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LEADERSHIP IS A PROCESS OF SOCIAL INFLUENCE, WHICH MAXIMISES THE EFFORTS OF OTHERS TOWARDS THE ACHIEVEMENT OF A SHARED GOAL.

Saturday, August 28, 2010

John Wooden - Lessons in Leadership

When it comes to the topic of leadership, successful sports coaches often offer insights into how best to manage talented people. 

As the NFL’s Vince Lombardi once put it: “Running a football team is no different than running any other kind of organisation – an army, a political party or a business. The principles are the same. The object is to win – to beat the other guy. Maybe that sounds hard or cruel. I don’t think it is.”

There are few coaches with a track record as illustrious as former UCLA basketball coach John Wooden.

Wooden was the first person to ever be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as both a player and a coach. In the last 12 years of Wooden’s tenure as head coach at UCLA, the team took home 10 championship titles. Seven of those championships were won back-to-back! For his momentous accomplishments, Wooden was awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom – America’s highest civilian honour – in 2003, and was also the recipient of California State University’s John Wooden Ethics in Leadership Award (which was, obviously, named after Mr. Wooden himself).

Wooden was famous for his “Pyramid of Success,” as well as his 12 lessons of leadership. Here are the 12 lessons:

Good values attract good people
Love is the most powerful four-letter word
Call yourself a teacher
Emotion is your enemy
It takes 10 hands to make a basket
Little things make big things happen
Make each day your masterpiece
The character is mightier than a stick
Make greatness attainable by all
Seek significant change
Don’t look at the scoreboard
Adversity is your asset

Given his hard-nosed determination, his ability to remain cool under pressure and the tremendous emphasis he placed on teamwork, Wooden was the consummate leader, and we’d all be wise to take his lessons to heart. None of them are easy to follow, but they are words to live by nonetheless.

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