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7 Life Lessons from One of the Greatest Leaders of ALL-TIME
The coach with the most wins, who never talked about winning
John Wooden will never know what he’s done for me, but his example changed the entire direction of my life.
He was a basketball coach (I don’t even play basketball, and he still changed my life), one of the most successful NCAA basketball coaches of all time, with more national championships than any other coach, racking up 10 total victories.
A virtually untouchable record in that sport. And yet…
He never talked about winning.
For John Wooden, it was about more than that. It was about doing your absolute best. Achieving what he called “competitive greatness.” It was about being disciplined, acting with unimpeachable integrity, and leaving it all on the court.
If a focus on those things led to winning basketball games (and they obviously did), then great. But for him there was something above winning. Something that “just” winning a basketball game didn’t guarantee that you achieved.
Wooden on Leadership was the first of his books that I read, and his example inspired me to take immense pride in the level of effort I expended in service of my goals, increase how much I dedicated myself to making it to the top, and focus on how I…
