spent two hours daily planning each two and a half-hour practice.

7. School and community relations.

The happiest moments in life come from making someone else happy.

Coach was an eager volunteer in community and school activities. He viewed it as his responsibility and truly enjoyed helping others.

8. Teacher – pupil (coach – player) relationship.

Our youth need examples more than critics.

When we set a great example, instruct with reason, not criticism and listen, we're likely to have a productive relationship.

9. Warmer personality and genuine consideration for others.

Be more concerned with loving than been loved, giving than receiving, being a friend rather than having a friend.

10. Desire to improve.

When success turns your head, you face failure.

The constant effort to improve, even when others view us as successful, is the trademark of a truly great teacher.

VOLUME XLII

The Coach as a Teacher - Part 4 (How To Avoid Grievances)

In order to be effective in our discipline (teaching, not punishing) we must have tact. Often how we say things is just as important as what we are saying.

This issue will focus on the art of discipline.

In his book “Wooden, A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court” with Steve Jamison, Coach Wooden recounts an episode where he had to discipline his great All-American center Bill Walton.

There was a rule against facial hair for players on the UCLA basketball teams. One day Bill Walton came to practice after a ten-day break wearing a beard. I asked him, "Bill have you forgotten something?"

He replied, "Coach if you mean the beard, I think I should be allowed to wear it. It's my right."

I asked, “Do you believe in that strongly?” He answered, “Yes, I do coach. Very much."

I looked at him and said politely, “Bill, I have a great respect for individuals who stand up for the things in which they believe. I really do. And the team is going to miss you."

Bill went to the locker room and shaved the beard off before practice began. There were no hard feelings. I wasn’t angry and he wasn't mad.

The key rule of effective discipline that Coach Wooden followed was that he did not attack Bill’s character or intent. He only dealt with his action.

If an employee is having a tardiness issue it is ineffective to say: “You have been late three times in the last two weeks. That is so irresponsible. Don't you even care about your job?" This would be attacking character and intent.

A more effective approach would be: “You have been late three times in the last two weeks. I know it is not your intention to be late; however the position we have to offer at our company requires that you are on time for work. What is causing this situation?” When we use this approach we are focusing on the action and leaving character and intent alone.

Discipline that uses shame, guilt or fear weakens people. Discipline that uses reason teaches and improves them.

The following is an essay Coach Wooden wrote entitled: “How To Avoid Grievances”

There is a definite art to criticizing others. If you want your criticism to yield positive results, observe these rules:

Get all the facts. Only then are you prepared to appraise the situation fairly. The best way to get a man to give you the facts is to ask, "What happened?" It boils down the whole issue to what went wrong rather than who is to blame.

Stay calm. You'll create a climate of ‘let’s find a solution together,’ in which you ally yourself with the fellow against the common enemy – a mistake. He'll respond in kind.

Criticize in private. Test after test has proved that this gets better results than criticism in public.

Commend before you criticize and follow with "a pat on the back". That way you take the sting out of what is to follow. You provide assurances that you still have great regard for the person you are criticizing. And you subtly suggest that you recognize his error as merely a departure from the norm – his customary high caliber performance. In short, you help him "save face."

Keep your criticism constructive. The purpose of criticism is to "teach better ways." Collaborate with the other fellow to discover "what happened." and indicate ways to prevent the mistake from happening again. That's positive, purposeful, criticism – the only kind that gets lasting results.

VOLUME XLIII

The Coach as a Teacher - Part 5 (Just Three Rules)

In order to be effective in our discipline (teaching, not punishing) we must have rules and suggestions.

This issue will focus on Coach Wooden’s view of rules. In an interview with Marv Dunphy for his dissertation: “John Robert Wooden: The Coaching Process”, Coach Wooden describes the evolution of his approach to rules:

In my early years of coaching I had a lot of rules and a few suggestions. In my latter years of coaching I had a lot of suggestions and few rules. I also had fixed punishment if they did this or that. If they were caught smoking, they were off the team for good. As time went by and I moved to the college ranks, my ideas changed on a lot of things, although I still feel the athletes shouldn't smoke, for example, yet I know plenty of them do.

I don't drink and I don’t smoke, but I can't say “don't do it because I don't.” That's not the answer for your children or anyone under your supervision; that has nothing to do with it. In my latter years I would suggest that there be no drinking at all, but if they were to partake in any way and get unruly or did anything that would bring discredit upon UCLA or our basketball team, severe action would be taken. Most of my rules were general and I didn’t specify what action or severe action would be if they deviated from the guidelines that I set.

In “John Wooden, A Life In Basketball”, Coach describes an incident that sparked the shift in his view of rules and suggestions.

One of my greatest failures, I think, was when I was teaching in high school. I had an outstanding player and I had an absolute rule of no smoking. It was dismissal from the squad immediately. There were no second chances. I saw no gray area at all. It was either black or white to me. I had this youngster, a fine basketball player, outstanding, my best player easily, but I caught him smoking right face-to-face and I dismissed him from the squad. Later on I would not have done that. I would've probably worked it out in some other way. I didn't know this but he quit school. He never graduated. He wouldn’t have had the money to go to college on his own but he was certain to get a scholarship. At that particular time, scholarships were being given for athletes. He would've received one but he didn't finish school. I feel that that was my failure because I had this blind spot in a sense, no gray area, and I think I learned from that; but that is one of my great disappointments.

Coach did not believe that it was fair to treat each player the same. He believed the fair thing to do was to treat each player with the respect they earn and deserve.

His policy of not having a lot of team rules with specific penalties allowed him to deal with each situation individually.

Ultimately he had just three rules. Be on time, no profanity and never criticize a teammate.

This was a system he came up with after many years and it served him well as a teacher.

VOLUME XLIV

In order to be effective in our discipline (teaching, not punishing) we must have rules and suggestions.

This issue will focus on Coach Wooden’s suggestions for his team members. In an interview with Marv Dunphy for his dissertation: “John Robert Wooden: The Coaching Process”, Coach Wooden describes the evolution of his approach to rules and suggestions:

In my early years of coaching I had a lot of rules and a few suggestions. In my latter years of coaching I had a lot of suggestions and few rules.

As we discussed last week, Coach Wooden ultimately only had three rules for practice: be on time, no profanity and never criticize a teammate.

Coach Wooden provided his teams with his suggestions in the following handout.

Our chances of having a successful team may be in direct proportion to the ability of each player to live up to the following sets of suggestions:

1. Be a gentleman at all times.

2. Be a team player always.

3. Be on time whenever time is involved.

4. Be a good student in all subjects – not just in basketball.

5. Be enthusiastic, industrious, dependable, loyal, and cooperative.

6. Be in the best possible condition-physically, mentally, and morally.

7. Earn the right to be proud and confident.

8. Keep emotions under control without losing fight or aggressiveness.

9. Work constantly to improve without becoming satisfied.

10. Acquire peace of mind by becoming the best that you are capable of becoming.

1. Never criticize, nag or razz a teammate.

2. Never miss or be late for any class or appointment.

3. Never be selfish, jealous, envious, or egotistical.

4. Never expect favors.

5. Never waste time.

6. Never alibi or make excuses.

7. Never require repeated criticism for the same mistake.

8. Never lose faith or patience.

9. Never grandstand, loaf, sulk, or boast.

10. Never have reason to be sorry afterwards.

The player who gives his best is sure of success, while the player who gives less than his best is a failure.

Coach Wooden wanted his players to exhibit the twenty behaviors he listed. If he had presented these twenty suggestions as rules with a "do it or else" attitude he may have had some players that complied out of fear and certainly would have had some resentment with his long list of demands.

Coach, with his opening statement of “Our chances of having a successful team may be in direct proportion to the ability of each player to live up to the following sets of suggestions:” appealed with reason to the one thing he knew all his players wanted: “a successful team”!

When a team is governed with fear and intimidation it may be compliant but not energized in the long run. Teams in this mode typically don't perform well when "the pressure is on."

When a team is governed with reason and inspired for a noble cause its energy and excellence are consistent and self sustainable. Teams in this mode perform their best when "the pressure is on."

Coach Wooden was a strict disciplinarian who always remembered that the purpose of discipline is to teach, not to punish.

As Coach liked to remind us: You cannot antagonize and influence at the same time.

VOLUME XLV

The Coach as a Leader - Part 1 (Art of Leadership)

When Coach Wooden addressed the UCLA Coaches Development Program in 2002 regarding his views on leadership, he prefaced his response by stating that there were many different types of leadership styles that have had successful results.

There are so many different types of leadership. We’re all different and we get results in different ways. I don't think that Paul Brown had his success the same way that Vince Lombardi did. I don't think that Walter Alston had it the same way that Tom Lasorda did. And it could go on and on. There are different types. You have to be yourself. If you try to be something else; well, that’s cheating when you try to be something else. You just have to be yourself, not try to be something you're not. I wouldn't want anyone to feel that anything that I say is right and something someone else says is wrong because that’s just not true. There's so many different ways.

Over forty years ago I picked up this little booklet.

I found it very, very helpful to me in so many ways; The Art of Living....There’s one section in here on leadership.

Coach continued by sharing some ideas from Wilford Peterson’s essay on the Art of Leadership from his book The Art of Living.

Simply and plainly defined, a leader is man who has followers. The leader deserves to have followers. He has earned recognition. Authority alone is no longer enough to command respect.

The leader is a servant. As the Master of Men expressed it "And whosoever would be chief among you, let him be your servant."

The leader sees through the eyes of his followers.

The leader does not say, "Get going!" Instead he says, "Let’s go!" And leads the way. He does not walk behind with a whip; he is out in front with a banner.

The leader assumes his followers are working with him, not for him. He sees that they share in the rewards. He glorifies the team spirit.

The leader is a man builder. The more men he can build, the stronger the organization will be, himself included.

The leader has faith in people. He believes in them, trusts them, and thus draws out the best in them.

The leader uses his heart as well as his head. After he has looked at the facts with his head he lets his heart take a look, too. He is a friend.

The leader plans and sets things in motion. He is a man of action as well as a man of thought.

The leader has a sense of humor. He is not a stuffed shirt. He can laugh at himself. He has a humble spirit.

The leader can be led. He is not interested in having his own way, but in finding the best way. He has an open mind.

The leader keeps his eyes on high goals. He strives to make the efforts of his followers and himself contribute to the enrichment of personality, the achievement of more abundant living for all, and the improvement of all.

In his book Practical Modern Basketball, Coach Wooden summarized his thoughts this way.

The coach who makes a sincere and determined effort to follow the leadership ideas and ideals that I have taken from the essay by Mr. Peterson is certain to improve his leadership qualifications and enhance the possibility of a successful team.

A team without leadership is like a ship without a rudder that is certain to wander aimlessly and will probably end up going around in circles and getting nowhere.

Of course, the coach must know the game and know his players to be able to provide proper leadership, but he must realize, welcome, and assume the full responsibility.

VOLUME XLVI

The Coach as a Leader - Part 2 (Pyramid & Leadership)

In his book Wooden on Leadership with Steve Jamison, Coach Wooden described how the Pyramid of Success fit in with his ideas on leadership.

The 15 personal qualities of the Pyramid became a virtual leadership guidebook, a clear and concise method of illustrating what is required for achieving success as I have defined it. In precise words, it illustrated what I expected of those under my leadership and what they can expect from me: “As a teacher, the Pyramid is my textbook. Success is my subject matter."

The Pyramid of Success provides an excellent checklist for our leadership skills. The foundation of our leadership skills are the blocks on the foundation of the Pyramid.

For a leader the cornerstones, Industriousness and Enthusiasm, are essential. Coach put it this way: Hard work without enthusiasm leads to tedium. Enthusiasm without industriousness leads to unrealized potential. When combined they cement a solid foundation.

A Leader must truly enjoy what he's doing and maintain an enthusiastic, positive, optimistic attitude. As Coach liked to say: More often than we e'er suspect, the lives of others we affect.

Nor all the books
On all the shelves.
It’s what the teachers
Are themselves.

When a leader communicates even a simple sentence with a negative tone of voice it can diminish the enthusiasm of a team member and reduce his or her industriousness to tedium.

The next two blocks, friendship and loyalty, work together as well in the makeup of a leader. The leader demonstrates friendship by taking a sincere interest in the personal problems of his or her team members. Friendship creates the respect and camaraderie that are essential in building a loyal team.

It is the leader’s loyalty to his own core values that allows him to set the proper example for his followers and make decisions based on faith, not fear.

The final block in the leadership foundation is Cooperation (With all levels of your coworkers. Listen if you want to be heard. Be interested in finding the best way, not in having your own way.) Cooperation differentiates a leader from just a “person with authority”.

In an interview with Steve Churm for a 2005 edition of the OC Metro, Coach was asked: What makes a good leader?

They must be a good listener, because the only thing they'll ever learn is what they learn from others. We should all be learning all the time. I like the statement: "When you are through learning, you are through." I think a leader must listen to others and be understanding of others and recognize the fact that everyone under their supervision is different. No two are identical and a leader must recognize the fact that those under his or her supervision are different. You can't treat them all alike. You've got to give them the treatment they earn and deserve. It's important to also understand that all leaders are imperfect. They're going to make mistakes. A good leader must come to terms with his imperfection. Lastly a good leader must have followers who were eager, not just willing. If you have people who are eager, they bring an enthusiasm to their work and they will be successful. Simply being willing to do something is not good enough. You must have followers who are eager to accomplish great goals. Ultimately a good leader must be ready to make difficult decisions.

The interview continued with: How much of good leadership is teaching?

I think a tremendous amount, but mostly by example. I think that the example you set is the best way to teach.

The speed of the leader is the speed of the team!

VOLUME XLVII

The Coach as a Leader - Part 3 (Consistency)

The first block on the second level of the Pyramid of Success, Self Control, is an essential quality for any leader and team if they are going to perform near to their capability.

It is necessary that the leader demonstrates self-control if he expects his team to have self-control.

Coach Wooden worked at maintaining his self-control on the bench during games. He explained why he thought that was important in the following manner:

I felt that my players would be more under control if I seemed to be under control. If I get out-of-control how can I tell them that if they lose their self-control they're going to be outplayed, when I apparently am losing my self-control on the bench.

I think your actions can determine to a great deal the actions of those under your supervision.

People sometimes lose their self-control when they are surprised. Prior to each season Coach sent his players a letter in which he clearly stated his expectations and how they as team members and individuals could expect to be treated. This process helped eliminate surprises and created an environment where self-control by all was maximized.

The following is an excerpt from the letter Coach sent to his 1972-73 team in August of 1972.

You must discipline yourself to do what is expected of you for the welfare of the team. The coach has many decisions to make and you will not agree with all of them, but you must respect and accept them. Without supervision and leadership and a disciplined effort by all, much of our united strength will be dissipated pulling against ourselves. Let us not be victimized by a breakdown from within.

You may feel, at times, that I have double standards as I certainly will not treat you all the same. However, I will attempt to give each player the treatment that he earns and deserves according to my judgment and in keeping with what I consider to be in the best interest of the team. I know I will not be right in all of my decisions, but I will attempt to be both right and fair.

As a leader, Coach believed that maintaining self-control and thus emotional balance was critical in maximizing performance, especially when dealing with adversity. He summarized it this way:

I believe that for every artificial peak you create, you also create valleys. When you get too high for anything, emotion takes over and consistency of performance is lost and you will be unduly affected when adversity comes. I emphasized constant improvement and steady performance.

It is self-control in thought and action that creates consistency.

Finally, as Coach liked to remind us:

The more concerned we become over the things we can’t control, the less we will do with the things we can control.

VOLUME XLVIII

The Coach as a Leader - Part 4 (Alertness + Self-Control = Leadership Listening)

The first two blocks on the second tier of the Pyramid of Success: Self-Control and Alertness are essential qualities for any leader and team if they are going to perform near to their capability.

Last week we discussed the importance of self-control in creating consistency.

A leader with self-control will resist taking shortcuts irrespective of how alluringly they are presented and how easily they are made available.

A leader with self-control will "keep his cool" in the face of adversity.

It is the self control of the leader that will enable him to maintain Alertness for himself and his team members.

In an interview with Steve Churm for a 2005 edition of the OC Metro, Coach was asked:“If you were to give a speech to business school graduates, what are two or three things that you would tell them to do to be successful?”

As you can see in Coach’s response Self-Control is critical.

Well I would certainly stress listening, I think that very well could be number one. Secondly, I would tell them not to get absorbed or involved in things in which you have no control. Finally, concentrate on improving what you can. Work on the things in which you have control to help overcome the things you feel need changed.

It takes self control to become a great listener. Sometimes we may be thinking of how we're going to respond while the other person is talking.The leader who has the Self- Control to avoid doing this will exhibit a key component of Alertness: listening and learning from others.

A leader who listens with Alertness will avoid fitting the mold of this Woodenism: “Too many know the last word about everything and the first word about nothing.”

The following is an excerpt from the letter Coach sent to his 1970-71 team in July of 1970 in which he explains he will be available to listen, but also clarifies his role as a leader.

Come in and talk to me whenever you feel like it, but please remember that it isn't necessarily lack of communication if we fail to agree on your position or the position of another on the team. I am and will always be interested in your problems, but do feel that everyone should do everything possible to work out his own problems rather than become dependent upon others. I have found prayer most helpful when I am troubled, and believe that all prayers are heard and answered, even though the answer may be no.

The leader with Alertness has the mental quickness to recognize changing circumstances and adjust accordingly. The Alert leader is open-minded and constantly facilitating feedback, creating an engaged and energized team committed to constant improvement.

The Alert leader is not content at the end of each day simply because "the numbers were good". Every day the Alert leader asks the question "What did we do to improve today?”

The Alert leader recognizes, as Coach Wooden put it: “When success turns your head, you face failure.”

VOLUME XLIX

The Coach as a Leader - Part 5 (Creating Initiative)

The next block on the second tier of the Pyramid of Success, Initiative, is an essential quality for any leader and team if they are going to perform near to their capability.

Issue 21 discussed the importance of Initiative as a valuable individual character trait of a leader.

A great leader not only has initiative as an individual character trait but also coaches his or her team or organization in a manner that creates and encourages initiative from all team members.

A great leader creates new leaders.

Coach Wooden described the importance of giving his players the ability to take initiative this way:

Do not tie them down so rigidly that you take away their initiative. They must have some freedom of movement, but must react to the initiative of a teammate in order to keep floor balance.

Give players the opportunity to achieve without the fear of failure.

The communication style of the leader will either encourage or discourage initiative by the people he or she supervises.

In the book How to Be Like Coach Wooden by Pat Williams, Coach Wooden described his method this way:

I never wanted to teach through fear, punishment or intimidation. Pride is a better motivator than fear.

Fear may work in the short term to get people to do something, but over the long run I believe personal pride is a much greater motivator. It produces far better results that last for a much longer time.

The leader encourages initiative when he holds people accountable and corrects rather than criticizes.

In his book with Jay Carty Coach Wooden One-on-One, Coach Wooden describes the difference this way:

Criticism and correction differ especially when it comes to methods and motives. Criticism puts someone down. Correction means I want to help.

Be slow to correct and quick to commend. No one likes correction, but we learn from it. If we commend before we correct, the person will accept the correction better. But we must listen before we correct. There is usually another side to every story. If we listen to others they will be more apt to listen to us.

It is very important how correction is given. We must be careful how we do it. We don't want those being corrected to lose face. Here are some good tips: make it meaningful, but use judgment. Don't fly off the handle and be quick to correct. Do it with tact. If we just let fly, it is more likely to be viewed as criticism than as correction.

Approval is a greater motivator than disapproval, but we have to disapprove on occasion when we correct. It's necessary. I only make corrections after I have proved to the individual that I highly value them. If they know we care for them, our correction won't be seen as judgment. I also tried to never make it personal.

The leader who encourages initiative has faith in people. He believes in them, and thus draws out the best in them.

A "Monday Morning Quarterback" leader stifles the initiative of his or her team members.

If the Initiative of the team member works out, the leader gives away the credit. If it doesn't, the leader takes the blame.

As Coach would often remind us: “It's amazing how much can be accomplished if no one is concerned with who gets the credit.”

VOLUME L

The Coach As A Leader - Part 6 (Character Fuels Intentness)

The last block on the second tier of the Pyramid of Success, Intentness, is an essential quality for any leader and team if they are going to perform near their capability.

Issue 22 discussed the importance of intentness as a valuable individual character trait of a leader.

Coach once summarized this concept as “patience with action”— that is having the determination, stamina, and resolve to stay the course when things aren’t going well.

A great leader not only has intentness as an individual character trait but also builds and coaches his or her team or organization in a manner that promotes and encourages intentness from all team members.

A leader and team with intentness truly believe that: "A setback is a set up for a come back."

The intentness of the team keeps industriousness, enthusiasm, friendship, loyalty, cooperation, self-control, alertness and initiative in motion when facing adversity. The team members themselves must individually possess these character traits if the team is going to have a "never say die" attitude.

The leader hoping to build a team with intentness should choose his team members based on these character traits before considering personality and skill.

Coach was doing a home visit with an excellent high school prospect when the young man's mother asked a question. The recruit turned to his mother and said “Mom how could you ask Coach Wooden such a stupid question?” Coach Wooden politely ended the home visit and stopped recruiting the prospect.

When asked if he considered character in the selection process of his teams Coach responded:

Absolutely. Character is so important in everything. Character is what you really are. You're the only one that knows your character. You don't know my character. I know my character. You know my reputation. It could be different. Reputation is what you are perceived to be by others. Your character is what you really are. And certainly on all these things that I would study on the transcript, I’m determining the character of the individual. And that will determine to some extent, too, whether or not he'll be a good team player or whether he'll be a selfish player, thinking too much of himself.

In the work environment, following the laws of learning can be beneficial. Sometimes we hurriedly give a team member an assignment with a deadline and walk away. We are disappointed when the work product does not meet our expectations. I describe this delegation technique as "Drop and Run”. This methodology does not always produce desirable results.

Coach described the importance of character as follows;

Too many of us are concerned with building a reputation or obtaining material possessions. We should be more interested in building character within ourselves. Material possessions can't bring contentment, peace of mind, happiness or true success.

Adversity and power reveal character.

Coach liked to say: "Ability may get you to the top but it takes character to keep you there."

In an interview with Steve Churm for a 2005 edition of the OC Metro, Coach expanded on this idea.

People change when they acquire power, authority and material possessions. A person with character won’t change. Character is what you really are inside. Some people have great individual ability, whether it's physical or mental. They may reach great financial success. But if they don't have character, they won’t stay there for very long. They’ll go down fast and you'll find the road down is much faster than the road up.

The saying: "When the going gets tough, the tough get going." aptly describes a team with intentness.

The “tough” have character.

The leader desiring a team with intentness should select the team carefully.

VOLUME LI

The Coach As A Leader - Part 7 (The Leader Has a Humble Spirit)

Coach Wooden's favorite ideas regarding leadership came from Wilford Peterson’s essay on the Art of Leadership from his book The Art of Living. The essay states in part:

The leader is a servant.

Coach Wooden's actions always reflected humility.

In Pat Williams’ How to Be Like Coach Wooden, there is an entire chapter entitled: If You Want to Be Like Coach, Strive for Humility. In that chapter Coach Wooden's grandson Greg described his Grandfather this way:

My grandfather is an extremely humble man. He's led by example his whole life and stayed true to his beliefs. He's never asked anyone to do anything he wouldn’t do himself.

As described in Issue #4, Coach Wooden's teams always left their locker room, home or away, cleaner than the way they found it. In How to Be Like Coach Wooden, Franklin Adler, a student manager for the UCLA basketball team from 1964 to 1968, recalls an incident when he was cleaning up after a game that reflects Coach’s humility:

I was scurrying around between banks of lockers when I heard the sound of footsteps and the thud of objects landing in a receptacle. Thankful for any help, I assumed that a Washington State janitorial employee was making his rounds after the game. Imagine my surprise when I came around a corner and saw that my ally in cleaning up the room was Coach Wooden!

Coach Wooden never wanted special privileges.

In Marv Dunphy‘s PHD Dissertation John Robert Wooden: The Coaching Process, Frank Arnold, a former assistant coach of Coach Wooden, recalled the time when he and Coach Wooden got in line to register for the National Association of Basketball Coaches at the Final Four on an occasion when Coach Wooden's Bruin's were there to play for their eighth national championship. Coach Arnold stated:

The line was enormous and here's John Wooden at the back of the line when we were a participant in the tournament. People kept telling him, "Coach, go to the front of the line, pay your dues and get out of here." He wouldn't do that. We stood in that doggone line for an hour and a half to pay our $20 dues. We could have gone to the front, but he wouldn't. He wanted to be an ordinary guy, but he certainly was not an ordinary guy.

The humble leader will aspire for noble goals because he or she realizes "The happiest moments in life come from making someone else happy."

The humble leader will be a lifelong learner with a keen desire to improve and be full of “Alertness” because he or she realizes "When you are through learning you are through."

The humble leader will inspire “Cooperation” because he or she believes that “You must listen if you want to be heard.” and that "What is right is more important than who is right.”

The humble leader will inspire “Team Spirit” because he or she knows that "It's amazing how much can be accomplished if no one is concerned with who gets the credit.”

As you may have guessed the previous five quotes are courtesy of my favorite humble leader: Coach Wooden

VOLUME LII

The Coach as a Leader - Part 8 (Be A Mentor)

A mentor is defined as someone who imparts wisdom to and shares knowledge with a less experienced colleague; a trusted counselor or guide.

In his book A Game Plan for Life: The Power of Mentoring with Don Yaeger, (a book I highly recommend) Coach Wooden commented on mentoring in the following manner:

While I made my living as a coach, I have lived my life to be a mentor—and to be mentored!—constantly.

Everything in the world has been passed down. Every piece of knowledge is something that has been shared by someone else. If you understand it as I do, mentoring becomes your true legacy. It is the greatest inheritance you can give to others. It is why you get up every day—to teach and be taught.

Coach Wooden has often pointed out the profound influence his father Joshua had on him. This was discussed extensively in our first eight issues when we described his father’s Two Sets of Three and Seven Point Creed. Three other key points of wisdom that Coach attributed to his father were:

Never try to be better than someone else. But always be learning from others. Never cease trying to be the best you can be. One is under your control, the other isn’t.

You'll never know a thing that you didn't learn from someone else.

The more concerned we become over the things we can’t control, the less we will do with the things we can control.

Mother Theresa and Abraham Lincoln were two historical figures that Coach considered to be his mentors. He described their influence this way:

Both of them lived their lives completely devoted for others. Lincoln was President during the most difficult time in our country. He never lost his common man approach. At the end of the terrible war between the states he was being criticized by the Secretary of State who told him: “You're supposed to destroy your enemies, not make friends of them” His answer, of course, was “Am I not destroying an enemy if I make a friend of him?” And he said: “The best thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.”He said: “The worst things you can do for those you love are the things they could and should do for themselves.” He said: “It’s better to trust and be disappointed occasionally than to distrust and be miserable all the time.” Mother Theresa said: “A life not lived for others is not a life.” And if anyone ever truly lived their life for others, it was Mother Theresa.

I'd say she's the person I have the most respect and admiration for that's lived in my lifetime. Lincoln was my favorite American.

Coach also considered his grammar school coach, Earl Warriner, high school coach, Glenn Curtis and college coach, Piggy Lambert to be valuable mentors.

I would be remiss if I failed to mention the amazing impact Coach often alluded to that his wife of 53 years, Nellie, had on his life.

The example that Coach Wooden set for us is that we all have opportunities to positively influence others every day. Remembering, as Coach liked to say:

You cannot live a perfect day without doing something for someone without thought of repayment.

VOLUME LIII

Bad times can make you bitter or better.

The Maxim: “A setback is a set up for a comeback” describes Coach Wooden's philosophy for dealing with adversity.

In his book The Pyramid of Success with Jay Carty, Coach described his perspective on adversity.

We cannot allow difficulties to discourage us. Roadblocks may cause us to alter our course a bit, but we cannot let them deter us from our destination. I have often said that we grow stronger through adversity.

We become stronger physically through a weight-lifting program. Our muscles work against heavy objects. That's adversity. We get stronger mentally through the progressive difficulty of education. We don't start with calculus; we start with arithmetic. After we learn the basics, we move on to algebra, then to geometry, and so on. We work our way up to calculus.

In the same way, we grow stronger spiritually through the tests of life. Losing my beloved wife, Nellie, was the hardest event in my life. For a couple of years, it slowed me down; but it didn't stop me. In the end, even her loss has made me stronger. In every way - physically, morally, emotionally, and spiritually, we increase our strength when life is hard; therefore, we must not dread adversity, nor can we allow it to stop us from becoming the best we can be through the steadfast pursuit of our goals. In fact, as we become stronger we can and should expand our goals. Extending our capabilities to their limits requires us to realistically reevaluate our potential.

In 1962, Coach’s UCLA team was defeated in the semi-finals of the final four. In Coach’s book Wooden on Leadership with Steve Jamison, Fred Slaughter, a member of that team, described the experience.

We lost to Cincinnati in the semifinals of the national championship because of a bad charging call on us during the last minute of the game. It was a phantom call, and it cost UCLA the game and maybe the national championship. Coach’s reaction in the locker room was the same as if we’d won—cool. No complaining; he told us to keep our heads up: “Adversity makes us stronger.” And then he said, “Remember, you’ve still got one another.”

Sometimes it was years before Coach Wooden's players benefited from his life lessons. Bill Walton once described it this way:

Twenty-nine years have passed since I left UCLA and it amazes me how smart Coach Wooden has become in those 29 years. I'm 50 years old now. I thought he was nuts. He was a walking antique. It wasn't until adversity hit me that I realized he was right.

Dealing with adversity in a positive way requires the two top mortar pieces of coach’s Pyramid of Success: Faith and Patience.  And remember, as Coach put it:

Adversity is the state in which man most easily becomes acquainted with himself, being especially free of admirers then.

VOLUME LIV

NEVER MAKE EXCUSES      

Coach Wooden's father Joshua had given John Wooden and his brothers  " Two Sets of Three". The second set of three was: “Don't Whine, Don't Complain, Don't Make Excuses”. As described in a previous issue Joshua Wooden had modeled this behavior by his reaction when he had lost his farm, his wife’s inheritance, and life savings as a result of being sold a bad vaccine for his hogs.

In his book with Steve Jamison, My Personal Best, Coach Wooden describes the impact of his father's example:

He believed you should do your best, and if the results were unsatisfactory, keep quiet about it and work harder next time. As instructive as it was to hear him recite the two sets of threes, seeing him abide by them as he lost the farm had a most powerful effect on me. That's where I came to see that what you do is more important than what you say you'll do. People say they'll do all kinds of things.

One of his players that Coach Wooden admired the most was his great All-American center Kareem Abdul Jabbar, formally known as Lewis Alcindor. In My Personal Best, Coach explains why:

During his playing days at UCLA, Lewis was subjected to the treatment I had never seen or heard before, even in the old Jim Crow days when we traveled to Kansas City with Clarence Walker for the NAIB tournament. Lewis bewildered people; his extreme height, color, athletic ability, and celebrity along with UCLA's dominance of college basketball at the time were just more than some could handle. Their comments reflected an opinion that Lewis was a spectacle, "something" rather than someone, an object, and not a man. On one occasion, a woman seeing Lewis for the first time pointed her finger at him and said within earshot, "Will you just look at that big, black freak!" as if he was a creature in the zoo. I explained to him the cruel comment—and others—was not racist, but simply shock, amazement, and awe. Lewis understood there was more to the woman's comment than just shock. He knew racism in a way I couldn't. Through it all—the crude comments, the racial invectives, the physical pounding officials allowed opponents to give him, the discomforts of being extraordinarily tall (airplane seats, hotel beds, doorways, chairs, clothes, showers, cars, phone booths, taxis, classroom desks—nothing was sized for a seven-footer, and everything became a source of minute-to-minute aggravation). Lewis Alcindor never complained, whined, or made excuses. This was true on small issues as well as big ones.

In his book A Game Plan for Life with Don Yaeger, Coach Wooden summarized his admiration for Kareem:

Like my father, Lewis never complained or made excuses, no matter the situation… Despite the things others said or did, he always managed his own behavior in ways that would make any parent—or mentor—proud. There are not many people I’ve compared favorably to my father, but I know he would be proud to have Lewis on that list.

I suspect Kareem's mental approach had a lot to do with his amazing consistency and was certainly a great example of one of my favorite Wooden's Wisdoms:

Complaining, whining, making excuses just keeps you out of the present. That's where self-control comes in. Self-control keeps you in the present. Strive to maintain self-control.

UNSELFISHNESS

Many of Coach’s favorite maxims reflected his keen appreciation of unselfishness:

You cannot live a perfect day without doing something for someone without a thought of repayment.

Be as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.

Coach Wooden considered the ability of an individual to be a team player an essential character trait in selecting the players he chose to recruit at UCLA.

One of my favorite stories that Coach told regarding unselfishness is from his book They Call Me Coach, which he wrote with Jack Tobin, describing an incident after the 1964 championship game victory over Duke:

As I turned away from the post game press conference and headed down that long corridor in Kansas City toward the dressing room, my feet and spirits dragged. For while I looked forward to congratulating the team on their victory, my thoughts were also on Fred Slaughter. What was he feeling at this moment?

Throughout the entire season, Fred had started every game. He had a brilliant year. Fred was a totally unselfish player with great team devotion and was frequently asked to do things for which a player receives little public attention. Even though he was short for a college center, barely 6'5" tall, Fred was the blocker, screener, and rebounder – things seldom seen and appreciated by the crowd. But in this final game for the championship with Duke, he had gotten off to a bad start. As the game moved along, it got worse instead of better. Finally, a change had to be made, so I pulled Fred and put in Doug McIntosh. And Doug did such a fine job that I left him in until the game was ours.

While I walked along toward the dressing room, George Moriarty's words were ringing in my mind, "Who could ask more of a man than giving all within his span? Giving all, it seems to me, is not so far from victory." And yet I knew that Fred was not alone in his disappointment. Having grown up not too far away in Topeka, Kansas, where he had attended high school, he was well aware that the crowd had been pretty well sprinkled with Slaughter relatives and fans.

Pushing open the dressing room door, I ran right into Fred. He had evidently been waiting for me. "Coach," he said, "before someone gets the wrong impression, I want you to know that I understand. You had to leave Doug in there because he played so well, and I didn't. I wanted to play in the worst way, but I do understand, and if anyone says I was upset, it's not true. Disappointed, yes, but upset no, and I was very happy for Doug."

Coach also described another compelling incident following UCLA's victory over Michigan in the 1965 national championship game:

Doug McIntosh, whose spectacular substitution for Slaughter in the 1964 championship game, contributed so much to that win, and was our regular starting center. He had a good year, but he didn't get off to a good start in this decisive Michigan game. And just as with Slaughter the year before, I had to pull Doug and substitute Michael Lynn, a sophomore. Mike did well and I played him almost all of the rest of the game.

And so, as I headed toward the dressing room, my feelings matched those of 1964. But, like Fred, Doug understood and told me that I had no choice. There wasn't even a hint of resentment, and Doug was happy that the team had done so well.

Fred Slaughter went on to become a Dean at the UCLA Law School, a highly successful attorney, and a member of the UCLA Hall of Fame.

Following his college career, Doug McIntosh attended seminary at Dallas Theological Seminary and later co-founded the Cornerstone Bible Church in Liburn, Georgia.

As Coach liked to say: It’s amazing how much can be accomplished if no one is concerned with who gets the credit.

VOLUME LV

DON'T LET YESTERDAY TAKE UP TOO MUCH OF TODAY

This maxim represents the foundation of Coach Wooden's approach as a teacher. He often reminded his players of this with his “Make Each Day Your Masterpiece” approach and spoke poignantly on the topic:

Don't live in the past, you can't do anything about the past. It will never change whether it's yesterday or last year. The future is yet to be determined and can be influenced by what you do today. Today is the only day that really matters. That's what I tried to teach.

Vivian Laramore said:

I have shut the door on yesterday,

Its sorrows and mistakes.

I have locked within its gloomy walls

Past failures and mistakes.

And now I throw the key away,

And seek another room.

And furnish it with hope and smiles,

And every spring-time bloom.

No thought shall enter this abode

That has a taint of pain.

And envy, malice, and distrust

Shall never entrance gain.

I have shut the door on yesterday

And thrown the key away.

Tomorrow holds no fear for me,

Since I have found today.

Today is the only day you can do anything about.

Coach Wooden often referenced his father’s example as a major influence on him. His mother, Roxie, also had a powerful impact on his “focus on now, not yesterday” approach. In his book, A Game Plan for Life with Don Yaeger, Coach described it this way:

I have written and talked a great deal during my long career about my father’s tremendous influence on my life, but have neglected to say much about my mother. That is a great oversight, as she was an incredible woman who managed a household with none of the modern conveniences and suffered the loss of both her daughters within a year of one another. Cordelia, who was born between my older brother Maurice and myself, died of diptheria when she was two; and there was a baby girl who died at birth and was never named. And yet Mother never once complained, or lost her faith, or showed any kind of self-pity. Instead, she poured herself into the lives of her surviving children with a fierce devotion that celebrated her love for us all.

Coach Wooden enjoyed collecting and sharing poetry and stories he found inspirational.

I think he would approve of me sharing some excerpts from an article written by his friend T.J. Simers in the Los Angeles Times, November 3, 2012.

Octavio Sanchez of Fontana was badly burned and lost one hand and his nose seven years ago in Iraq but he's happy to be alive and with his family.

In Iraq he almost died several times, before being brought back with 68% of his body suffering third-degree burns. He has had almost 30 operations on his body. Octavio says, he knows of only one way to react.

“Move forward.”

Octavio has been doing so for seven years. Every day, no breaks, no complaints.

"What's my other choice," he says, "crying over spilt milk?"

Octavio lost his right hand, two fingers on his left, his nose burns off and he says, "I've been blessed.”

He's lucky too, he says, and although the three remaining fingers on his other hand are fused together, swelling sometimes and looking like sausages, there's sensation.

"It's something special," he says, "to touch your children and feel their faces."

Octavio Sanchez has truly taken “Don't let yesterday take up too much of today” to a new level.

VOLUME LVI

ATTITUDE

People are usually as happy as they make up their minds to be. This maxim of Coach Wooden’s is a reminder that the attitude we assume when faced with disappointment is truly up to us.

The influence of his father helped Coach Wooden develop a mental approach that responded to disappointment with self-control and reason rather than reacting emotionally.

In his book My Personal Best, with Steve Jamison, Coach recalled an incident that exemplified this mental approach:

In the final seconds of the 1928 Indiana state high school championship, with Martinsville leading by one point, Muncie Central's Charlie Secrist flung a desperation underhand shot from half-court that literally went up to the rafters and came down straight through the hoop. It was impossible. Here's how impossible it was: in my forty years of coaching basketball at Dayton High School, South Bend Central, Indiana State Teachers College, and UCLA, I never saw anyone make that shot again in competition. But I did see it once—Saturday night, March 17, 1928, in the final seconds of the Indiana state high school championship. Martinsville lost 13–12. Muncie Central fans were nearly hysterical at the buzzer.

In our locker room afterward, the Artesians, stunned and almost grieving, sat on the benches holding towels over their faces as they wept. Charlie Secrist's last-second shot had been crushing, and all of the players just quietly lowered their heads and cried. All but one. I couldn't cry. The loss hurt me deeply inside, but I also knew I'd done the best I could do. Disappointed? Yes. Devastated or depressed? No. Dad taught us on the farm, "Don't worry about being better than somebody else, but never cease trying to be the best you can be." I had done that. Now, as a member of the Martinsville Artesians basketball team, Dad's instructions and example were put to the test. You lose, you feel bad—sometimes very, very bad. But a much worse feeling is knowing that you haven't done everything you possibly could have done to prepare and compete. I had done what my father taught me to do, including his two sets of threes, one of which was don't whine, don't complain and don't make excuses. That loss in the 1928 Indiana state high school championships, when the Artesians were defending champions and I was their captain, is still painful to recall. But I couldn't cry. Dad didn't cry when he lost the farm. How could I now?

As a teacher Coach would sometimes help his students look at a potentially negative situation with a different perspective and thus improve the outcome.

In the book How to Be like Coach Wooden by Pat Williams, Bob Thau, an attorney who played for the UCLA Freshman Team in the 1950’s, described an example:

In the seventies, two of my sons went to a John Wooden summer camp. Our youngest, Jordan, was seven at the time, and after the second day he called and asked if he could come home. He was whimpering and crying, and when I asked him what was wrong, he said, “It’s not good here. I'm not a good player, and the other boys aren't being nice to me.” I urged him to give it one more day. The next evening, Jordan called and said, “I met Coach Wooden today, and he wants to meet my parents.” I asked why, and Jordan replied, “Coach told me that if you're homesick that means you have a very good home.” Coach also told Jordan that he was "the bravest boy in camp" because he was sticking it out, even though he was homesick. "I'm very proud of you," Coach told him. Jordan came home thrilled because Coach Wooden was so interested in him. It still amazes me that with almost seven hundred kids at camp, Coach would spend time with Jordan and show so much interest. It proves what a remarkable teacher and coach he is. He took the negative of Jordan's struggle and turned it into a positive.

People are usually as happy as they make their mind up to be and sometimes a great teacher can show a student how to do it.

VOLUME LVII

WHAT IS RIGHT IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN WHO IS RIGHT

This quote from Coach Wooden was a key idea that he used to build cooperation and ultimately team spirit with his teams. It was also a central idea that governed his leadership and coaching style.

In his book The Essential Wooden with Steve Jamison, Coach explained the concept:

Cooperation: "One hand washes the other" is a pretty good explanation of my third block in the "working-together" values. Cooperation is present within a team when a leader is more concerned with what's right than who's right and with the best way rather than "my way." It's present in an environment in which no one cares who gets the credit. This approach fosters creativity, which in turn brings about improvement. Individually, each finger on your hand is weak. Working together-cooperating-they can paint a masterpiece. A leader's job is to build a team capable of producing a masterpiece. This can happen only when Cooperation is plentiful and everyone is working together.

In 2010 Kenny Heitz, a key member of three national championship teams (1967,68, 69)(88-2 record), described the way Coach built team spirit based on cooperation (it’s not important who scores as long as we score), and the impact it had on him:

Well, for Coach and particularly for all those of us that were fortunate enough to play for him at UCLA, I think team spirit was a transcendent value of his. It was one of the things that was really ubiquitous in the time I was there. We didn't have many hard and fast rules, but one of the rules was that if somebody passed you the ball for a basket you acknowledged it either with a verbal thank you, a point or a wave. I made a lot of passes to Kareem Abdul Jabbar while I was playing at UCLA and I can't remember a one where he didn't manage to find me when we were going back into the press. His acknowledgment was a long pointed finger in your direction. It was also something if you didn't do in practice you could get chewed out big time in a hurry.

It's also symbolic of the fact that Coach really deeply believed in all of the parts that go into the whole of a team and everybody appreciating it and everybody doing their best to deliver. I would say there was not a whole lot of focus on lots of parts of the pyramid during the basketball experience. Team spirit was not one of those. We were constantly coached and taught to live it and to appreciate it. And I think for all of us, no matter what we did after basketball, it's one of the critical things that guided our lives.

After graduation Kenny graduated from Harvard Law School with honors, joined and became a senior partner at Irell & Manella. Kenny passed away in July 2012.

Irell & Manella senior partner Morgan Chu said "For forty years, Ken has been our colleague, mentor, leader, partner, and pillar of strength. As he was on the basketball court, Ken was the consummate team player as a colleague. He made all of us better."

Kenny Heitz: Always a team player!

The leader with a “what is right is more important than who is right” attitude brings to mind a quote from Lao-Tzu in 565 B.C.:

But of a good leader who talks little,

When his work is done,

his aim fulfilled

They will say we did this ourselves.

Sounds like Kenny and Coach.

VOLUME LVIII

A MISTAKE IS VALUABLE IF YOU RECOGNIZE IT, ADMIT IT, LEARN FROM IT AND FORGET IT

This quote from Coach Wooden is one of my favorites because it summarizes and gives instruction to some of his key ideas regarding how to deal with mistakes:

1. Recognize It:
   Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be.
   

2. Admit it:
   You may make mistakes, but you are not a failure until you start blaming someone else.
   

3. Learn from it:
   It's always about focusing, not on the mistakes, but on the lessons learned from them. Never require repeated criticism for the same mistake.
   

4. Forget it:
   Don't let yesterday take up too much of today.
   Don't make a second mistake because you're thinking about the first.

John Wooden took on his first coaching assignment in 1933. The opportunity was in Dayton, Kentucky for the Dayton High School Green Devils football team.

In his book My Personal Best with Steve Jamison, Coach described that experience:

The Green Devils football team had a big lumbering lineman who bullied other classmates and even teammates; he was the kind of player who did only as much as he wanted to do and no more. On a sweltering Kentucky afternoon during the first week of football practice, this young man decided he'd had enough of my whistle blowing, directions and drills.

When I told him to get back to work, he challenged me. He stuck his chin right in my face and snarled, "You're not man enough to make me do it." The whole team was watching us. I responded emotionally and without thinking, and I am very ashamed of what happened next—a brief but physical altercation. It was terrible behavior from someone trying hard to follow the examples of my coaching mentors. Even more, it went against my father's teaching. One of his favorite quotes was from Abraham Lincoln: "There is nothing stronger than gentleness." Now, as a brand-new coach—two weeks into the job—I had quickly lost my temper and stooped to violence. It troubled me very deeply. These days I'd be fired, rightfully, but on that hot humid afternoon, we just moved on and continued practice.

I quickly came to understand I wasn't a good football coach .The stubborn lineman, however, was not the reason, and I asked my predecessor, Willard Bass, to come back. As the weeks went along, I heard through the grapevine that whenever one of them gave him any trouble, Coach Bass would warn sternly, "Please don't make me tell Johnny Wooden about this." He was kidding, of course, but I didn't think it was very funny.

Seems as though Coach Wooden followed his own advice regarding this mistake. He recognized it, admitted it, learned from it and moved forward.

VOLUME LIX

IF YOU SACRIFICE PRINCIPLE TRYING TO PLEASE EVERYONE, YOU END UP PLEASING NO ONE

This maxim of Coach Wooden’s is a great reminder of a key principle Coach Wooden learned from his father: “Be true to yourself”.

In the book Coach Wooden by Pat Williams, two of Coach Wooden’s former players commented on what they took away from this idea in their lives:

Dave Meyers (UCLA: 1971-75), former NBA star and currently a teacher, summarized his lessons this way:  “If you are not maintaining self-control then you are not being true to yourself. You are letting your circumstances or your emotions or the actions of other people control you. To be true to yourself, you have to be in control of yourself. When I played for Coach Wooden, he used to tell the team, ‘If you can’t control yourself, others will do it for you. And if you’re not controlling yourself, you’re not helping the team.’

Andy Hill (UCLA: 1969-73), who became an accomplished television producer and author of the  book: Be Quick but Don’t Hurry, shared this insightful perspective: Those players who fought with John Wooden the hardest ultimately became his most outspoken advocates. That’s because he let them fight. He wasn’t intimidated by a player who had his own opinions. Coach was totally secure in who he was.

I believe these are valuable lessons to share with our young people, because they are sometimes in difficult social situations due to peer pressure. Rather than “going along to get along” they should have a value system that will guide them to make the right decision. Doing the right thing is more important than meeting the expectations of their peers.

The following two stories powerfully illustrate Coach Wooden's consistency in being true to his life guiding principles.

As was detailed in Issue #18; Coach Wooden, in his first year as a college coach, refused an invitation to the 1948 NAIA National Championship tournament because Clarence Walker, an African-American player, would have been prohibited from participating solely because of his race.

Again, from the book Coach Wooden, Pat Williams recounts a meeting Coach Wooden participated in, prior to his last season as a college coach:

In 1974, Coach Wooden and his assistant coaches were called to the office of UCLA athletic director J. D. Morgan. “We just received an offer from one of the television networks,” Morgan said. “The network has offered UCLA a lot of money if we will play North Carolina State as the opening game of the upcoming season.” Just a few weeks earlier, the N.C. State Wolfpack had stunned the heavily favored UCLA Bruins in the opening round of the Final Four. The network thought that opening the season with a rematch between the two teams would be a ratings sensation. But as Morgan laid out the terms of the offer, there was one big hitch: The game would be scheduled on a Sunday, the day Coach Wooden set aside as a day of rest. Coach and his wife, Nell, never missed a Sunday attending church in Santa Monica. After church, their children and grandchildren usually came over for Sunday dinner. Would Coach be willing to forego his weekly ritual for this opportunity? Morgan asked the two assistant coaches, Gary Cunningham and Frank Arnold, what they thought of the offer? Both assistants said they would prefer not to play on Sunday but would do what they had to do. But they both knew it wasn’t their opinion that really counted. Morgan turned to Coach Wooden for his response. “Well, Coach? What do you think about the offer?”

“J. D.,” Coach said gently, “if you want to schedule that game on Sunday afternoon, go right ahead. But I won’t be there.” With that, the discussion was over. There would be no Sunday game.

In his first season and his last season nothing had changed. John Wooden remembered: If you sacrifice principle trying to please everyone, you end up pleasing no one.

VOLUME LX

TRUST 

It is better to trust and occasionally be disappointed than to mistrust and be miserable all the time. This quote from Abraham Lincoln was a favorite of Coach Wooden's and a key principle that he used to define his approach to leadership and life.

A leader must have the trust of his or her followers. Trust is built by giving it first.

Mr. Wilfred Peterson, in his essay The Art of Leadership, described it as follows:

The Leader has faith in people. He believes in them, trusts them and thus draws out the best in them. The Leader is a people builder. The leader creates initiative in others.

In his book The Essential Wooden with Steve Jamison, Coach described the importance of trust and how to create it:

Without trust between a team and leader, there really is no team at all, just a collection of individuals who don't amount to much.

How does a leader create trust? Here's how: Do the things you should do and that those under your leadership have a right to expect from you. Show confidence in their ability to reach their potential. Help them overcome mistakes by getting to the core reason for errors or misjudgments without seeking to blame, condemn, or punish. Show those under your supervision that you believe they can succeed. Be fair. Be trusting. In short, be the kind of leader whose team of which you’d like to be a member.

Trust begets trust. Yours begets theirs. Be brave enough to trust, and it will be returned.

In Coach Wooden’s book with Steve Jamison, Wooden on Leadership, Fred Slaughter, the center of the 1964 National Championship team, recalls how Coach’s trusting leadership style affected Coach’s game management and him as a player:

I think there were four or five games in my career at UCLA when we started out behind something like 18–2—just getting killed. I’d look over at Coach Wooden, and there he’d sit on the bench with his program rolled up in his hand—totally unaffected, almost like we were ahead. And I’d think to myself, “Hey, if he’s not worried why should I be worried? Let’s just do what the guy told us to do.” And you know what? We won all those games except one, and even that was close. It’s the doggonest experience to see that. He was cool when it counted; his confidence and strength became ours. In my three years on the UCLA varsity team I never once saw him rattled.

In his book Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections on and off the Court with Steve Jamison, Coach Wooden summarized his philosophy on trust:

It has been said that you will be hurt occasionally if you trust too much. This may be true, but you will live constantly in torment if you do not trust enough. Trusting is part of our higher nature. Doubting is a lower instinct. The latter is easy to do, the former more difficult - but so much more rewarding.

VOLUME LXI

A GOOD PLACE TO FIND A HELPING HAND IS AT THE END OF YOUR ARM

After the 1961-62 season, John Wooden embraced this idea with regard to the way that he approached coaching his basketball team. It led to the greatest dynasty in the history of college athletics.

Prior to the 1961-62 season, Coach Wooden had been at UCLA for 13 years. His teams had been in the NCAA tournament three times. In 1950 they lost in the opening round to BYU 83-62. In 1952 they lost the opening round to Oklahoma City 55-53. In 1956 they lost in the opening round to University of San Francisco 72-61.

Given the strict academic requirements and antiquated facilities at UCLA, Coach Wooden felt he was limited in how much he could accomplish.

In his book Wooden on Leadership with Steve Jamison, Coach described his outlook:

At the beginning of the 1961-62 season, I’d been coaching basketball at UCLA for 13 years in conditions I would describe as harsh. Perhaps they were as bad as any major university in the country. Our practice facility, the Men’s Gym, was cramped and poorly ventilated. It was often jammed with student-athletes participating in other sporting activities during our basketball practices. There was constant commotion and distraction—hardly a place to teach or learn the finer points of basketball. Additionally, the seating area for fans was so limited that it was declared a fire hazard and “home” games were subsequently played at other local schools. The facility also hurt us when it came to attracting players with exceptional talent. Many, no doubt, chose programs that offered decent facilities.

I was confronted with this situation immediately upon my arrival at UCLA and soon concluded it was virtually impossible to achieve my teaching goals under such conditions. It also had an impact on my assessment of the possibility of winning a national championship; specifically, in the back of my mind, I just felt there was no chance that UCLA would ever be able to go all the way.

The results of the 1962 NCAA tournament were a surprise for Coach’s UCLA team and caused a change in his approach. Coach described it this way:

Much to the complete surprise of everyone, our unheralded 1961–1962 UCLA basketball team advanced all the way to the Final Four before we lost 72–70 to Cincinnati in the final seconds of the game.

Our near-victory was a revelation to me. Much to my surprise, UCLA had nearly won the 1962 NCAA basketball championship. Suddenly—shockingly—it became clear that our inadequate basketball facility, the Men’s Gym, did not mean we couldn’t win the national title.

If I had been using the Men’s Gym as a rationale for poor performance in past NCAA playoff appearances—I couldn’t use it any more. A subconscious barrier had been removed; a light went on. No longer could I tell myself “no”; no longer could I be comfortable with the status quo. I now knew what I should have understood long before, namely, UCLA could go all the way to the top despite the Men’s Gym. It was up to me to to figure out how to do it.

There would be no excuses in the future, only a ceaseless search for solutions.

Following that startling breakthrough in 1962, I began an intense and comprehensive review of what I was doing and how I could do it better. Meticulously, I began searching for changes that would allow UCLA to consistently be more competitive in postseason play with the sure belief that the answers would take us to the next level. Soon enough, I found them.

In 1964 and 1965 with the Men’s Gym as its practice facility UCLA won its first two national championships.

Is there a “Men’s Gym” that’s holding you back? The key to unlock its door might be "at the end of your arm”.

VOLUME LXII

IT IS AMAZING HOW MUCH CAN BE ACCOMPLISHED IF NO ONE IS CONCERNED WHO GETS THE CREDIT.

The idea that much can be accomplished with teamwork when no one is concerned with who gets the credit was a central theme in Coach Wooden's leadership and coaching style.

Coach was adamant that you had to have great talent to win. But he also was quick to point out that just having great talent did not assure you of victory. The talent had to work together.

An unselfish team starts with a leader who gives away the credit when things go well and accepts the blame when they don’t. As Coach liked to say: There is only one thing a great leader doesn’t share: the blame.

In his book A Game Plan for Life: The Power of Mentoring with Don Yeager, Coach explains this approach:

As my father reminded me more than once, “Great leaders give credit to others and accept the blame themselves.” If one of my assistant coaches made a suggestion that we decided to implement, I would make sure to praise him for his foresight in the press conference afterward. But if one made a suggestion that didn’t prove to be as successful, I accepted the blame myself rather than pinning it on the assistant. After all, as the head coach, I had decided to go forward with it. I found that this was the most effective way to keep my assistant coaches feeling engaged with the game, willing to make suggestions, and ready to contribute to the betterment of the team.

It worked with my players, too. I would never publicly criticize a player for poor performance. Even in moments of extreme frustration, I would check myself because it just didn’t seem right—because it didn’t seem like something my father would have done. And I’m proud to say that to the best of my knowledge, I never did slip up in that regard.

In Coach Wooden’s book, The Essential Wooden with Steve Jamison, Kareem Abdul Jabbar (formerly Lewis Alcindor) described his former Coach this way:

We understood that if we played up to the standard he had set in practice, we'd probably win. If not, if we lost, he took the blame and tried to fix it the next practice. He was very focused, very intense. Always, always with his emotions under control.

Coach Wooden had this to say about Kareem:

Lewis Alcindor (later, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) believed the team came first. I told him, "Lewis, I can design a system that will make you the greatest scorer in the history of college basketball." Lewis said, "I wouldn't want that, Coach." (Of course, I knew he would say that, or I wouldn't have brought it up in the first place). A great player who is not a team player is not a great player. Lewis Alcindor was a great team player. Why? Because his first priority was the success of the team, even at the expense of his own statistics.

It seems as if it was very difficult to get either one of these gentlemen to take any credit.

Together with the coaching staff, trainers, managers and great teammates, they accomplished amazing things: three consecutive national championships.

VOLUME LXIII

THE BEST WAY TO IMPROVE THE TEAM IS TO IMPROVE YOURSELF

This maxim of Coach Wooden's describes the relentless approach he challenged himself with every day: constant self-improvement.

As coach often stated: Never be satisfied. Work constantly to improve. Perfection is a goal that can never be reached, but it must be the objective. The uphill climb is slow but the downhill road is fast.

Coach believed that valid self-analysis is crucial for improvement. In order to improve a little each day we must constantly be learning, and to do that we must: be observing constantly and stay open-minded.

A key component of Coach Wooden's constant self-improvement program was how he worked with his assistant coaches. He encouraged them to challenge his ideas, thus creating the valid self-analysis he knew was critical to self-improvement.

In his book A Game Plan for Life: The Power of Mentoring with Don Yeager, Coach describes how Abraham Lincoln inspired his approach:

An incredible example of Lincoln’s wisdom can be seen in the people with whom he chose to surround himself. I pride myself on having read just about every major book ever published about Abraham Lincoln, but the one that has affected me the most in recent years is Doris Kearns Goodwin’s exceptional text, Team of Rivals. In this book, Goodwin examines in profound depth a well-documented but not widely discussed political decision: When Lincoln was elected to the presidency, he appointed a number of former political opponents to serve as his advisers and to fill various posts.

By selecting men whom he knew disagreed with him or differed from his own platform, he assured himself he would be confronted with legitimate challenges to his ideas, rather than finding himself in a pool of yes-men.

Based on Lincoln’s example, I encouraged my assistant coaches to speak up with ideas that might differ from or even completely contradict my own. Those disagreements never got heated, but sometimes they were very intense. Just as I imagine Lincoln would have been, I was pleased when those challenges arose because it meant that my fellow coaches were as passionate about our team as I was. Nothing ruins a team more quickly than apathy.

In Coach Wooden’s book, Wooden on Leadership with Steve Jamison, Hall of Fame Coach and former Coach Wooden assistant Denny Crum describes working with Coach:

Coach Wooden never thought he knew everything. In spite of the fact that he’d been winning championships every year—four or five of them when I got there as an assistant coach—he wanted to keep learning and improving as a coach and leader.

When I came up with an idea, he would never tell me, “Well, this is the way we’ve always done it and we’re winning championships. So, no, I’m not changing.” He was open to change. His approach was to listen; if he thought it made sense, try it. If it works, great. If not, move on. He was always searching for ways to improve.

As Coach liked to say a leader destined for success asks, "What can we do to improve?" A leader destined for failure says, "That's the way it's always been done."

VOLUME LXIV

DO NOT GET SO CONCERNED WITH MAKING A LIVING THAT YOU FORGET TO MAKE A LIFE

Coach Wooden had a clear set of priorities: faith, family, and friends. Coach strove to have a balance between his personal and professional life. He believed that: imbalance in one or the other creates vulnerability in both.

This excerpt from the book How to be like Coach Wooden by Pat Williams depicts a clear picture of how this approach manifested itself for coach on a day-to-day basis:

During his years at UCLA, John Wooden saw to it that his wife, Nell, spent as much time with him as possible. "Nellie always went to games with me," he said, "and I wouldn't leave her to go scouting out of town". "I couldn't tell if he had a good practice, a bad practice, or if there were any problems at all," she said.

How did Coach respond when he was offered more money for a job that would have created an imbalance of his priorities? This excerpt from How to be like Coach Wooden answers that question:

During the late 1960s, when the UCLA basketball program was at the height of its success, Jack Kent Cooke tried to hire John Wooden to coach his Los Angeles Lakers. Coach went to Cooke's house at the invitation of Lakers' general manager Fred Schaus, where he found Cooke sitting behind a huge desk in his study.

They sat in silence, just looking at each other, for several minutes before Cooke finally said, "Why do you want to coach the Lakers?" Wooden replied simply that he didn't want to coach the Lakers. He had come to Cooke's house because Schaus had asked him to.

Cooke was incredulous. "Anyone would want to coach the Lakers." The Lakers' owner thrust an offer sheet in Coach's direction. "What do you think of that?" "Nobody's worth that kind of money," Coach said. But he still wouldn't take the offer. "Well, then, how much do you want?"

Coach tried to explain that it wasn't about money. He didn't want to coach the Lakers because he didn't want to spend that much time on the road away from his wife, Nellie, and their children, Nan and Jim. Besides, he liked coaching and teaching at the college level. For John Wooden, coaching basketball had never been about money and never would be.

When Coach was asked what his top priorities are, he replied, "Faith, family, and friends." Then he smiled and added, "Sometimes I put family first. That's not really the proper order, but I think the Lord understands."

VOLUME LXV

NEVER TRY TO BE BETTER THAN SOMEONE ELSE; BUT ALWAYS BE LEARNING FROM OTHERS

John Wooden was asked what he would say is one of the most important things his father taught him.

His reply began with an idea that ultimately defined how he approached life and competition.

Never try to be better than someone else; but always be learning from others. Never cease trying to be the best you can be. One is under your control the other isn’t.

In his book Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court, with Steve Jamison, Coach explained how he used this idea as a Coach:

Preparing UCLA for a basketball game with Louisville or Arizona or Duke or Michigan, I would tell my players, "We can't control what those other fellows do to get ready. We can only control what we do to get ready. So let's do our very best in that regard and hope that will be good enough, yes, to outscore them. But let's not worry about that. Instead, let's worry about our own preparation."

Let's say I want to build a car-maybe a Ford or a Chevrolet or a Plymouth. I want to build it the best I can possibly build it. Will it be better than a Cadillac or a Mercedes? That's irrelevant.

If I'm building a Ford, I simply want to build the very best Ford I can build. That's all I can do: to come close to my level of competency, not somebody else's. I have nothing to do with theirs, only mine.

To worry about whether what I'm building is going to be better than what somebody else is building elsewhere is to worry needlessly. I believe that if I'm worried about what's going on outside, it will detract from my preparation inside.

My concern, my focus, my total effort should be on building the very best Ford I can build. I did that in coaching high-school teams and in coaching college teams. My focus was on making that team, that group of individuals, the best they were capable of becoming, whether it was a Ford or a Cadillac.

Some years I understood we were building a Ford. Other years I felt we were building a Cadillac. The effort put forth in all years was the same: total.

And I was just as proud of our well-built Fords as of our well-built Cadillacs.

In Coach Wooden’s book, The Essential Wooden, with Steve Jamison, Dave Meyers, the captain of the 1975 UCLA team, summed it up this way:

Coach Wooden never limited himself by thinking about what's possible. He focused on the right now and was more involved with the better than the best. Let's get better, not worried about if it makes us best. His whole deal was about improvement - getting better without talking about winning, or beating another team, or winning a national championship. “Let’s keep getting better and better" could have been his motto.

VOLUME LXVI

A PERSON CAN MAKE MISTAKES, BUT THEY ARE NOT A FAILURE UNTIL THEY BLAME OTHERS

This famous maxim of Coach Wooden's was a cornerstone of his approach to life.

As with many of his principles he learned it from his father, Joshua.

In his book My Personal Best, with Steve Jamison, Coach describes how his dad reacted when losing his farm:

The end came suddenly. Bad vaccination serum killed the hogs, drought stunted the crops, and the bank took the farm. In those days there was no insurance for this kind of trouble, so we lost everything. Those were very hard times for our family, and the Great Depression hadn't even begun.

Through it all, Dad never winced. He laid no blame on the merchant who had sold him the bad serum, didn't curse the weather, and had no hatred toward the banker. My father had done his best, but things went bad. "Blaming, cursing, hating doesn't help you", he'd say. "It hurts you". His example is deeply embedded in my mind and, I hope, reflected in my behavior.

The idea of not blaming others for our own mistakes was also critical in Coach Wooden’s approach to teaching and coaching.

Former UCLA and NBA star Swen Nater was coaching at Christian Heritage College in El Cajon, California, and was a little frustrated because the players were not picking up what he was teaching quickly enough.

When Swen brought the situation to Coach Wooden's attention Coach advised Swen simply: You haven't taught until they have learned.

This in part led to a wonderful book: You Haven't Taught Until They Have Learned: John Wooden's Teaching Principles and Practices by Swen Nater and Ronald Gallimore.

In this book Coach comments on the responsibility of the teacher:

When I became a high school teacher, I took my responsibility very seriously. I believe that and I do now, that I was paid to teach and that meant it was my responsibility to help every one of my students learn. I believe it's impossible to claim you have taught when there are students who have not learned.

The leadership attitude that there are no bad students, only bad teachers is very powerful. That leader will work with those he or she supervises and get to the core problems and fix them, as opposed to blaming the team and whining about the lack of talent he or she has to work with.

When you blame others you prevent yourself from being able to do a proper self-evaluation, which is critical to self-improvement.

The leader who doesn’t blame others has his or her office in the solutions department, not the excuses department.

In his book Wooden on Leadership with Steve Jamison, Coach summed it up this way:

You can stumble and fall, make errors and mistakes, but you are not a failure until you start blaming others, including fate, for your results. Always believe there is a positive to be found in the negative. Things usually happen for a reason, even when you are unable to discern the reason. Remember, “There is providence even in the fall of a sparrow.”

VOLUME LXVII

THE PEOPLE WHO DON'T MAKE MISTAKES ARE THE PEOPLE WHO DON'T DO ANYTHING 

 I have found this maxim of Coach Wooden's amongst the most useful in coaching youngsters at my summer basketball camps and coaching executives in a business environment.

Youngsters in competitive sports and business executives often face the same challenge: they are afraid to make a mistake.

The people who don't make mistakes are the people who don't do anything. Never be afraid to make a mistake. These two sentences become a mantra that sometimes pushes people beyond their fear.

In the book How To Be Like Coach Wooden by Pat Williams, Coach describes why he was occasionally bothered if his players didn't make enough mistakes in practice:

I wanted my players to be active, I wanted them to do things and initiating. I didn't want them worrying about mistakes. Mistakes made while expanding boundaries are what I wanted. If we weren't making mistakes, we weren't far enough out on the edge. If we weren't pushing against the walls of our capabilities, we weren't practicing properly. The time to cut down on turnovers is during games, not during practice.

Coach continued to explain how this attitude leads to performing well under pressure.

In my next to last game (the 1975 National Championship Semi-Final), we were two points behind Louisville with only a few seconds to go. We set up a play for Richard Washington. Afterward, a reporter asked, "Why did you pick Washington?", I replied, "Because he's not afraid of making a mistake. He thinks he's a pretty good shooter, and if he misses, he'll think, well, you can't make them all. Therefore, he's harnessed his fear. The others might be thinking, I've got to make it. If that's what they're thinking, they'll be fearful about missing. I didn't want that. I wanted Richard. And, as you know, we won".

In his book Wooden On Leadership with Steve Jamison, Coach describes how this attitude applies to leadership and business:

A basketball team that won’t risk mistakes will not outscore opponents. The same is true for any organization. Fouls, errors, and mistakes are part of the competitive process in sports, business, and elsewhere. Don’t live in fear of making a mistake.

In fact, Coach Wooden learned this very important lesson from his college coach, Piggy Lambert at Purdue, who summed it up like this: “The team that makes the most mistakes usually wins.” The kind of mistakes he was referring to are not the result of carelessness or sloppiness, but the result of assertive action based on proper assessment of risk."

In sports, action often must be taken instantaneously to capitalize on an opportunity. In every organization, time is of the essence when opportunity knocks.

Hesitancy, indecisiveness, vacillation, and fear of failure are not characteristics I associate with good leadership.

A leader must have Initiative—the courage to make decisions, to act, and the willingness and strength to risk failure and take a stand, even when it goes against the opinion of others.

Coach sums it up this way:

Mistakes come from doing, but so does success. The individual who is mistake-free is also probably sitting around doing nothing. And that's a very big mistake.

VOLUME LXVIII

LISTEN IF YOU WANT TO BE HEARD

This maxim of Coach Wooden describes a quality that Coach felt was essential to be an effective leader.

A key element in the art of listening is to not be thinking about what you're going to say while the other person is talking. The art of quieting your thoughts and really hearing the other person with an open mind sometimes requires a conscious effort.

In the book How to Be like Coach Wooden by Pat Williams, Coach describes the importance of effective listening:

In my opinion, being an effective leader requires being an effective listener. Success is more often attained by asking `how?' than by saying `no."

Listen to those under your supervision. Really listen. Don't act as though you're listening and let it go in one ear and out the other. Faking it is worse than not doing it at all.

It's difficult to listen when you're talking.

In his book Wooden on Leadership with Steve Jamison, Coach comments on consistent listening leading to consistent improvement:

It is very easy to get comfortable in a position of leadership, to believe that you’ve got all the answers, especially when you begin to enjoy some success.

One of the reasons it’s extremely difficult to stay at the top is because once you get there, it is so easy to stop listening and learning.

Progress is difficult when you won’t listen.

Former UCLA Head Coach Gary Cunningham, and an assistant to Coach on eight national championship teams, gives a great example of Listening Leadership:

Coach Wooden was strongly opposed, in principle, to the 3–2 zone defense—a half-court defensive system. Nevertheless, Denny Crum and I, assistant coaches, though it could be very effective for the Bruins to install it. We recommended that he make the change. Keep in mind, at this point Coach Wooden’s teams had just won five national championships in six years. He could easily have taken the position that if it’s not broke, don’t fix it. However, Coach was always willing to listen, evaluate new ideas, to seek ways to improve our team. He was never satisfied—never satisfied. So, despite the fact that UCLA was undefeated at that point in the season, 20–0, Denny and I convinced him to install the 3–2 zone defense for a series up at Oregon. UCLA won the first game against the University of Oregon, 75–58, but the next night, using the same 3–2 zone against Oregon State, we were beaten, 78–65. It was apparent the new system wasn’t all we thought it might be. That was the last time we brought up the 3–2 zone defense. But Coach Wooden had listened and given it—and us—a chance. He wasn’t afraid to make a change. And when it didn’t work, there were no recriminations. He moved on without making us feel we had led him down the wrong path.

Coach’s advice is simple and direct:

If you wish to be heard, listen. Always seek to find the best way rather than insisting on your own way.

VOLUME LXIX

BE AS ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT THE SUCCESS OF OTHERS AS YOU ARE ABOUT YOUR OWN

This is one of Coach Wooden's most famous maxims. The idea was a cornerstone that Coach built on and felt was essential for developing a cohesive team.

Coach had a rule against something he felt worked against this idea. The rule was short, just two words.

No showmanship!

I find it disconcerting to watch college basketball and see more and more players display three fingers after they make a three-point shot.

Aside from the fact that it is ineffective (taking them out of their zone) and annoying to watch; my primary concern is that now high school and grammar school players are doing the same thing.

We should be setting an example of teamwork, not more of “look at me”!

Coach was quite direct regarding his feelings on showmanship:

I detest showmanship. I didn't permit showmanship and I don't like it at all.

In Coach Wooden’s book, The Essential Wooden with Steve Jamison, Ray Regan from the 1938-39 South Bend Central Team describes how Coach Wooden made this point:

I remember we had a showboat on our team.. One day, during a five-on-five scrimmage, Coach Wooden decided to teach the showboat a lesson about teamwork.

Coach took the four of us aside and said to pass the basketball to our teammate, the ball hog. Then we were told to run immediately to the middle of the court, all four of us, sit down, and let the showboat play the other team all by himself.

It was Coach's way of showing this guy that everybody helps everybody or nothing gets done.

In his book Wooden on Leadership with Steve Jamison, Coach expounded on this topic:

“All for one and one for all” is not an empty slogan for me. I don’t need scientific proof to know that Rudyard Kipling was correct: “For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack.”

No one player should take credit for the effort of all the others. That is the primary reason I strongly discouraged individuality—showboating or flamboyance—in the context of team play. Showing off or doing something contrived to gain attention for oneself not only demeans that individual, but it is also dismissive of the effort made by all of the other team members.

A player who is thumping his chest after he makes a basket is acknowledging the wrong person.

Team Spirit occurs when you are able to get those under your leadership to think “Team First” rather than “me first.”

It would be great to see our players point one finger at their teammate to acknowledge the pass they received and not point three fingers at themselves to acknowledge the three-point shot they made.

We are building the leaders of tomorrow.

Be as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own is a better leadership philosophy than Hey, look at what I just did.

VOLUME LXX

LOYALTY, LIKE RESPECT, MUST BE GIVEN BEFORE YOU GET IT 

This idea was a basic principle that shaped the coaching and leadership style of Coach Wooden.

Coach Wooden summed it up this way: The best leaders are usually humble leaders because they gain loyalty through respect rather than bravado.

Coach had three rules for his teams that contributed to an environment where respect and loyalty were given and received.

1. Be on time

Coach believed being punctual demonstrated respect for the value of his player's time. Conversely, he felt that being late was disrespecting the time of others.

Whether it was practice, a training table, a team meeting, or a bus, Coach always arrived early and insisted that the players were punctual.

Coach Wooden delivered this behavior with flawless reliability which, as Coach likes to say, creates respect.

2. Never Criticize a Teammate

This rule helped foster the camaraderie between teammates needed for building loyalty.

For his part, Coach Wooden never criticized a player to the media.

If a serious discipline issue had to be addressed, Coach gave respect to the player by speaking to him privately. In his book A Game Plan For Life with Don Yeager, Coach described why:

If there was an issue I felt needed attention with my players, I tried to do it by taking them aside and speaking to them privately. If there is a problem, it should be addressed early on, but it also should be addressed quietly. This not only allows the individual a chance to listen to the criticism and think about how to resolve the matter, but it often also creates a bond between the teacher and the student. There is an understanding that is forged and an appreciation for the private correction. No one likes to be called out in front of his or her friends. Humiliation is not the same thing as correction: One attacks the person; the other attacks the problem.

3. Not one word of profanity

This rule applied to the coaches and players.

In Wooden on Leadership, former player Kenny Washington describes Coach Wooden’s communication style that gave and got the respect of his teams:

Coach would never degrade, abuse, or humiliate individuals, even though he had the power to do it. He gave respect even when discipline was doled out. Certain things he insisted on, like no swearing, being on time, no showboating, all of that. But when it came to working with us, he treated everybody as an individual, approached each of us in a way that worked.

With respect as a foundation In Wooden on Leadership, Coach summarized how Loyalty is developed:

Loyalty will not be gained unless it is first given. It comes when those you lead see and experience that your concern for their interests and welfare goes beyond simply calculating what they can do for you.

VOLUME LXXI

THE PERSON WHO IS AFRAID TO RISK FAILURE SELDOM HAS TO FACE SUCCESS 

This idea shaped the thinking, coaching, and leadership style of Coach Wooden.

In his book Wooden On Leadership with Steve Jamison, Coach describes how he communicated this approach to his players:

I told our team many times: “Be quick, but don’t hurry.” By that, I meant to make a decision, take action, decide what you’re going to do, and do it.

Failure to act is often the biggest failure of all. Initiate quickly, but not carelessly or in a hurried manner that makes a miscue more likely. I applied this same advice to my own actions. Do not be afraid of mistakes, even of failure.

In Wooden On Leadership, Dave Meyers, a former UCLA and NBA player, contrasted Coach Wooden's approach with what he encountered in professional basketball:

As a pro, absolutely nothing else mattered but winning. If you missed a shot or made a mistake, you were made to feel bad about it because all eyes were on the scoreboard. Winning was all that mattered and all anybody talked about: “We’ve got to win this game,” or “We should have won that game.”

Coach Wooden didn't talk about winning, ever—only the effort, the preparation, doing what it takes to bring out our best in practice and games. Let winning take care of itself.

For Coach Wooden, the only real failure was a failure to prepare. With this approach, there was no need to have fear of taking action because of a potential result.

In his book Wooden A Lifetime of Observations On and Off The Court with Steve Jamison, Coach describes his approach when decisions didn’t work out:

You can always look back and see where you might have done something differently, changed this or that. If you can learn something, fine, but never second-guess yourself. It's wasted effort. If I put a substitution in during a game at UCLA and he immediately makes a mistake, was my decision wrong? Absolutely not.

It just didn't work out. That was the decision I made based on past experience and without emotionalism. I made it with reason, but it just didn't work out. Things don't always work out. It's also true in life. Does worrying about it, complaining about it, change it? Nope, it just wastes your time.

Focus on preparation; take action and have no self-recrimination when the results aren’t to your satisfaction. In The Essential Wooden with Steve Jamison, Coach summed it up this way:

If we allow the fear of failure to keep us from acting, we will never reach our full potential.

VOLUME LXXII

WHEN EVERYONE THINKS ALIKE, NO ONE THINKS

This maxim of Coach Wooden was a cornerstone of the approach that he took in assembling and working with his assistant coaches.

In his book Wooden on Leadership with Steve Jamison, Coach stated his view on the subject:

I believe one of the requirements of good leadership is the ability to listen—really listen—to those in your organization. Being a good listener, however, is only half of the equation.

As a leader, you must be confident enough to employ individuals who aren’t afraid to speak up and voice their opinion. If you’re willing to listen, it means little if nobody is willing to talk in a substantive manner.

In his book A Game Plan for Life: The Power of Mentoring with Don Yeager, Coach cites the method Abraham Lincoln took in building his political team as an example of this approach:

In Doris Kearns Goodwin’s exceptional text Team of Rivals, Goodwin examines in profound depth a well-documented but not widely discussed political decision: When Lincoln was elected to the presidency, he appointed a number of former political opponents to serve as his advisers and to fill various posts.

By selecting men whom he knew disagreed with him or differed from his own platform, he assured himself that he would be confronted with legitimate challenges to his ideas, rather than finding himself in a pool of “yes” men. This meant that his policies would emerge more clearly reasoned and justified.

Coach then describes how he worked with his assistant coaches:

There were times when we differed on strategy or game philosophy. Those disagreements never got heated, but sometimes they were very intense.

Just as I imagine Lincoln would have been, I was pleased when those challenges arose because it meant that my fellow coaches were as passionate about our team as I was. Nothing ruins a team more quickly than apathy.

Based on Lincoln’s example, I encouraged my assistant coaches to speak up with ideas that might differ from or even completely contradict my own.

One of the main reasons why this philosophy works, I think, is that at its core is genuine concern and regard for the other parties.

Lincoln truly cared about the opinions of his comrades, and he truly cared about the outcomes of their discussions. But further, he treated them with respect so that they would continue to offer those opinions.

Coach did not view challenges to his ideas as disrespect, but rather as an important requirement of his leadership strategy.

VOLUME LXXIII

The Coach as a Leader - Part 9 (The Leader has a sense of humor and a humble spirit and can laugh at her/himself.)

These are ideas from an essay The Art of Leadership in the book The Art of Living by Wilferd A. Peterson, Coach Wooden’s favorite text on Leadership.

A leader displays humility with: a humble sense of humor, eagerness to admit mistakes, sharing content without bragging, and not engaging in false modesty.

Coach Wooden displayed his humble sense of humor with his response to a question regarding his statue at the John Wooden Gymnasium in his hometown of Martinsville, Indiana.

There is a life-size statue of me in the gymnasium in my hometown. The trouble is when they delivered the statue the head broke off.

The school couldn't get in touch with the original sculptor so they had another one fix it. They sent him a picture and he made a head from the picture. The problem is that it wasn't my picture they sent.

My children don't like it at all and I say: “Be quiet. It’s better looking than I am”.

Coach Wooden’s eagerness to admit a mistake is exemplified in this story from the Pat Williams book How to Be Like Coach Wooden:

In a late-season game at Notre Dame in 1973, Coach became upset by the play of Irish All-American John Shumate.

Wooden thought Shumate was roughing up his center, Bill Walton, so he stormed down to the Notre Dame bench and told Coach Digger Phelps how he felt about it. "If he doesn't knock it off, I'll send Swen Nater in for Walton and he won't take that."

A few days later, after Wooden had a chance to think about things, he wrote Phelps a note:

Dear Digger,

I owe you and John Shumate an apology and I hope you will accept it in the spirit it is offered. I acted hastily without thinking clearly, and taking all things into consideration and, as usual, actions from emotion are seldom with reason.

John Wooden

P.S. Please convey my feeling to John. He is a fine young man and an outstanding basketball player and I did him an injustice.

In my 30 years of being around Coach Wooden, I never heard him tell a story in which he somehow gave credit to himself.

At the same time, Coach would say: False modesty is as bad as false pride. If you receive a compliment you deserve; say thank you.

Coach summed it up this way:

Talent is God-given, be humble; fame is man-given, be thankful; conceit is self-given, be careful.

VOLUME LXXIV

THE LEADER MAKES THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE BY HELPING OTHERS

This idea is from an essay The Art of Leadership in the book The Art of Living by Wilferd A. Peterson, Coach Wooden’s favorite text on Leadership.

One of Coach Wooden’s favorite role models was Mother Theresa, whose quote “A life not lived for others is not a life,” served as the bedrock of Coach’s lifetime commitment to helping others.

Head coaches John Beilein (Michigan), Mark Few (Gonzaga) and John Thompson III (Georgetown) attended the 2013 Wooden Awards because each had a player named to the Wooden Award All American team. Bill Self (Kansas) attended to receive the Legends of Coaching Award.

All these coaches are highly respected for their amazing accomplishments on the court.

I found their work as leaders off the court more inspiring and great examples of living up to the high standard of servant leadership.

Coach Beilein and his wife, Kathleen are committed ambassadors of the Saint Louis Center, a residential community for boys, men and women who suffer from intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Coach Beilein has hosted residents from the center, helped raise money and taken his players there to visit.

Coach Few and his wife Marcy have raised 5.4 million dollars in their Coaches vs. Cancer efforts in Spokane. The Fews were inspired ten years ago by Juli Boeheim, wife of Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim.

The Gonzaga players are regular visitors to the Ronald McDonald House, the Shriners Hospital and other local charities. This tradition of giving was started by Coach Few’s predecessors Dan Fitzgerald and Don Monson.

In 2007, Coach Thompson and his wife Monica established the John Thompson III Foundation, which supports recently established non-profits that serve at-risk children and families. Their primary focus is on education and healthcare for families.

In 2006, Coach Self and his wife, Cindy, established the Assists Foundation, an organization that serves as a fundraising conduit for organizations that serve a variety of youth initiatives. The mission of Assists is to help provide young people access to better lives.

Coach Self and his players are active, valued participants in the efforts of the Special Olympics.

I chose these four coaches as examples, because I happened to have attended the Wooden Award with them. I became aware of their work as a result of research, as none of them mentioned it or has sought any publicity for themselves.

There should be a pregame charity spotlight on the coaches prior to every college basketball broadcast.

Mother Theresa would be proud! Yours in Coaching,

VOLUME LXXV

YOU DISCIPLINE THOSE UNDER YOUR SUPERVISION TO CORRECT, TO HELP, TO IMPROVE - NOT TO PUNISH

This quote of Coach Wooden's was the foundation of his approach to discipline. Coach expanded on the idea this way:

Discipline must be done with reason to be effective. If we lose reason in our discipline, it will not be effective.

You cannot antagonize and be a positive influence and you will antagonize when you discipline through emotion.

Remember that discipline is not to punish but it’s to correct, to improve, to prevent, to help, so we must maintain our self-control at all times.

I think denial of privileges is probably one of the best forms of discipline.

In his book A Game Plan for Life: The Power of Mentoring with Don Yeager, Coach Wooden recounts how one of his mentors, his grade school coach Earl Warriner, disciplined him.

When I was thirteen, Coach Warriner stepped in with a lesson that would change my life.

I had forgotten my uniform and did not want to run the mile or so back to our farm to retrieve it before that afternoon’s basketball game.

When it became clear that I would not be allowed to play without the uniform, I talked a teammate into going home to fetch it for me. After all, I was the star, right?

With that attitude, it's no wonder that the game started without me in it.

When I tried to reason with Coach, pleading with him to let me play because it was clear we were out matched with our new starting lineup he told me very simply, “Johnny, there are some things more important than winning.”

At the start of the second half, Coach let me in the game.

Coach showed me that while there was a lesson to be learned, it is equally important to make the punishment fit the crime, and not be so focused on your toughness that you lose sight of the bigger issue and the person you're supposed to be teaching.

In Marv Dunphy‘s PHD Dissertation John Robert Wooden: The Coaching Process, Coach Wooden describes how he used a similar process in disciplining his own players:

On one occasion I had to discipline two of my best players. They were eight minutes late for a pre-game meal, with no excuse at all.

So that night, I just told them they wouldn't play for at least the first eight minutes. As it turned out, they didn't play at all in the first half.

At the start of the second half I put them in the game; forget the first half. Don't hold a grudge.

In their discipline, Coach Warriner and Coach Wooden did not attack the character or intention of the player by calling him irresponsible or saying he acted selfishly and didn't care about the team.

They simply dealt with the behavior with self control, denied a privilege and moved on by not mentioning the incident again. There was no antagonizing.

The result: Lesson Learned.

VOLUME LXXVI

YOU'LL NEVER KNOW A THING THAT YOU DIDN'T LEARN FROM SOMEONE ELSE

This quote is one that John Wooden heard from his father on many occasions. The idea became a core fundamental in his approach to life.

Coach Wooden had three characteristics that are found in many great leaders: great listening skills, an open mind, and a constant desire to improve.

Coach had a file entitled “Miscellaneous Quotes To Think About”. These were quotes that he either collected or originated. There were 110 quotes in the list. When I received this file I was surprised at the wide range of people Coach Wooden learned from.

I was not surprised to find Abraham Lincoln and Mother Theresa quoted. It was the wide range of the other contributors from Lao Tse, a Chinese philosopher from 400 BC, to Dwight Morrow, an American businessman and politician from the early 1900s that amazed me.

Coach Wooden's quest for knowledge did not reflect any limitations of culture or age.

The following is a list of some of the quotes Coach Wooden collected from others:

You destroy an enemy when you make a friend of him. - Abraham Lincoln

He who has a why to live can bear almost anyhow. - Viktor E. Frankl

He who is really kind can never be unhappy; He who is really wise can never be confused; He who is really brave is never afraid. - Confucius

It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely help another without helping himself. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Kindness in words creates confidence, Kindness in thinking creates profoundness, Kindness in giving creates love. - Lao-Tse

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. – St. Francis of Assisi

Success is never final. Failure is never fatal. It's courage that counts. - Winston Churchill

There are no hopeless situations, there are only hopeless men. - Dwight Morrow

Learn as if you were going to live forever, live as if you were to die tomorrow. - Gandhi

A life not lived for others is not a life. - Mother Theresa

My hope is that you will begin to collect and even originate your own list, with no limitation on your sources.

Brainy Quote is a website where you can search for famous quotes by author or topic. A great way to start would be to search some of the authors listed above or a topic you are interested in. You will be inspired by the great wisdom you find.

As Coach liked to say:

Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; shallow minds discuss people.

VOLUME LXXVII

THE MOST IMPORTANT WORD IN OUR LANGUAGE IS LOVE AND THE SECOND MOST IMPORTANT IS BALANCE - LOVE

This one sentence of Coach Wooden's is a summary of his philosophy and how he lived his life.

Love as an action has many dimensions. One is being nice to people even if they are not being nice to you.

The day after Coach Wooden passed away I concluded that the most important thing I learned from his example was to respond with love to everybody and every situation. RWL became a cheer.

I asked the team I was working with to make a list of all the people and situations they were angry or upset about and determine how to RWL (respond with love) to all of them.

Coach Wooden's philosophy started with his father who, in the evening on the porch of their farm after the chores were done, read to his sons from the Bible, followed by poetry.

The following passage from the Bible became one of John Wooden's favorites:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth.

It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails.

His father reinforced this value when he gave Coach a little card when he graduated from middle school. On one side he had copied down a poem that he loved, by the Reverend Henry Van Dyke:

Four things a man must learn to do If he would make his life more true:

To think without confusion clearly,

To love his fellow man sincerely,

To act from honest motives purely,

To trust in God and Heaven securely.

Coach described the impact this way: Over the years, the poem's message made more and more sense: seek clarity of thought, fill your heart with love and compassion for others, be honest and fair, and trust in the Good Lord.

In the evening before he passed away Coach was visited in the hospital by Dudley Rutherford, who would be conducting his memorial service.

Coach had selected a Scripture passage for his memorial:

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind,” and, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Dudley asked Coach: Do you still want the same Scripture for your service regarding love?

Coach had not spoken much that day and nodded his head.

Dudley then asked: Coach are these two things, loving God and loving your neighbor, things you believe you have done in your life?

Coach replied quietly: Working on it.

Dudley said: Which one are you working on now Coach?

Coach replied: Loving God.

Coach finished and started the same way: with love.

In this great world we get the chance to keep working on both.

VOLUME LXXVIII

THE MOST IMPORTANT WORD IN OUR LANGUAGE IS LOVE AND THE SECOND MOST IMPORTANT IS BALANCE - BALANCE

This one sentence of Coach Wooden's is a summary of his philosophy and how he lived his life.

When asked to comment on balance, Coach replied:

We must keep things in perspective. Balance is keeping things in perspective. Don’t get carried away if things are going too well or too poorly, don’t get carried away, just continue or make the effort to do the best you can at whatever you’re doing.

In his book Wooden on Leadership with Steve Jamison, Coach commented on the importance of balance for a leader:

I strove for balance in my leadership and coaching and taught that balance was necessary for Competitive Greatness: The body has to be in balance; the mind has to be in balance; emotions must be in balance.

Balance is important everywhere and in everything we do.

The leader must set the example, not only in areas of right and wrong—character, of course—but elsewhere.

In my opinion, effective leaders understand that moderation and balance are linked to long-term success.

Workaholics, for example, lack balance. Imbalance, in my opinion, is a weakness that sooner or later causes problems. The first problem is likely to be inconsistency in performance.

Excess in just about anything has the potential to create an erratic performance.

Communicate this fact throughout the ranks, and, of course, don’t forget that your own example is frequently the very best method of communication.

Coach believed that the ability to balance work and family as a result of hard work and careful planning.

Failure to prepare is preparing to fail and don't mistake activity for achievement were the two cornerstones of Coach’s meticulous process of organizing and executing his daily schedule.

At the first John Wooden Course, a young man in the audience explained to Coach how difficult it was for him to balance work and family with his busy schedule.

He implored Coach to tell him how he could get a better balance in his life.

Coach replied:

Plan your day more carefully.

VOLUME LXXIX

IF YOU ARE AFRAID OF CRITICISM YOU WILL DIE DOING NOTHING 

This quote of Coach Wooden's has a clear message.

Coach taught his players how to deal with criticism by breaking it down into two types: criticism they would receive from him and the coaching staff, and criticism they would receive from sources outside of the team (media, fans, alumni, etc.).

I think this is an excellent model because in our professional and personal lives we receive direct criticism from coaches and supervisors and criticism from outside sources.

This issue will discuss dealing with direct criticism from a coach or supervisor.

Coach gave his players miscellaneous materials throughout the season. He distributed a small amount every week or two or whenever something seemed particularly applicable and needed.

The following is a handout coach distributed to the team regarding criticism:

Re: Criticism

1. If the coach “bawls you out”, consider it as a compliment. He is trying to teach you and impress a point upon you. If he were not interested in you, he would not bother. A player is criticized only to improve him and not for any personal reasons.

2. Take your criticism in a constructive way without alibis or sulking. If the coach was wrong, he will find out in due time.

3. Do not nag or razz or criticize a teammate at any time. It may lead to a bad feeling which can only hurt the team. We must avoid cliques and all work toward the best interest of the team.

There are three parts to criticism we receive: how it is said (tone of voice, language used), why it is said (intention of the person criticizing us can vary) and the information communicated.

It is helpful to ignore how it is said, be aware of why it is said, and concentrate without emotion on the information being communicated.

Coach also prepared his teams with an expectation of being criticized, by giving them a handout entitled:

Re: Expected Criticism for Early in the Season. Please Prove Me Wrong.

This was followed by nine specific points regarding offense and five specific points regarding defense. A copy of the handout is in the appendix of Coach Wooden's book Practical Modern Basketball (a great resource document for anybody).

I tell basketball players that if you go through a practice and don't get corrected it probably means you're not going to play much. You should go to the coach and ask: How can I improve?

In a corporate environment, I remind employees it is not a good situation if your supervisor is not giving you input on your performance. The silent treatment from a supervisor is sometimes used prior to suspension or termination, or as a means of expressing dissatisfaction.

If you are getting the silent treatment you should ask your supervisor: How can I improve?

Take it as a compliment to be criticized. Respond verbally in a positive manner and make your best effort not to repeat the same mistake.

Whether it is in the workplace or on the basketball court, coaches love having players on their team that are coachable.

VOLUME LXXX

RESPONDING TO CRITICISM AND PRAISE 

This quote of Coach Wooden's has a clear message. The following is the same idea as expressed by three other great philosophers:

Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life. - Winston Churchill

Criticism is something you can easily avoid by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing. - Aristotle

Coach taught his players how to deal with criticism by breaking it down into two types: criticism they would receive from him and the coaching staff and criticism they would receive from sources outside of the team (media, fans, alumni etc.).

I think this is an excellent model because in our professional and personal lives we receive direct criticism from coaches and supervisors and criticism from outside sources.

This issue will discuss dealing with criticism from outside sources (not a coach or supervisor).

Two key ideas of Coach Wooden are excellent anchors for a sound philosophy to deal with criticism from external sources:

Be true to yourself.

Be more concerned with your character than with your reputation, as your character is what you really are while your reputation is merely what others think you are.

In his book Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court with Steve Jamison, Coach recounted how he counseled his players on dealing with “outside” criticism:

Fellows, you're going to receive criticism. Some of it will be deserved and some of it will be undeserved. Either way, deserved or undeserved, you're not going to like it. You're also going to receive praise on occasion. Some of it will be deserved and some of it will be undeserved. Either way, deserved or undeserved, you're going to like it. However, your strength as an individual depends on how you respond to both criticism and praise. If you let either one have any special effect on you, it's going to hurt us.

It goes back to what my dad used to say. "If you get caught up in things over which you have no control, it will adversely affect those things over which you have control." You have little control over what criticism or praise outsiders send your way. Take it all with a grain of salt.

I think this is an important message to share with our young people because they are often confronted with external praise and criticism as a result of social media (Facebook, Twitter etc.).

Let's help our young people grow into philosophers who Coach Wooden describes as:

A person who meets all events, whether favorable or unfavorable, with calmness and composure.

VOLUME LXXXI

THE TIME TO MAKE FRIENDS IS BEFORE YOU NEED THEM

This quote of Coach Wooden's reflects the way he lived on a daily basis.

Joshua Wooden gave his son John many key pieces of advice. Two of them were Help others and Make friendship a fine art. Coach followed this advice on a daily basis.

Coach injected a bit of humor with his quote The time to make friends is before you need them. In a literal sense, I think the point Coach was trying to get across was: don't make friends just because you think you will need them later.

Coach always looked for the best in people. He believed that if you look for the best in others, that's probably what you'll find.

In his book with Steve Jamison, John Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections on and Off the Court, Coach repeated a story he often told to make this point:

There's an old story about a fellow who went to a small town in Indiana with the thought of possibly moving his family there. "What kind of people live around here?" he asked the attendant at the local filling station.

"Well," the attendant replied as he checked the oil, "what kind of people live back where you're from?" The visitor took a swallow of his cherry soda and replied, "They're ornery, mean, and dishonest!"

The attendant looked up and answered, "Mister, you'll find them about like that around here, too."

A few weeks later, another gentleman stopped by the gas station on a muggy July afternoon with the same question.

"Excuse me," he said as he mopped off his brow. "I'm thinking of moving to your town with my family. What kind of people live around these parts?"

Again the attendant asked, "Well, what kind of people live back where you're from?"

The stranger thought for a moment and replied, "I find them to be kind, decent, and honest folks."

The gas station attendant looked up and said, "Mister, you'll find them about like that around here, too."

It's so true. You often find what you're looking for.

With an attitude of trust and optimism, Coach made time for and took a genuine interest in everybody he met.

His phone number was listed in directory assistance and he made his best effort to make time for all who called and wanted to visit with him.

He sat for hours upon hours signing autographs, at no charge for all that asked.

He was legendary for the way that he made himself available to all coaches at the Final Four who wanted to visit with him, whether it was in the hotel lobby or a coffee shop.

He personally wrote and returned every piece of correspondence or Pyramid of Success request that he received.

He made new friends every day.

With thousands in attendance at his Memorial Service In Pauley Pavilion, the Rev. Dudley Rutherford requested that anybody in attendance whoever had an item signed by John Wooden stand up.

I looked around and I didn't see anybody sitting down.

What a friend!

What a life!

VOLUME LXXXII

SPEND SO MUCH TIME IMPROVING YOURSELF THAT YOU WON'T HAVE TIME TO CRITICIZE OTHERS

Time is precious. Time is limited. A time that is used in a negative manner is now not available to do something positive.

Coach Wooden often mentioned he never heard his father Joshua say an unkind word about anyone. Joshua Wooden wasted no time on the negative.

Joshua Wooden chose to use his time to read Scripture and poetry to his three sons on the back porch of the farm after the chores were done.

Coach made his best effort to follow his father's example in this regard.

This quote from Coach Wooden clearly states that he wanted his players to concentrate on self-improvement and not waste time being critical of each other.

One of Coach’s three rules for basketball practice was never criticized a teammate. If a player wasted time doing this he was subject to being kicked out of practice.

Coach had two other great quotes that went hand in hand with this one regarding the best way to use time:

Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; shallow minds discuss people.

Time spent getting even would be better spent trying to get ahead.

This positive use of time was a core value of Coach’s approach to his daily activities. He recognized that he would need as much time as possible to focus on one of his primary objectives: Constant Improvement!

In his book Wooden on Leadership with Steve Jamison, Coach Wooden describes how this focus on constant improvement and lifelong learning helped him develop his leadership skills:

I believe leadership itself is largely learned.

Whatever coaching and leadership skills I possess were learned through listening, observation, study, and then trial and error along the way.

In my opinion, this is how most leaders improve and progress. For me, the process of learning leadership continued for 40 years until the day I walked off the court for the last time as head coach—March 31, 1975. In truth, my learning continued even after that.

The best leaders understand that to successfully compete at any level requires continuous learning and improvement.

The most effective leaders are those who realize it’s what you learn after you know it all that counts most.

I hope these ideas in some small way have a positive impact on your time management.

VOLUME LXXXIII

WISDOM, LIKE THE WIND, BLOWS ON UNUSED, EXCEPT FOR THOSE WHO KNOW THE ART OF SAILING

This quote from Coach Wooden reflects great advice he received from his father Joshua: You'll never know a thing you didn't learn from someone else.

Coach Wooden received much wisdom from his deep study of Abraham Lincoln. It was gained by reading over 40 books about Lincoln. His curiosity about Lincoln was inspired by his admiration of his father who was a keen admirer of Lincoln and well-read on the subject.

President Lincoln gained much of his wisdom from his own in-depth study of the writings of Thomas Jefferson.

John Wooden gained his insight on conditioning, skill, and team spirit by observing and studying his college coach Piggy Lambert.

Piggy Lambert wrote a detailed book on coaching basketball entitled Practical Basketball.

John Wooden wrote a detailed book on coaching basketball entitled Practical Modern Basketball.

John Wooden learned how to structure a detailed, well-executed practice plan when he was a high school coach by observing the practices of the great Notre Dame Football Coach, Frank Leahy.

The Wisdom of Joshua Wooden, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, Piggy Lambert, and Frank Leahy was only valuable to Coach Wooden because he sought it out and used it. Just like the wind is only valuable to the sailor who seeks it out and knows how to sail.

In the wonderful book, You Haven't Taught Until They Learned, John Wooden's Teaching Principles and Practices by Swen Nater and Ronald Gallimore, Coach’s pursuit of basketball wisdom has described this way:

Coach Wooden employed an organized research and development system, which allowed him to make substantial improvements each year on how he taught basketball.

At the conclusion of each basketball season, his self-improvement research began. He chose only one topic for each off-season study (e.g, defensive rebounding, free-throw shooting, etc.) The goal was to uncover all he could learn about a specific subject, draw conclusions, and apply it to his teaching.

Coach Wooden's premise was the assumption that all the essential truths about each topic existed “somewhere,” but scattered across many sources. Some of the truths were in books, some in the thoughts of successful coaches and athletes, and others were, perhaps, in places he never considered. Some ideas were his own but needed testing, refinement, and elaboration.

What follows in the book is a detailed description of this process including, but not limited to, reading all the material available on the subject, researching and contacting the coaches of teams and players who had the most success in the particular area, developing and sending them a survey to express their ideas and processing the data to reach conclusions which could be applied to help his team.

Coach did all of this before the Internet existed.

Imagine how much wind is available in your area of interest today.

Happy Sailing!

VOLUME LXXXIV

HUSTLE MAKES UP FOR MANY A MISTAKE

One of the definitions of hustle in the dictionary is: to play a game or sport in an alert, aggressive manner. It comes from the Dutch word husselenw (1720) which means: to shake.

It is true that when somebody plays in an alert, aggressive manner they usually shake things up.

Legendary Boston Celtics player and coach Bill Russell said:

Some people like to say that a player isn't very talented but he hustles. I disagree with that statement because the ability to hustle is a talent.

My dear friend, the late great Jim Harris (Head Coach at Ocean View High School for 33 years), put it this way when describing his program:

Ocean View Basketball: Where hustle is a talent!

Coach Wooden defined success this way: Success is peace of mind attained only through self satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to do the best of which you're capable.

Your level of hustle is quite simply your level of effort. When you hustle and give your total effort, you are a success!

Sometimes people describe a person who hustles by saying: he gives 110%. In his book: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections on and Off the Court with Steve Jamison, Coach Wooden expressed a different view:

110% is not the goal. The players were charged with trying to improve a little each day, trying to get closer to becoming their best.

I tried to be honest with them in letting them know they wouldn't reach perfection. But I was also honest in saying that I expected them to give everything they had in trying to reach perfection.

That's what we worked toward. Let's see how close we can get. We won't reach 120 percent, or 110 percent, but how close to 100 percent of our potential can we get?

That was my challenge to them: how close can we get to perfect? When individuals are sincerely motivated to take up that challenge, the results are astonishing.

As Abraham Lincoln said:

Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.

VOLUME LXXXV

MAKE SURE THE TEAM MEMBERS KNOW THEY'RE WORKING WITH YOU, NOT FOR YOU  

At the very first John Wooden Course, a young man posed this question: “Coach Wooden, next week I will be starting my first job as a manager in a brand-new department. What advice can you give me?”

Coach replied, “Make sure the people in your department know that they're working with you, not for you.”

The young man nodded enthusiastically and responded, “Coach Wooden what other advice can you give me?”

Coach smiled, and then repeated slowly and carefully: “Make sure the people in your department know that they're working with you, not for you.”

In his book Wooden on Leadership with Steve Jamison, Coach Wooden recounts an experience that had an impact on him with regard to the idea: Make sure the team members know they're working with you, not for you.

In the late 1960s, Wilt Chamberlain was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. At the press conference that introduced him to local writers and broadcasters, a reporter asked, “Wilt, do you think Lakers’ Coach Van Breda Kolff can handle you? It’s been said that you’re hard to handle.” I was at that press conference, and Wilt’s answer had a strong impact on me.

He told the reporter, “You ‘handle’ farm animals. You work with people. I am a person. I can work with anyone.”

Hearing his words reminded me that my book on coaching basketball, Practical Modern Basketball, which had recently been published, included a section called, “Handling of Players.”

I immediately rushed home, got out my notes, and changed the title of that section to “Working with Players.” For me that change in wording was extremely important because I believe an effective leader works with those individuals on the team.

Taking the idea of working with, not for a step further than Wilt, was Coach’s father Joshua, who actually applied the with not for idea when working with animals on the farm.

Coach told many stories about his father’s gentleness in different situations on the farm. For example, the family kept two plowing mules named Jack and Kate, the latter of which had a tendency of lying down in the field and refusing to work.

No matter how rough or frustrated young John got with Kate, she would not budge. Joshua, however, would walk over until he was within earshot of the mule, and simply say, “Kate.” This alone would be enough to spur the animal back into action.

No building is stronger than its foundation. No team is stronger than its foundation. The three blocks in the middle of the foundation of the Pyramid of Success are friendship, loyalty, and cooperation.

These three qualities define our ability to get along well with others.

They can only be strong if our teammates know they are working with us, not for us.

A good leader says Our Team not My Team.

VOLUME LXXXVI

THE ONLY TRUE GIFT IS A PORTION OF THYSELF

This famous quote of Ralph Waldo Emerson was a favorite of Coach Wooden's. This key idea is central to successful leadership.

The three key components of a good relationship between a leader and the team, friendship, loyalty and cooperation, can only be developed if the leader gives of him/herself.

When John Wooden coached basketball at UCLA, practice began every day at 3 PM.

The players knew that Coach would be sitting courtside every day at 2:30 PM. He was there in the event they wanted to discuss anything personal, academic or athletic.

They knew he would listen intently and with an open mind. He gave his opinion only if asked and was never judgemental.

They knew he cared about them beyond how many points they could score.

Friendship begins when you can count on the other person always being there.

Loyalty begins when the other person knows you are interested in them beyond what they can do for you.

Cooperation begins when they know you will listen with an open mind.

These three things cannot be given with money, they require a true gift as Mr. Emerson said, a portion of thyself.

Coach set a great example by giving of himself to all with whom he came in contact, not just his basketball teams.

In the book by Pat Williams How to Be Like Coach Wooden, a junior high coach, Bruce Brown recoun

ted his experience with Coach after hearing him speak at a coaching clinic in Seattle.

I found myself last in a long line of coaches. I waited, growing more nervous as the line shortened. When it came my turn to talk to Coach Wooden, I introduced myself as “Bruce Brown, a coach at Hyak Junior high, Bellevue, Washington.”

In the excitement of the moment, I do not remember much else of what I said, except something about using his Pyramid of Success for our football and basketball players. He seemed genuinely interested and sincere during the short conversation.

The entire interaction could not have lasted more than two minutes.

About two weeks later I received a letter addressed to “Bruce Brown, Bellevue Junior High, Bellevue, Washington with a UCLA return address. Inside the envelope was a copy of the Pyramid of Success signed, Best Wishes, John Wooden.

What a great lesson in humbleness from the greatest coach of all time. This lesson has stayed with me through three decades of working with young people.

There is no price tag that can be put on us giving of ourself and as Mr. Emerson said, it is a true gift.

VOLUME LXXXVII

RESPECT EVERY OPPONENT, BUT FEAR NONE

This popular quote from John Wooden reflects his definition of confidence: Respect without fear may come from being prepared and keeping all things in proper perspective.

The details of Coach Wooden’s approach to competition are worth reviewing, given the results he achieved.

Coach put it this way:

I don’t think you could find any player to tell you that I mentioned winning. I wanted winning to be the by-product of the preparation and failure to prepare is preparing to fail.

I always wanted them to have that satisfaction within themselves, that peace of mind within themselves, that they made the effort to execute near their own particular level of competency, not trying to be better than someone else, but being the best that they could be.

One of my players, a very interesting person (I'm sure some of you have heard of Bill Walton), once said we had to send a manager when we were dressing for a game, to get a program to find out who we were playing, because I never mentioned the opposition.

I wanted the emphasis placed on the improvement of ourselves.

Coach created a consistent level of respect for all opponents by the consistent excellent effort he demanded in practice every week, whether the next opponent was the last place team in the league or the number two team in the country.

There was no hype around the idea we really have to step it up this week, we're playing so-and-so and they're really good. In fact there was no mention of the names of the upcoming opponents. This eliminates fear/anxiety.

Coach did not want the players wondering: hope this game plan works.

Coach also demonstrated respect for his opponents by constantly trying to learn new things in his craft. He was a voracious reader of basketball publications and a great networker who was constantly getting new ideas from all of the coaches with whom he came in contact.

He had a basic understanding of the strategy his upcoming opponent might employ. For example, if his team was likely to play against a zone defense he might do some extra work against a zone defense without lengthening practice or mentioning the purpose of the work to the players. Eliminate fear.

Coach had an awareness of the competition and an ongoing strategy of learning from others.

The main goal, however, was constant improvement of his own team, not implementing new strategies to counteract what an upcoming opponent might do.

The players were not worried about the competition. They were on the hook for one thing: their execution and effort.

Consistent excellence can be achieved when we: Respect every opponent, but fear none.

TALENT IS GOD GIVEN, BE HUMBLE, FAME IS MAN GIVEN, BE THANKFUL, CONCEIT IS SELF-GIVEN, BE CAREFUL

VOLUME LXXXVIII

This famous quote of John Wooden reflected his attitude on how to approach life and leadership.

The first part of this quoteTalent is God given, be humble emphasized a character trait that Coach Wooden thought was critical: humility.

Coach often said that false modesty is as bad as false pride. It is important that we don't confuse humility with being self demeaning.

C. S. Lewis put it this way: Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less.

The key behaviors of a person with true humility are that they are unpretentious, unassuming and down-to-earth. A person with humility does not ask for special favors.

In the Pat Williams book How to Be Like Coach Wooden, former Montclair State University Coach Ollie Johnston recalled attending a coaching clinic with Coach Wooden:

At the coaching clinic I was standing in line with Coach to register - a process that could take as long as two hours. Joe Vancisin, who was running the organization, saw Coach and gestured for him to come around the line. He waved Joe off and said to me, “I'm no better than anyone else.”

Coach Wooden's track record of being unpretentious is well documented and reflected in how generous he always was with his time.

In the same Pat Williams book, Rick Adelman, then coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves, recalled his experience:

I was coaching at Chemeketa Junior college in Salem, Oregon. I heard that John Wooden was coming to town, so I called to ask if he'd come to our campus and talk to my players. We had 200 people show up and Coach spoke to them for over an hour, and then he answered questions. He was such a gentleman, and treated all of us with such respect.

A leader who has humility is appreciative of praise but keeps it in proper perspective and is always eager to share the credit for a job well done.

A leader who has humility is open and eager to listen to criticism and improve.

Mahatma Gandhi put it this way:

I claim to be a simple individual liable to err like any other fellow mortal. I own, however, that I have humility enough to confess my errors and to retrace my steps.

In the dictionary, pride and humility are listed as antonyms. Coach Wooden felt both were necessary.

He often said pride is a better motivator than fear.

He wanted his players to have pride (self-satisfaction) in a job well done.

He also wanted them to have the humility to recognize this did not make them better than someone else and that there was still much to learn and always plenty of room to improve.

VOLUME LXXXIX

THE MAIN INGREDIENT OF STARDOM IS THE REST OF THE TEAM

This famous quote of Coach Wooden’s summarized an important idea that he felt was critical for any individual involved in a group activity to recognize.

In a 2005 radio interview Coach Wooden was asked two very interesting questions.

1. You've been in a unique position to see the top young basketball talent from all over the country for over 20 years now. Is there a pattern that you observed among the very best? Do they have something in common?

Coach replied: They were very competitive.

2. When you had to make that hard decision between two highly skilled young players, was there some quality you looked for? Was there anything that would tip the decision one way or the other?

Coach replied: Quickness and unselfishness.

These two simple responses were very insightful. True greatness by an individual can only be achieved when that person is competitively great, but also recognizes that only with the help of others can the team truly reach its potential.

The truly great competitor is not just willing to share the spotlight, but rather is unselfish enough to be eager to shine the spotlight on his or her teammates.

Simply put, the truly great competitor knows that the main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team.

Coach recognized that a great competitor has to have a certain amount of ego. In his book a Wooden A Lifetime of Observations On and Off The Court with Steve Jamison, Coach discussed the need to keep that ego under control:

Ego and Arrogance. Everyone has a certain amount of ego, but you must keep that ego under control. Ego is feeling confident and important, knowing you can do the job. But if you get to feeling that you are too important, that you're indispensable, or that you can do the job without real effort and hard work, without the correct preparation, that's arrogance. Arrogance is a weakness. That's why I like this poem:

Indispensable Man

Sometime when you’re feeling important;
Sometime when your ego’s in bloom
Sometime when you take it for granted
You’re the best qualified in the room,

Sometime when you feel that your going
Would leave an unfillable hole,
Just follow these simple instructions
And see how they humble your soul;

Take a bucket and fill it with water,
Put your hand in it up to the wrist,
Pull it out and the hole that’s remaining
Is a measure of how you’ll be missed.

You can splash all you wish when you enter,
You may stir up the water galore,
But stop and you’ll find that in no time
It looks quite the same as before.

The moral of this quaint example
Is do just the best that you can,
Be proud of yourself but remember,
There’s no indispensable man.

So if we ever forgetthe main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team, we just have to get a bucket of water and get to work!

VOLUME XC

THAT WE MIGHT FAIL OUGHT NOT DETER US FROM THE SUPPORT OF A CAUSE WE BELIEVE TO BE JUST 
 

This famous quote from Abraham Lincoln was a favorite of Coach Wooden's. It brings to mind the idea of doing the right thing, no matter what the outcome might be.

Alexander Hamilton put it this way:

A person who stands for nothing will fall for anything.

In 1947 Coach Wooden’s Indiana State Sycamores received an invitation to play in the NAIB national playoffs. It was held in Kansas City, Missouri, and drew top teams from all over the country.

In his book My Personal Best with Steve Jamison, Coach recounted what followed:

The invitation carried with it a prohibition against black players. Like most people, I had been raised to believe segregation was wrong.

Now, as a coach, I was being asked to participate in segregation, a system based on the belief that some people are better than others.

Clarence Walker, a student-athlete from East Chicago, was a ninth or tenth man on the Sycamore team and worked hard, attended class, and was a good fellow. He also was black.

I quietly turned down the invitation.

The following year it happened again. We finished 27–7 and had attracted nationwide attention with our so-called racehorse style of basketball.

When the invitation from the NAIB arrived, it was difficult to say no quietly—we would be one of the main attractions in Kansas City. Nevertheless, I informed the committee that the Sycamores would not attend and gave my reason.

They offered a compromise: "Walker can play in the games, but he must not be seen publicly with the team. He must stay in a private home away from the other players. He must not attend publicity functions with the Sycamores."

I felt this humiliation was worse than leaving Clarence behind in Terre Haute. The answer was easy: "No"

Then I received a call from the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) suggesting I reconsider, "If Clarence agrees to the impositions, he will become the first black player ever permitted to play in a national college basketball tournament."

I talked it over with Clarence, who then talked it over with his parents in Chicago. They all agreed that it was worth it, so I accepted the NAIB's invitation to play in Kansas City, starting March 8, 1948.

Clarence Walker became the first black student-athlete to play in a national college basketball tournament.

As Coach liked to say:

If you sacrifice principle trying to please everyone, you end up pleasing no one.

VOLUME XCI

"MAKE YOUR PRESENCE A PRESENT" (NAN WOODEN)

On September 14, 2021, Nancy Anne (Nan) Wooden died from natural causes and immediately headed for heaven to join her parents Nell and John Wooden, and many other friends she had made in her time on earth. She was 87.

Nan Wooden had great character and many amazing personal qualities. As Coach Wooden's daughter Nan accompanied her Dad all over the country and to countless UCLA events. After Coach Wooden's passing, Nan gave generously of her time and continued to represent the family at the same events.

Every time Nan met somebody, she "Made her presence a present" by always taking the time to sincerely engage them in a positive conversation, often inquiring about their family. Nan Wooden did these thousands of times in her lifetime and made thousands of people happy and made thousands and thousands of friends.

Nan attended every UCLA basketball game until her health declined, probably seeing more UCLA basketball games than anyone ever.. Entering Pauley Pavilion and walking with Nan to her seat took a long time. Nan knew the name of every usher or ticket taker we passed, and she would stop with each one and have what I call the "Nan Wooden positive personal contact". She would inquire about them personally, their children, spouse, or a family member with a sincere interest straight from her loving and generous heart. Each person she spoke to had a smile on their face when she walked away.

Once seated, Nan would have a "Nan Wooden positive personal contact" with Harry or London, who oversaw security for the area. Over the years Nan became great friends with Harry and London and as Nan did with all her friends, she made them feel like they were part of the family and she thought of them as such.

This is just one of the thousands of examples of Nan making her friends feel like part of her family because she treated them as part of her family. Her actions were sincere and full of genuine love that those who met her could feel. This is how Nan lived every day! She made the world a better place.

It would be great if we all could have lots of "Positive personal contacts" and make our "Our presence a present" like Nan did.

Please feel free to respond to this issue if you have a story or thought about Nan you would like to share.

"Make your presence a present" – Kyle Impelman (Grandson of Nan Wooden)

VOLUME XCII

THE WORST THING ABOUT NEW BOOKS IS THEY KEEP US FROM READING THE OLD ONES

This favorite quote of Coach Wooden's was originated by Joseph Joubert (1754 - 1824) who was a French moralist and essayist, remembered today largely for his Pensées (Thoughts), which was published posthumously.

Coach Wooden had a fantastic home library with thousands of books. When asked once how many he had read, he said about 75%.

This often used quote by Coach is typical evidence…..how many other folks would have read or known of Joseph Joubert?

On the occasions when I am asked how Coach Wooden got to be so smart, I reply: He read a lot; he wasn’t home watching TV all night.

In the Pat Williams book Coach Wooden, the origins of Coach’s love of reading are described:

Joshua Hugh Wooden was the one who first instilled a love for poetry and great literature in young Johnny Wooden.

In his own commentary, Coach observed, “Poetry, biographies, and all the other great books will greatly enrich your life. There are so many that are so good, and they will all be available to you. The poetry dad read to us when we were children instilled a love of reading. . . . Drink deeply from those great books of your own choosing and you will enrich yourself.”

“We had no electricity, plumbing or conveniences,” Coach Wooden recalled, “and for entertainment, dad read books to us in the evening by the light of the coal-oil lamp.

Sometimes we’d hear Lord Alfred Tennyson’s Idylls of the King, Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘TheRaven,’ or even William Shakespeare. Before we were sent off to bed, he’d always include a verse or two from the Good Book.”

One of my wife’s prized possessions is a copy of Lord Alfred Tennyson’s Idylls of the King she was given by her grandfather (Coach Wooden).

The book is old and tattered and full of notes Coach made and other passages he underlined.

On the top of the first page of the introduction Coach wrote out two passages he thought were valuable from the Coming of Arthur:

Doubt which judges by the senses is matched against faith which judges by the spirit.

and

The birth of a spiritual man who rules by force of character and not by right of birth.

These two ideas reflect Coach’s approach to others: always trust first; and in coaching: be a leader, not a dictator.

I think I better go read some old books and see if I can get a little wiser.

VOLUME XCIII

TREAT ALL PEOPLE WITH DIGNITY AND RESPECT

This phrase represents a key instruction that John Wooden received from his father. and later became a cornerstone of his own philosophy and a basic bit of advice that he insisted his basketball teams follow.

Dignity is defined in the dictionary as the quality or state of being worthy, honored, or esteemed.

Coach went out of his way to make everybody he met feel this way. In the book How to Be Like Coach Wooden: Life Lessons from Basketball's Greatest Leader by Pat Williams, Mike Tschirret, former high school coach, athletic director, and principal in Florida, recounted an encounter he had with Coach Wooden:

In 1974, I made a trip to the Final Four in Greensboro, North Carolina. I was eating breakfast with some other high school coaches on the Saturday of the semifinals, in which UCLA would be playing.

All of a sudden, John Wooden walked over to our table and asked, "Do you mind if an old man joins you?"

We ended up talking with him for about ninety minutes, about basketball, life in general, religion, and all sorts of things.

At one point I asked, `Coach, don't you have anything better to do than talk to a bunch of high school coaches-especially when you have to play such an important game today?' He just smiled and said, `I can't think of anything I'd rather do."

Coach was more interested in other people than himself. He made them feel important.

That’s treating people with dignity.

Whether it's a busboy at a restaurant, a bagger at a supermarket, an elderly neighbor, or a homeless person, we all have that same opportunity every day.

Respect has been defined in part as a willingness to show consideration or appreciation. Respect for everyone is a core value that Coach learned from his father, Joshua:

In his book with Don Yeager A Game Plan for Life, Coach described his father’s influence this way:

“Remember this,” he used to say to us. “You’re as good as anybody. But never forget you’re no better than anybody, either.”

He stressed the balance between pride in oneself and humility of spirit. “Don’t look down on anybody. Don’t look down on them,” he’d say.

I remember his exact words because his adherence to them never wavered. My father’s spirit of gentleness came to be one of the trademarks of my coaching. He never yelled, never grew angry, and treated everyone with respect.

In interviews, I was inevitably asked about why I sat on the bench with a rolled-up program in my hand rather than pacing the sidelines, hollering out directions to the players and objections to the referees.

The answer to that is simple: I did what my father would have done.

Every day we have the opportunity to treat all people with dignity and respect. It will make those we meet feel better, make us feel better and set a good example for all who observe us.

It is very contagious!

VOLUME XCIV

YOU HANDLE THINGS, YOU WORK WITH PEOPLE
  

This point represents a key distinction that Coach Wooden thought was important to be an effective leader.

The word handle, in part, is defined as a means of controlling or to feel or manipulate with the hands.

The leader who simply handles people indeed makes them feel manipulated and thus will truly never get their best effort in the long run.

In his book with Steve Jamison: Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections on and Off the Court, Coach Wooden discussed ideas he had about Bringing Out The Best In People:

People want to believe you are sincerely interested in them as persons, not just for what they can do for you. You can't fake it. If you don't mean it, they know it, just as you'd know if someone was pretending to be interested in you.

Most people try to live up to expectations. It always comes back to courtesy, politeness, and consideration.

Basketball practice at UCLA with Coach Wooden began at 3 PM. The players knew Coach would always be sitting courtside at 2:30 PM in the event they wanted to come early and discuss anything regarding their personal, academic, or basketball situation.

This was in addition, of course, to be available in his office.

In his book Practical Modern Basketball there is a section entitled Working With Your Players. Coach lists 10 key points in this section, 5 of them are as follows:

Be completely impartial and show no favoritism, but remember that no two players are alike and that each must be treated according to his own individual personality.

Be easily approached by the players and sincerely interested in all of their personal problems, successes, and failures.

Earn the respect and confidence of the players.

Respect and study the individuality of each person.

Teach loyalty, honesty, and respect for the rights of others in the sense of responsibility.

These behaviors by a leader represent working with people, not handling them.

In his book Blink, Malcolm Gladwell refers to a study that documented that the most annoying type of communication occurs when it is condescending.

Actions by a leader that is not manipulative or condescending will build the strength of the team. Actions that are manipulative or condescending will weaken the team.

These three simple, consistent behaviors by a leader may help the team improve.

1. Say good morning and how are you today? with a sincere heart to all team members without giving them operational instruction.

2. Always be mindful of your tone of voice (refer to this week’s poem) and apologize when it's inappropriate. Make your best effort to never talk down to people.

3. Do your best to never interrupt a team member when they are speaking and actively listen with an open mind.

If you Google our employees’ personal problems your problems you will find many interesting articles and perspectives. I particularly enjoyed the article from this link:

http://www.crucialskills.com/2012/04/dealing-with-personal-issues-at-work-2/

Hope this helps!

VOLUME XCV

YOU CANNOT BE JUDGED BY WHAT OTHERS SAY ABOUT YOU, BUT YOU CAN BY WHAT YOU SAY ABOUT OTHERS

This quote from Coach Wooden reflected two very important parts of his personal philosophy. Don't be overly concerned about what others say about you and never say an unkind word about another person.

The great quality Coach Wooden had of never speaking ill about somebody else was something he learned from his father. In his book with Steve Jamison. The Essential Wooden: A Lifetime of Lessons on Leaders and Leadership, Coach described his father’s example:

I never-not once-heard my father say an unkind word about another person. This is hard to do, but he accomplished it. Joshua Wooden believed that saying bad things about others is a bad habit.

For all the shortcomings I see in others, I keep in mind that my own failings are many. Tempting as it is to count up and call out when others stumble and fall in their behavior-to shake my head and wag a finger-I attempt to follow dad's example.

In his book with Don Yaeger A Game Plan for Life, Coach expanded on how his father’s example impacted the way he talked about his players:

I would never publicly criticize a player for poor performance. Even in moments of extreme frustration, I would check myself because it just didn’t seem right—because it didn’t seem like something my father would have done.

I admired my father’s refusal to speak badly about others, but I don’t think I necessarily set out to make that a rule for myself. I imagine I considered that to be too lofty a goal. Yet as time went on, I found it was a practice that had etched itself onto my soul, so that if I ever slipped up on that matter, I felt pain rather than satisfaction.

Coach’s practice of keeping it positive was also something he insisted his players do. One of his three rules for practice was: never criticize a teammate. If a player violated this rule he was subject to being kicked out of practice for the day.

Sometimes when people say negative things about others they are doing it to strike back or get even for something negative that was said about them.

Coach had two great quotes which summarized why he thought such a reaction was not a good use of our time and energy:

Revenge is the weak pleasure of a little and narrow mind.

Time spent getting even would be better spent trying to get ahead.

Or as Francis Bacon said: A man that studieth revenge keeps his own wounds green.

We have all heard the comment: I never heard him/her say a bad word about anybody given about somebody as a compliment.

I think that would be a great thing to hear about ourselves as well.

VOLUME XCVI

BE MORE CONCERNED WITH YOUR CHARACTER THAN YOUR REPUTATION, AS YOUR CHARACTER IS WHAT YOU REALLY ARE, WHILE YOUR REPUTATION IS MERELY WHAT OTHERS THINK YOU ARE

It has often been said that the wisdom of John Wooden is timeless. This famous quote of Coach Wooden is not only timeless, it continues to become more and more important and applicable as time goes by.

With the advent of Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, Email, Texting, and numerous social media sites, people are more and more frequently receiving communication about their reputation.

Sometimes people see something negative posted about them and get upset and/or feel a need to strike back. This is counterproductive.

Coach’s quote about character and reputation is a quick reminder that can help us calm down and keep things in proper perspective.

This topic was one Coach discussed directly with his teams every year. In his book Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections on and Off the Court with Steve Jamison, Coach recounted the discussion:

I told my players each year, Fellows, you're going to receive criticism. Some of it will be deserved and some of it will be undeserved. Either way, deserved or undeserved, you're not going to like it.

You're also going to receive praise on occasion. Some of it will be deserved and some of it will be undeserved. Either way, deserved or undeserved, you're going to like it.

However, your strength as an individual depends on how you respond to both criticism and praise. If you let either one have any special effect on you, it's going to hurt us. Whether it's criticism or praise, deserved or undeserved, makes no difference. If we let it affect us, it hurts us.

Coach’s idea about not getting too carried away when you receive praise is important.

In his book Wooden on Leadership with Steve Jamison, Coach Wooden comments on how this focus on character not reputation affected his approach toward competition, and how he felt it could be applied in business:

Don’t allow others, including your competitors, to define you or your organization.

While others will judge you strictly in relation to somebody or something else—the final score, the bottom line, or a championship—this is neither the most demanding nor the most productive standard.

The highest, purest, and most difficult standard of all, the one that ultimately produces one’s finest performance—and the great treasure called “peace of mind”—is that which measures the quality of your personal effort.

I think this is a very valuable message to share with our young people today.

VOLUME XCVII

BE QUICK BUT DON'T HURRY
  

This Maxim of Coach Wooden's was probably the one he most frequently used at basketball practice.

It has great application to all phases of everyday life. Andy Hill, author of the book Be Quick- But Don't Hurry, put it this way when he spoke at the first John R Wooden Course:

This phrase applies not just to sports, but to every phase of your life. It applies to our expectations of anything we hope to accomplish and how quickly we can expect to get there.

Impatience and unrealistic goals will sabotage a talented group of individuals in any workplace.

Set your sights too high and expect immediate attainment of your goals, and invariably, you will never reach your destination.

It is vital to focus on things that you can actually control, like your own effort, as opposed to external things over which you have no control.

Leaders should strive for quickness in their work. Most people are naturally hesitant and the Wooden approach was to remove all hesitation from the game.

If you can remove hesitation from your game you will be well on your way to being a better leader and your organization will run more efficiently.

Andy further identified four key pointers to remove hesitation: avoid delays, avoid maybe, move on from mistakes and follow your instincts.

Coach commented on the importance of quickness as follows:

You have to know what to do but you have to be quick to do it or you might not get to do it at all.

I think that's important in almost everything. Don’t hurry. You make mistakes when you hurry.

Be under control. I want quickness under control.

Otherwise, you'll have activity without achievement. I don't care for activities without achievement.

Coach believed that quickness in proper execution was necessary.

He believed that quickness was a result of preparation and often cautioned that failure to prepare is preparing to fail.

If you hurry and make mistakes it is simply an activity. As Coach often said don't mistake activity for achievement.

Be quick but don't hurry and as you prepare to take action, consider the question Coach Wooden posted on the team bulletin board:

If you do not have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?

VOLUME XCVIII

IF YOU ALWAYS TELL THE TRUTH, YOU WILL NOT HAVE TO REMEMBER WHAT YOU SAID

This famous quote from Coach Wooden was the result of an instruction he received frequently from his father.

It is a great self reminder to use when we are asked a question which we are expected to know the answer to, but don’t. If we think about this idea we will be very comfortable simply saying those three great words that develop trust: I don't know rather than making something up that sounds good.

This quote is also a great reminder that prevents us from exaggerating things in an attempt to impress somebody else to get a desired result in the short run.

This simple tell the truth approach was a cornerstone of Coach Wooden's communication when he was recruiting prospective student athletes.

In his book with Don Yaeger, A Game Plan for Life, Coach described it this way:

Hand in hand with consistency come honesty and trust. When a teacher or a coach or any kind of mentor is consistent in his or her principles, it creates trust between the mentor and the people he or she is mentoring.

I never tried to talk a student into coming to UCLA. I tried to show him what was there and what to expect, and I never told him he was going to play; I told him he would have the opportunity to play, and if he was good enough, then he’d be able to.

Instead, I would tell each student that if he did choose to attend UCLA—and I hoped he would—that he would be very unhappy his first year.

“You’re going to be away from home and your parents and all the things you’ve known for a number of years,” I’d explain. “It’s going to be very different academically and you’re going to wish you had gone someplace else.

But let me tell you this: If you had gone someplace else, it would be the same thing and you’d wonder what would have happened if you’d gone to UCLA. So there you go. Think it over.”

Coach Wooden had very few players over the years that transferred to other schools because they were disappointed with their playing time.

They stayed, in part, because they had a great relationship with Coach Wooden which had started with the strongest of all foundations:The Truth!

VOLUME XCIX

DON'T PERMIT FEAR OF FAILURE TO PREVENT EFFORT.  WE ARE ALL IMPERFECT AND WILL FAIL ON OCCASIONS, BUT FEAR OF FAILURE IS THE GREATEST FAILURE OF ALL

This often used quote of Coach Wooden's summarizes the key element in his psychological approach to coaching, which led to so many great clutch performances.

Coach Wooden’s teams at UCLA won seven consecutive national championships (a 38 game winning streak in national championship tournament play) with three different groups of players.

One thing that was consistent was the mental approach that created perfection under pressure.

In his book, The Essential Wooden: A Lifetime of Lessons on Leaders and Leadership with Steve Jamison, Coach described his approach:

I removed stress - the kind that comes from a fear of losing or an overeager appetite to win - by focusing exclusively on improvement and teaching the team that ongoing and maximum progress was the standard, our daily goal.

I never mentioned winning or beating an upcoming opponent.

In my opinion, our team's ability to perform consistently near its highest level of competency in tight situations came in large part from my philosophy - hat is, my definition of success. Of the many things I taught, it was perhaps at the top of my list: "Success is peace of mind attained only through self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to do the best of which you’re capable."

Every member of our team understood this was my highest grading standard. Not the score, not titles, not winning a championship. Rather, "Be able to hold your head high because you made the effort to do your best."

When those on your team accept this idea - not just accept it but really believe it - they are in complete control of their success because the quality of their effort is up to them.

It's not up to the opponent, fans, the media or anybody else. We may not control the outcome, but we can control the input - our effort.

Thus, in a critical situation, fear of losing, the outcome and the nervousness it produces are minimized.

In fact, for me, both as a player and a coach, nerves didn't exist.

I believe I instilled the same steadiness to a large degree in our players.

A talented and well-trained team embracing my philosophy is fearless and goes into battle fiercely dedicated to giving its total effort.

Clutch performance occurs when the total focus is on the effort and thus fear of failure is eliminated.

We are focused on shooting the free throw not on hoping it goes in.

VOLUME C

THE LEADER HAS FAITH IN PEOPLE.  HE BELIEVES IN THEM, TRUSTS THEM, AND THUS DRAWS OUT THE BEST IN THEM

These are ideas from an essay The Art of Leadership in the book The Art of Living by Wilfred A. Peterson, Coach Wooden’s favorite text on Leadership.

A leader displays faith in people by encouraging them to make decisions.

From a basketball perspective, Coach learned from his college coach, Piggy Lambert, that players should be trained properly in the fundamentals and then given the leeway to make decisions on their own.

He wanted his players to act when action was needed, not look at the bench for permission or instructions.

This demonstrated faith, trust and brought out the best in the team because the players played with confidence.

In his book with Don Yaeger, A Game Plan for Life, Coach recounted an episode with Piggy Lambert which taught him the core leadership value of having faith and trust in people:

One day, toward the end of my sophomore year, Coach Lambert called me into his office to let me know that a certain prominent doctor in town wanted to sponsor me, covering my expenses so I wouldn’t have to work.

The stringent rules about collegiate athletes receiving gifts didn’t really exist then, so the offer was perfectly legal.

Coach Lambert laid out the doctor’s proposal before me and asked what I thought about it.

“What does he want me to do to pay him back?” “Nothing,” Coach said. “He just likes you and wants to help you out.”

He knew what it would mean to me if I didn’t have to work: No more waiting tables at fraternity houses for fifty dollars a month to cover the tuition, room and board, and other expenses.

After thinking it over for a few days, I returned to Coach’s office. “I’ve got along all right thus far,” I told him. “So I guess I’m going to turn it down.”

I’ll never forget how Coach Lambert responded to that: He smiled and said, “I knew you’d say that.” I think he understood how important my pride was, and how I had been raised to never be beholden to anyone else.

By laying out the terms of the agreement before me, he allowed me to see what was out there for me, but to also make the decision on my own.

It was exactly the kind of guidance and trust I needed.

I left that day feeling I had just experienced an incredible lesson in coach - player interaction. Coach Lambert had shown that he believed me mature enough to make the right decision, rather than the easy one.

As Abraham Lincoln said: The worst thing you can do for those you love is to do the things they could and should do for themselves.

I believe making decisions is on that list.

Yours in Coaching,

www.woodenswisdom.com

Twitter: @woodenswwisdom