Page 277 - How to Create a Winning Organization

A LESSON FROM WILT Lessons from My Notebook 259
In the late 1960s, Wilt Chamberlain was traded to the Los Ange-
les Lakers. At the press conference that introduced him to local
writers and broadcasters, a reporter asked, “Wilt, do you think
Lakers’ Coach Van Breda Kolff can handle you? It’s been said that
you’re hard to handle.”
I was at that press conference, and Wilt’s answer had a strong im-
pact on me. He told the reporter, “You ‘handle’ farm animals. You
work with people. I am a person. I can work with anyone.”
Hearing his words reminded me that my book on coaching bas-
ketball, Practical Modern Basketball, which had recently been pub-
lished, included a section called, “Handling of Players.”
I immediately rushed home, got out my notes, and changed the
title of that section to “Working with Players.” For me that change in
wording was extremely important because I believe an effective
leader works with those individuals on the team. Handling suggests
a much different, and, in my opinion, less productive, relationship.
You see evidence of my change in wording on this page from my
notebook. It’s a very small thing, but it goes to something very big,
namely, your perspective on the relationship you have with those
under your leadership.