- ISBN13: 9780071453394
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
A Wall Street Journal Bestseller A compelling look inside the mind and powerful leadership methods of America’s coaching legend, John Wooden “Team spirit, loyalty, enthusiasm, determination. . . . Acquire and keep these traits and success should follow.”
–Coach John Wooden John Wooden’s goal in 41 years of coaching never changed; namely, to get maximum effort and peak performance from each of his players in the manner that best serve… More >>
Wooden on Leadership: How to Create a Winning Organization
Tags: coach john, Create, Leadership, leadership methods, legend john, loyalty, maximum effort, Organization, peak performance, remainder mark, team spirit, wall street, wall street journal, Winning, Wooden
#1 by Loyd E. Eskildson on April 17, 2010 - 12:46 am
John Wooden begins with brief remembrances of his life as a young farm boy (lots of hard work, and a great deal of competitiveness with his older brother), and absorbing key lessons from his father – “Focus on being the best you can become, and don’t worry about whether your are better than some else. You have control over the one, the other you don’t.” This lesson would become part of Wooden’s coaching foundation.
It was also interesting to learn that, but for the higher pay afforded high-school coaching, Wooden might instead have spent his career teaching college English. Either way the world would have benefited; however, coaching provided much greater visibility for Wooden.
Ultimately Wooden constructed what he calls his “Pyramid of Success.” Components include “Focus on the process, instead of the prize (winning),” “compete only against yourself,” “don’t hastily replace the old-fashioned with the new-fangled,” “enthusiam (one must truly enjoy what he/she is doing), “loyalty (to self, and those depending on you), “Little things make big things happen,” and “emotion is your enemy.”
Coach Wooden’s basketball record (and methods) speak for themselves. Where I do have a problem, however, is when others claim that Wooden’s methods for basketball success translate readily to the business world. While no such claim is made on the book jacket or within its contents, the publisher, at least implicitly does so it lists “Wooden on Leadership” under the Business Leadership category.
Business is far more complex than basketball, however; this implies no disrespect for Coach Wooden. Obvious differences include the number of competitors, the role of finance, length of “the competition,” the importance (or lack thereof) of physical conditioning, the motivations of student players vs. employees, and their relative time commitments, issues of product-placement, marketing, “make-or-buy,” and outsourcing, vs. just execution of a limited number of routines, etc. These differences invalidate simply trying to an extremely successful set of leadership skills to an environment not intended. Doing so makes about as much sense as a student nurse studying, eg. the Pittsburg Steelers.
Rating: 5 / 5
#2 by Alan Long on April 17, 2010 - 3:14 am
The book has some good ideas, but it is full of one liners. It gets boring at times.
On the good side – you have a lot of one liners to say and put on posters.
Rating: 3 / 5
#3 by Caldutti on April 17, 2010 - 5:37 am
I have ever read – Coach Wooden’s book is applicable for coaches, teachers, parents, businessmen and students
Rating: 5 / 5
#4 by Jaewoo Kim on April 17, 2010 - 8:33 am
John Wooden is a legendary basketball coach and teacher. His unsurpassed success as a basketball coach has its roots in his teachings which is written in this book. As a start, he outlines his famous Pyramid of Success:
1)Industriousness (hard work)
2)Friendship
3)Loyalty
4)Cooperation (be interested in finding the best way, not in having your own way)
5)Enthusiasm
6)Self Control
7)Alertness
8)Initiative
9)Intentness (Being determined and persistent)
10)Condition (practice moderation)
11)Skill (knowedge and ability)
12)Team Spirit
13)Point
14)confidence (Preparation and proper perspective)
15)Competitive Greatness
Being around 90 years old, however, John Wooden is a big proponent (perhaps because he doesn’t know otherwise) of the Old School. For example, he empasizes values over victory, character over talent, and love over competition. He doesn’t even believe in recruiting basketball players. He also believes any basketball player with moral, ethical, or attitude issues should not be offered a scholarship (not at his program anyway). All this is fine, and I personally don’t disagree. His ideas, however, are somewhat outdated in our hyper competitive results-oriented society. Take NCAA basketball, how many coaches are fired for not graduating its players? Very few. Most are fired, however, if they fail to notch enough wins.
I still think this is a very good book to buy. Especially to youngsters and teenagers, that is, if you would like to learn lessons from an Old School teacher.
Rating: 4 / 5
#5 by Anthony Pierulla on April 17, 2010 - 8:34 am
Wooden was never my type of role model to emulate, then I saw an HBO documentary and my curiosity was tweaked.
Coming of age in the fifties and sixties when whenever I heard the word “leadership” I would immediately turn off.
Leadership was the antithesis of the flower child age almost but not quite to a fault.Going through the seventies, eighties and to the present day a sea change has occurred among athelets, coaches, fans and franchises
to the point where one as jaded as myself will simply in regards to sports clamor-”WHATEVER DUDE.”
The magic seems to have disappeared with the overexposure of the Knights, Bonds, Cubans and Boros (my home Spurs gladly are the exception)to the point of boredom when one thinks sports.
_Wooden_ reminded me of what I chose to ignored: there are those who are worthy of the title Leader,however rare.
Reading the work I was simply nonplused thinking can this be taught? Sadly the answer was no it can not. The question after this was is it worth pursuing; and the answer was beyond a doubt a big affirmative.
Above all Mr. Wooden is a gentleman, a very wise and worthy gentleman who can not be diminished by anyone. My generation seems to have forgotten this, myself included, and this book reminds me of the way it could be.
If you are looking for a rah-rah self-improvment book forget about _Wooden_, if, however your looking for something with nuances that force you to relate to your behavior and how you can make a difference in whatever you do then grab it, open, devour it and keep it nearby in case you ever forget what it is to be a gentleman.
Rating: 5 / 5