The Wizard of Westwood

Last week was John Wooden's 99th Birthday, and I've wanted to get some thoughts out about the wizard. A couple of years ago I read his book, Wooden on Leadership, and I actually read the entire thing on a drive home from Colorado(don't worry, I wasn't the one driving). The book grabbed my attention, and I couldn't put it down. To me, his philosophies and approach are very simple, yet surprisingly difficult. I think they are especially difficult in our society as it is today. The great thing about them, is they will not only make you a better athlete, but also a better person. In my opinion that is all he cared about, not being better than someone else, but being the best person you can be...in everything you do.

I saw an ESPN interview where Wooden said he had 3 Rules. Here they were:
1-Never be late for anything
2-Never use profanity
3-Never criticize a teammate

Very simple rules, and again, rules you can apply to the rest of your life outside of athletics as well. With that said, he also paid a ton of attention to detail, and looked for every edge he could get. He expected a lot of his players, and they worked extremely hard. He made them tie their shoes a certain way, have their hair a certain length, and would have practices detailed to the minute.

Wooden is also known for his Pyramid of Success. A quick outline of his pyramid had industriousness, friendship, loyalty, cooperation, and enthusiasm on the bottom level of the pyramid. This built the base. The second level was self-control, alertness, initiative, and intentness. The next level was condition, skill, and team spirit. Above that was poise and confidence, followed by competitive greatness on the top of the pyramid. With all of these things in place, comes greatness. This is a very general rundown of the pyramid of success, and much more can be found in his book, or even from a quick search online.

Like I said, his teaching and philosophy is pretty basic. Nothing flashy. No new and improved quick fix. No gimmicks. Just good old-fashioned hard work and values. It might be old-school, but it helped his teams win 10 championships in his final 12 years of coaching. Within those 12 years, he also won 7 straight championships. During one stretch, they won 88 straight games.

There are plenty of lessons to be learned from Wooden. These lessons apply whether you are an athlete, a musician, a teacher, or anything else you do in life. Thank you John Wooden!