John Wooden, who died Friday at the age of 99, will be remembered as the best basketball coach ever and possibly the greatest coach of all time. His string of national titles at UCLA grows in significance when March Madness rolls around each year.
He had three outstanding qualities that helped him develop his players and lead his teams to victory.
He had three outstanding qualities that helped him develop his players and lead his teams to victory.
1. Attention to detail. Every year at the beginning of the season Wooden would instruct his players the proper way to put on their socks and shoes. No kidding. He felt that making sure socks were on just so would minimize blisters and lost playing time. His practices were scheduled right down to the minute, no wasted time or energy. He kept notebooks filled with details that he would review years later.
2. Proper priorities. Wooden never talked about winning. He was almost emotionless on the sidelines. It was always about the fundamentals and doing things the right way. If he prepared his team, winning took care of itself.
3. Focus on the person. Wooden cared about each player contributing his personal best, regardless of whether he was a superstar like Bill Walton or someone who sat the bench most of the season. Wooden talked about "personal greatness." No one player was "better" in Wooden's mind, because each had a role to play.
Hard to believe he retired 35 years ago. His books on leadership and coaching should be part of any leader's personal library. I personally own "Wooden on Leadership" and refer to it often.
You'll find several of Wooden's books available below through my Amazon.com account.
(Disclosure: we get a commission for Amazon sales)
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