Page 90 - How to Create a Winning Organization

Wooden on Leadership
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ial, but I believe the lesson that was taught had application far be-
yond the specific issue.
Basketball players would often take home their cotton UCLA
practice T-shirts as souvenirs to wear around campus and else-
where. For some reason, those T-shirts were very popular. I don’t
think it was even viewed as theft by the student-athletes who took
them, any more than employees view as theft the taking of office
supplies such as paper and pens to their homes. I viewed it differ-
ently. Taking equipment that doesn’t belong to you is wrong. “If
you want a T-shirt,” I’d say to them, “just come in and ask me for
one. I’ll give you a T-shirt, but don’t just take it; it’s not yours.”
This mattered to me because it went to the kind of person I
wanted on our team. It made me feel bad to look the other way
while individuals I cared about were doing something wrong. And
taking what isn’t yours is wrong—even if it’s just a cotton T-shirt
used in practice. I thought it mattered, and I still do. I’m sure some
T-shirts were subsequently taken without asking, but at least I had
let them know it was wrong. I also have no doubt that others
changed their behavior for the good because of my words. Fur-
thermore, knowing I would take a stand on this issue gave players
an insight into my value system and what I stood for. Aristotle said:
“We are what we repeatedly do.” He was referring to character—
the values and habits of our daily behavior that reveal who and
what we are. I wanted to create good habits in those under my lead-
ership, not only in the mechanics of playing basketball, but also in
the fundamentals of being a good person. Thus, a small issue such
as putting towels in the towel basket where they belonged was
something I viewed as big, something that connected to my over-
all principles and beliefs—values—that went beyond just picking
up after yourself.
A student-athlete who feels so privileged that he can throw
things on the floor while a student manager follows behind clean-