Page 30 - How to Create a Winning Organization

Wooden on Leadership
12
I’ve often said that as a leader I’d rather have a lot of talent and
little experience than a lot of experience and little talent. In
1959–1960 we didn’t have much of either. And there was an addi-
tional handicap beyond our control.
A few years earlier, the football programs at UCLA and some
other schools in the conference had been hit by scandal: Payments
to athletes had exceeded the conference’s strict limits. The football
programs at the schools involved in the infractions had been placed
on probation, and part of the penalty included a strict restriction on
postseason play such as the Rose Bowl.
The penalty against UCLA applied not only to football but to all
sports including basketball, even though we had played by the rules.
Thus, for a time, UCLA basketball had been ineligible for any post-
season tournament play. Some athletes with considerable basketball
talent who might have attended our school no doubt stayed away.
All this—lack of experience, limited outstanding talent, ineligibil-
ity, and more—impacted on our ability to outscore opponents.
Therefore when I reflected on the 1959–1960 season with its
14–12 record and the sizable obstacles we faced, I was of the opin-
ion that our team might have gotten my best coaching up to that
point in my career. And nobody knew it but me. That was fine.
I also believe those student-athletes under my leadership came as
close to reaching 100 percent of their potential as some of the later
UCLA teams with perfect 30–0 seasons. The 1959–1960 group just
didn’t have the extreme level of talent the championship teams pos-
sessed. However, I do not judge success based on championships;
rather, I judge it on how close we came to realizing our potential.
Consequently, in looking back at all 27 years I coached the Bru-
ins, I wouldn’t put another season ahead of 1959–1960 for what
we achieved in that regard. I have great pride in what we accom-
plished that season.