Success is pretty simple according to John Wooden. It’s as simple as doing your best. Just do your best. The end. Wooden was one of the winningest coaches in the history of college basketball. He won over 600 games and 10 championships with a run 8 straight championships to finish his career.
Wooden started humble as a high school coach and English teacher. He also started slow. Wooden didn’t make it to UCLA until 1948 and didn’t start winning championships until 15 years later. It took him most of his life and career to figure things out but when he did, he was dialed in.
Maybe it was because of when he was born and raised or maybe it was because of his humble religious upbringing but his leadership style is low key and old fashioned. He developed his Pyramid of Success to help simplify and explain his process to his players. The pinnacle of the pyramid is Competitive Greatness with several levels below. Much of the pyramid is character traits with Industriousness and “Enthusiasm” serving as the cornerstones that hold everything together on the base level. His pyramid is brilliant in its boringness.
Other blocks in the pyramid include, Friendship, Loyalty, Cooperation, Self-Control, Alertness, Initiative, Intentness, Condition, Skill, Team Spirit, Poise, Confidence and Competitive Greatness at the top. Competitive greatness is “being your best when your best is needed.” Wooden includes Faith and Patience as the mortar that holds all the blocks together.
Wooden’s book and overall leadership style is brilliant in its simplicity. All of his blocks are simple to learn and understand. As with most things in life, the execution is the trick. Interestingly, the blocks within his pyramid are complementary and often help to attain and maintain other blocks. Wooden selected Industriousness and Enthusiasm as the cornerstones because the right attitude and a little hard work can take someone a long way. These two blocks help make everything else possible up to and including Competitive Greatness.
The main takeaways for me after reading Wooden On Leadership is to keep things simple, work hard with a positive attitude and be ready for success to take a while. I can do my best on a regular basis but high level, long term, goals will take a while to have the Competitive Greatness required to attain them. In the meantime, a little (or a lot of) Faith and Patience will get me through until I reach my goal or attain Competitive Greatness.
To buy Wooden On Leadership, follow this link: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/wooden-on-leadership-john-wooden/1100616563?ean=9780071453394.
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