Page 84 - How to Create a Winning Organization

Wooden on Leadership
66
SEEK THOSE WITH A FIRE-IN-THE-BELLY
ENTHUSIASM FOR YOUR ORGANIZATION

I always felt that my nonrecruiting policy for players was the
right thing to do—a productive part of the screening process.
Before I talked to an individual about joining us, I first wanted
to see evidence of his desire to be a part of the Bruins. The last
thing you want is people in your organization who had to be
talked into being there, who needed convincing that your team
was worthy of them. When hiring, be diligent in discerning
what the individual’s motives are; be alert for those who ex-
press a sincere desire to join and contribute to your team and
show some understanding of who and what your organization
is all about. Recruiting should be a two-way street.

as a high school basketball star, two other talented and tall young
men had gained prominence—Wilt Chamberlain, at Philadelphia’s
Overbrook High School, and Bill Russell, at McClymonds High
School in Oakland.
While I would have been interested in having either, or both, of
them join us at UCLA, I was not contacted by them or by anyone
speaking on their behalf. Subsequently, Wilt attended Kansas, and
Bill went to the University of San Francisco, where he led the team
to victory against us in the 1956 NCAA regionals on their way to
a second consecutive national championship.

VALUES COME FIRST
My meeting with Lewis came about only because his high school
coach, Jack Donahue, called me from New York and said that he