Page 96 - How to Create a Winning Organization

Wooden on Leadership
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ing. In the gym he was a very, very tough man, extremely de-
manding. He wanted it done a certain way, and he would get
out there and demonstrate what that way was.
Coach was about 57 years old when I arrived at UCLA—
almost 40 years older than the rest of us. But he would never
ask his players to do what he wouldn’t do. You appreciate that,
when the leader is willing to get right out there and work
alongside you. You’re not just hearing stuff from somebody
who hasn’t been there and done it. He knew what he was talk-
ing about, so he had that credibility. He got respect.
Winning was never mentioned by him. For Coach
Wooden it was, “Fellas, we’ve got to play at our best. Let’s do
that.” That’s a lot different from saying, “Fellas, we’ve got to
win.” A lot different.
Race? Religion? They didn’t matter. What mattered was the
effort you made on the court and in the classroom. What
mattered was your behavior, your conduct, your values. Of
course, that included a strong work ethic.
He wanted our best effort. If that wasn’t good enough, he
accepted the results. Coach Wooden figured maybe that’s the
way it’s supposed to be. But he wanted our best effort before
he’d be willing to say, “That’s the way it’s supposed to be.”
By the second week of practice at UCLA I was just totally
hooked on how he did things—the progression of skills he
had us work on and then putting it all together as a team.
When they outlawed the dunk, he told me, “Lewis, every-
body will be playing under the same rules no matter what
they are. This game isn’t about the dunk shot. So just go on
and play; it’s the same for everybody.” Very matter of fact.
Mentally, I got past the rule change outlawing the dunk shot
very quickly.