7 Leadership Lessons From John Wooden's Final Title
Forty years ago, in the last season of his
legendary career, John Wooden coached UCLA to its tenth men's basketball
championship (also the tenth of Wooden's tenure). Here are seven team-building
tips from that historic season.
When it comes to
college basketball coaches, John Wooden's legacy rises high above anyone
else's.
His UCLA teams won 10
titles in a 12-year span (beginning in 1964, depicted above). Four of these
championship teams posted undefeated seasons (1964, 1967, 1972, and 1973).
Wooden's epic 12-year run also included a span of seven straight titles
(1967-73).
This year's NCAA Men's
Division I Basketball Tournament marks the 40th anniversary of Wooden's final
season, during which his UCLA squad won yet another title (with a 92-85 victory
over Kentucky). Here are seven leadership and team-building lessons from that
final season. My source is Seth Davis's superb biography, Wooden: A Coach's Life.
1.
Never stop teaching, but keep it brief.
Prior
to the season, Wooden granted permission to two psychology professors, Roland
Tharp and Ronald Gallimore, to observe his afternoon practices. All told, they
observed 30 hours of practices and coded 2,326 discrete acts of teaching.
Here's Tharp's summary:
His
teaching utterances or comments were short, punctuated, and numerous. There
were no lectures, no extended harangues. Although frequent and often in
rapid-fire order, his utterances were so distinct we could code each one as a
separate event. He rarely spoke longer than 20 seconds....The major findings of
our coding scheme can be summarized as follows: 75 percent of all
utterances carried information, much of which was repetitive. Minimal use
of praises and reproofs.
In
his book, Davis points out that Wooden gradually honed his communicative
efficiency over a long career. His methods in practice were "the result of
a lifetime of small, almost unnoticeable advancements."
2.
No matter how successful you become, you'll deal with critics and loudmouths.
Shortly
after winning the 1975 title, Wooden stood outside the team's locker room and
spoke to reporters. A UCLA alum came up to him and said: "Congratulations,
Coach. You let us down last year, but this made up for it."
The
remark upset Wooden, especially because the previous season was a great one.
UCLA had finished with a record of 26-4. The team made the Final Four before
losing in double overtime to the North Carolina State squad that won the title.
Moreover,
prior to Wooden's arrival in 1948, UCLA's basketball teams weren't particularly
distinguished. In the previous 17 seasons, the team only twice had a winning
record. Under Wooden, the team had a winning record every season.
So
the alum had voiced disappointment with Wooden, yet it was Wooden's
distinguished tenure that had created (and inflated) the alum's lofty
expectations. The point is: Sustained success can distort levels of
expectation. Likewise, it can breed a disproportionate sense of disappointment.
3.
Measure yourself on the maximization of potential, not necessarily the
bottom-line result, and...
4.
When the light shines on you, deflect it to another who's deserving.
Wooden
exemplified both of these lessons shortly after winning the 1975 title. After
the game, reporters--knowing of Wooden's imminent retirement--asked him how he
wished to be remembered. Wooden took the opportunity to give a shout-out to
another coach. He said:
I'd
like to be remembered as a person who tried to do his best, I guess. A man I've
admired for so long, Tony Hinkle of Butler, never got the recognition he
deserved because his won-lost record wasn't that great. But no coach ever got
more out of his players. It's hard to keep things in perspective sometimes, but
we ought to try.
In
other words, Wooden used his crowning moment to honor the legacy of another
coach. And that legacy was not wins and losses, but potential fulfilled.
5.
You'll win with star performers who've learned humility.
Marques
Johnson, a star 6-foot-5 forward on the 1975 UCLA team, could ordinarily
overcome taller players with his strength and quickness. But the title game
against Kentucky--a team boasting three 6-foot-10 big men--presented "the
one occasion where he was overmatched," Davis writes.
So
when Kentucky established a six-point lead in the first half, Wooden replaced
Johnson with seven-footer Ralph Drollinger. Rather than fume, Johnson cheered.
"It wasn't about me and my minutes," he told Davis. "It was
like, we need to win this game by any means necessary."
6.
Don't hold grudges.
Prior
to the 1975 season, Wooden allowed Los Angeles Times reporter
Dwight Chapin to join him on his daily five-mile walk on UCLA's track.
It
may seem like nothing, but as Davis points out, it was actually a sign that
Wooden didn't hold a grudge. Chapin had coauthored a 1973 Wooden bio called The Wizard of Westwood. The book corrected the
long-held myth that Wooden had never had a losing season on any level. It also shined a light on a UCLA booster
named Sam Gilbert. In other words, it wasn't all roses and sunshine.
Still, Wooden relinquished
any anger he held toward Chapin and opened up to the reporter prior to his
final season.
7.
Don't forget to have fun.
Players on Wooden's
final team tell tales of how their coach loosened up in his final season.
After practice one
day, freshman guard Raymond Townsend was playfully taking half-court shots.
"In previous years, Wooden might have ripped into Townsend for horsing
around," Davis writes.
On this occasion,
Wooden--64-years-old at the time--asked Townsend for the ball. The coach promptly
took his own half-court shot--and made it. "Child's play," he said to
Townsend, before walking away.
On another occasion,
Wooden spotted Johnson shooting pool in the student union. Johnson thought he
was about to get scolded. Wooden didn't scold--he just asked Johnson to borrow
the cue stick. The coach promptly "made five or six in a row, maybe
more," Johnson told Davis.
"Then he handed
me the cue and walked out. Didn't say a word. Didn't say one word the whole time."
BY ILAN MOCHARI
http://www.inc.com/ilan-mochari/john-wooden-UCLA.html?cid=em01016week12c
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