John Wooden is one of the most famous basketball coaches and unfortunately I didn’t learn about him until I was done university. Since becoming a coach I often read his books for guidance about how to be a leader. I thought I would share some of the gems I have picked up from him over the years because they are so useful in so many aspects not just when it comes to basketball.
Coach Wooden is most well known for his role in multiple championships at UCLA in the 1960’s and 1970’s. Prior to that Wooden started his coaching career at Indiana State. Above all John Wooden was a teacher who had an affinity for English and of course teaching the game of basketball. Some of his most famous players included both Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Bill Walton.
John Wooden and his UCLA team won 10 Championships in 12 years including an unprecedented 7 Championships in a row. There are many lessons that John Wooden was responsible for teaching over his very long and successful career. Here are some of my favourites:
1. Never Flinch at Failure - Wooden taught his players not to fear making mistakes as long as it was the right kind of mistake. By this he meant that if you aren’t making any mistakes this simply means you aren’t doing anything. Wooden said in order to win you have to work on making things happen. In his view he could see that there were good mistakes and bad mistakes and he tried to emphasize minimizing the bad ones. Failure is part of getting better so he really supported his players during that process.
2. Be Concerned but Don’t Worry - Coach Wooden taught that there is a very big difference between being concerned and being worried. He said that worry doesn’t actually accomplish anything concern on the other hand leads to finding solutions. The emphasis was on not wasting time being worried but spending time being concerned because being concerned means you are working out solutions. It is the working out of these solutions that leads to results. He emphasized taking the time to analyze and figure things out instead of wasting time fretting. Fretting was just worrying which in his mind was a complete waste of time.
3. Do Your Very Best - Perhaps this is the most well known lesson Coach Wooden taught was his interest in each player working on achieving their own personal greatness. His emphasis was on doing your own personal best and focusing on controlling that. The most important thing in his view was the deep satisfaction that came from giving your best effort. He really focused on giving his players the tools to play at their highest level. Coach Wooden was was quoted saying:
"Although I could rarely sleep much right after a game, I slept very well the night before our team played - even before a national championship game. By then I had made sure that my work was essentially complete. You may not believe me, but this is absolutely true: Knowing I had done all I could as a teacher, coach and leader provided me greater fulfillment - peace of mind- than outscoring an opponent. (Of course when both occurred together it made me feel particularly good.) Subsequently, I slept well, comfortable in the knowledge that I had done the best of which I was capable. This knowledge is a very soft pillow on which to sleep.”
There are some incredibly talented coaches who were masters in the game of basketball. John Wooden is one of these coaches but he also is one of the most unique leaders I have studied. The way he looked at the game and helped his players accomplish such amazing things is really something. These are just a few of his incredible lessons. I will definitely put together some other ones for you.
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