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Wooden on Leadership
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tude, a way of conducting business. A casual approach to executing
the details of a job ensures that the job will be done poorly. And
then another job will be done poorly. It grows.

ON WOODEN
Lynn Shackleford: UCLA Varsity, 1967–1969;
three national championships

DETAILS ON THE FIRST DAY
The very first team meeting I ever attended at UCLA was a
shock. Sitting next to me was another freshman—the guy
who had been the most coveted high school player in Amer-
ica, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Lewis Alcindor, Jr.).
Scattered around us were our freshman teammates—some
of the best in the country—as well as the returning members
of UCLA’s varsity team that had won the NCAA national
championship several months earlier—Edgar Lacey, Kenny
Washington, Doug McIntosh, Fred Goss, Mike Lynn, and
others.
There was a lot of energy and talent in that room waiting
for the arrival of Coach Wooden and his words of wisdom.
Pretty soon he walked in and went directly to the front of the
classroom in which we had gathered. Finally, the big moment
had arrived, my first experience as a member of a UCLA
team—reigning national champions!—coached by the famous
John Wooden.
He looked at us for a moment and began his remarks. And
that’s what was shocking: “Gentlemen,” he said, “Welcome.
Let’s get down to business. I want to remind each one of you