Page 50 - How to Create a Winning Organization

Wooden on Leadership
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Control of self is essential for consistency in leadership and team
performance. I view consistency as a trademark of the true com-
petitor and effective leader. Self-Control is
“Control of your necessary in all areas.
organization begins with The choices you make in your personal
control of yourself.” life affect your professional life. They are not
two separate entities, and leaders who act as
if they are will likely bring difficulties upon themselves. To be a true
leader requires credibility and consistency in one’s actions, and this
is hard to achieve when you lack Self-Control.
It starts with control of your emotions, but it also extends to
having the resolve to resist the easy choice, the expedient solution,
and, at times, temptation in its various and alluring forms.

Self-Control in little things leads to control of bigger things. For
example, the reason I prohibited profanity—a small issue—during
practices was because it was usually caused by frustration or anger.
I felt that a player who couldn’t control his language when he got
upset during a scrimmage would be more likely to lose control in
more damaging ways during the heat of a competition—fouling,
fighting, or making other poor decisions that would almost always
hurt the team.
Forcing a player to monitor and control his language was a use-
ful device for teaching control of oneself. Our players were well dis-
ciplined over the years because I believed and taught that a team
lacking Self-Control will get outplayed and, usually, outscored. The