Wooden on Leadership: How to Create a Winning Organizaion

John Wooden

Apr 2005 · McGraw Hill Professional

About this ebook

A Wall Street Journal Bestseller

A compelling look inside the mind and powerful leadership methods of America’s coaching legend, John Wooden

"Team spirit, loyalty, enthusiasm, determination. . . . Acquire and keep these traits and success should follow."
--Coach John Wooden

John Wooden’s goal in 41 years of coaching never changed; namely, to get maximum effort and peak performance from each of his players in the manner that best served the team. Wooden on Leadership explains step-by-step how he pursued and accomplished this goal. Focusing on Wooden’s 12 Lessons in Leadership and his acclaimed Pyramid of Success, it outlines the mental, emotional, and physical qualities essential to building a winning organization, and shows you how to develop the skill, confidence, and competitive fire to “be at your best when your best is needed”--and teach your organization to do the same.

Praise for Wooden on Leadership:

“What an all-encompassing Pyramid of Success for leadership! Coach Wooden’s moral authority and brilliant definition of success encompass all of life. How I admire his life’s work and concept of what it really means to win!”
--Stephen R. Covey, author, The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People and The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness

“Wooden On Leadership offers valuable lessons no matter what your endeavor. 'Competitive Greatness' is our goal and that of any successful organization. Coach Wooden’s Pyramid of Success is where it all starts.”
--Jim Sinegal, president & CEO, Costco

Ratings and reviews

This is the best leadership book I have ever read. John Wooden outlines the most important aspects of leadership with his Pyramid of Success. He guides you through each aspect, explaining the importance and giving quality examples. Wooden shows how valuable people and time are and how to get the most out of your organization. This book should be required for all people who want to live a good life or be a part of a good culture. "Success is peace of mind in knowing that you made the effort to be the best of which you are capable." I've bought this book as a hard cover but am rebuying it as a digital copy so that I may have it wherever I go.

Many valuable lessons to learn from Coach Wooden. This book is written in an engaging way that will keep you wanting to learn more. Wooden talks about how you cannot lead without loyalty to yourself. He discusses how leaders are masters of self control, and how when you punish people for making a mistake, you create an environment of extreme caution and fearfulness. This may cause people to not perform at their highest level because of fear of making a mistake. Coach Wooden talks about making sure that we are persistent, that we practice and rehearse. Part 3 of the book includes many notes on leadership that the Coach accumulated over the years.

Great book on life and leadership. He really didn't give anything different from what has been around for a long time but he put it all together. I would definitely use a lot of this in my life.

About the author

Author Profiles
John Wooden (1910-2010), guided the UCLA Bruins to ten NCAA basketball championships over a 12-year period, including four perfect seasons and an 88-game winning streak. He was named ESPN’s “Greatest Coach of the 20th Century” and voted “#1 Coach of All Time” by The Sporting News. Sports Illustrated said it best when they said: “There’s never been a finer man in American sports than John Wooden, or a finer coach.” In 2003 John Wooden was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Steve Jamison is America's foremost author and authority on the life and philosophy of John Wooden. Mr. Jamison is a consultant to the UCLA Anderson Scool of Business’ John Wooden Global Leadership Program. He has collaborated with Coach Wooden on an award-winning PBS presentation as well as several books, including the classic book on teaching and mentoring, Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections.