“If each of you makes every effort to develop to the best of your ability, follow the proper rules of conduct…subordinate individual acclaim for the welfare of the team…it will be a very rewarding year.”
– Letter from John Wooden to his team, July 23, 1971, as quoted in “The Essential Wooden” by Steve Jamison
Ten national championships. Seven of those in a row.
He recruited the best talent, but that’s not why he won. He won because of what he got them to do together.
John Wooden, the legendary UCLA basketball coach was known as “The Wizard of Westwood,” and he earned the accomplishments and the accolades with a simple, unbending and non-negotiable system for success.
He not only won games and titles, he won the hearts and souls of the young men he coached. He helped them develop to the best of their ability. He enforced the proper rules of conduct, and he coached individual talent toward team outcomes.
John Wooden was a difference maker.
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