Wooden, Part 3

The next level (second level) of John Wooden’s Pyramid of Success is comprised of the building blocks of Self-control, Alertness, Initiative, and Intentness. 

 

Self-control.  Coach Wooden was not one to rant and rave, nor curse or disparage.  He expected control of himself, and he expected it of his assistants and his players.  Self-control, self-discipline and mastery of emotions lead to much more stable and productive action than adrenalin and emotion. He knew that when self-discipline breaks down your judgment and common sense suffers.  If self-control, self-discipline broke down for one of his players he would have to discipline the young man, but he never did it to punish.  He said, “You discipline to help, to improve, to correct, to prevent, not to punish, humiliate, or retaliate.” 

Alertness is another second-tier building block.  Tunnel vision prevents us from being alert to what is going on around us—it keeps us from obtaining the larger picture.  He expected that those in his charge keep their eyes moving, be constantly observing, quick to spot a weakness in self or others and learn from it. 

Initiative.  He used this term in the context of not being afraid to fail.  He wanted his athletes to make decisions and then take action.  If you are afraid to try, afraid to fail (and all winners fail often), then you defeat yourself.

Intentness.  This is the ability “to stay the course, to concentrate on your objective with determination and resolve.”  He said, “The road to real achievement takes time, a long time, but you do not give up.  You may have setbacks.  You may have to start over. You may have to change your method.  You may have to go around, or over, or under.  But you do not quit.”

The third level of The Pyramid were Condition, Skill, and Team Spirit. 

Conditioning meant physical, mental, and moral conditioning.  General conditioning is good, but one needs specific conditioning; every task has its own requirements and you must train to those requirements. 

 

Skill.  This building block is at the very center of the Pyramid.  You need to develop skills necessary to do your job quickly and properly.  It means being able to execute all your job, not just part of it.  “As much as I value experience, and I value it greatly, I’d rather have a lot of skill and little experience than a lot of experience and little skill,” he said.

Team Spirit.  This means thinking of others—doing things for the good of the group and not just for yourself.  It means sacrificing personal interest or glory for the welfare of all.  And it means being eager to do it. 

 

I will discuss the penultimate building blocks of Poise and Confidence and finally the last block of the Pyramid, Competitive Greatness,  in my next posting.  I will also remark on the mortar that holds it all together and the meaning of the Apex of Success. 

Wooden, Part 2

How did John Wooden do it?  How did he turn out team after team of champions—not only on the court but also men who accomplished much with their lives after athletics?  Testimony after testimony from his former players disclose that Coach Wooden gave them an invaluable framework, tools, and real-time experience that transformed them from typical athletes before exposure to Wooden’s program to highly productive citizens who found success in all areas of their lives.

He did it by giving them an example—his example.  He simply was not content with mediocrity.  He gave them a ‘Pyramid of Success’ that he required that they learn and practice as long as they were with him. 

                          

From the bottom, the foundation of the pyramid was comprised of Industriousness and Enthusiasm as the cornerstones of a five-block base.  The other three blocks were Friendship, Loyalty, and Cooperation. 

 

Industriousness meant that you had to work hard—extremely hard, hard enough that you came to love to work.  It meant that you didn’t cut corners—that you gave it all that you had.  A lazy person, no matter how skilled, could not make it on Coach Wooden’s teams.  He liked Grantland Rice’s poem ‘How To Be a Champion:’

            You wonder how they do it,

            You look to see the knack,

            You watch the foot in action,

            Or the shoulder or the back.

            But when you spot the answer

            Where the higher glamours lurk,

            You’ll find in moving higher

            Up the laurel-covered spire,

            That most of it is practice,

            And the rest of it is work.

He said, “Industriousness is the most conscientious, assiduous, and inspired type of work.”  It was absolutely expected of himself and all his people.

Enthusiasm for him meant that you had to love what you were doing; that your heart must be in it.  He didn’t like whiners or those who complained about how hard their job was.  By contrast with these malcontents, enthusiasm brushes off on those with whom you work and you stimulate others to higher levels of achievement. 

The three foundational blocks between the cornerstones of Industriousness and Enthusiasm included other people and bound the two cornerstones together: 

 

The foundational block of Friendship is a cohesive force that comes from mutual respect and esteem.  In friendship both sides give and gain.  In it there is a conscious effort to do things to help and build the other person as they both work for a common goal.

Loyalty means giving respect to those with whom you work and trusting them.  It is a great team builder. 

 

Cooperation means working together for a common goal—not trying to be the whole show yourself.  You are not the only fish in the pond.  To get cooperation you must give cooperation.  “Always seek to find the best way rather than insisting on your own way.”  This allows individuals to move forward together.  He graphically pointed out that “Ten strong field horses could not pull an empty baby carriage if they worked independently of each other.”  All they would do is pull it apart. 

 

Since it is a cardinal principle of good teaching, which is what Coach Wooden did all of the time, to not overload a person until he becomes familiar and comfortable with the load, I will discuss the ten other blocks that comprise the upper levels of the pyramid in another posting.  If you are seriously interested in success as John Wooden defines it, study these first five foundation stones very carefully and try to integrate them into your own life--starting now. 

Wooden

I want to talk today about the late John Wooden (1910-2010).  If you weren’t alive in the mid-1960’s-mid-1970’s or had something really compelling going on in your life such as having three or four babies, perhaps holding down two full-time jobs at once, or were so spaced out or caught up in the ‘dawning of the age of Aquarius, then you might not have heard of him.  Otherwise, it is time to make up for lost time for this man was surely a legend and an American treasure. 

  

Even if you have no interest whatsoever in athletics you should know something about this great man.  Without question, Coach Wooden is one of the shining stars in my pantheon and had a major influence upon me during my undergraduate college years (even though I went to another California college).  He crystalized my choice of profession as a teacher.  He was truly one of my ‘giants,’ a role model par excellence. 

Coach Wooden first came to public attention as the coach of U.C.L.A.’s  basketball teams in compiling the greatest record of any college or professional coach in any sport.  At the same time he was becoming appreciated as a great American teacher, simple-wisdom philosopher and all-around fine human being.  This, in my opinion, was the reason (not the secret, for he shared it openly) of his success on the court. 

   

John Wooden was the cultural counterpoint of the ‘60’s and ‘70’s to the ‘British music Invasion,’ hippie movement, and ‘new morality.’ He influenced not only high school athletes and then thousands of university students and athletes, but also senators and congressmen, presidents of the United States, parents, religious leaders, businessmen, college professors, centenarians and even elementary school children.  He influenced me. 

He did not use the abstractions of the classical philosopher or the authoritarian harshness of the drill sergeant to get his point across.  He was, instead, a philosopher-teacher of simple wisdom and decent character. He was an Apostle Paul, Abraham Lincoln, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Socrates all rolled into one. Like the Nathanael Jesus commended, Coach Wooden was a man without guile.  There was nothing phony, pretentious, double-minded, or lazy about him.  He eschewed mediocrity: “Being average means you are as close to the bottom as you are to the top.”  “We are many, but are we much?” “You can do more good by being good than any other way.” 

He carried a card in his pocket all his life given to him by his father.  On one side were these words:

            Four things a man must learn to do

            If he would make his life more true:

            To think without confusion clearly,

            To love his fellow man sincerely,

            To act from honest motives purely,

            To trust in God and heaven securely.

On the other side of the card his father had written his creed, “Seven things to do”:

1         .             Be true to yourself.

2         .             Help others.

3         .             Make each day your masterpiece.

4         .             Drink deeply from good books, especially the Bible.

5         .             Make friendship a fine art.

6         .             Build a shelter against a rainy day.

7         .             Pray for guidance and count and give thanks for your blessings every day.

In short, he was an example, a mentor, a good man—the best kind of man.