Issue 733 - Accountability Is A Two-Way Street (Part One: The Person Who Assigns the Work)


Wooden's Wisdom - Volume 13	Issue 733
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ACCOUNTABILITY IS A TWO-WAY STREET (PART ONE: THE PERSON WHO ASSIGNS THE WORK) John Wooden Video Clip (1 min. 45 sec.): Coach Wooden is asked: "Tell us about the poem a little fellow follows me?" Some organizations say they lack accountability, but what they really lack is clarity. Accountability cannot exist unless both sides understand exactly what is being owned. And that understanding must be established before performance, not after it. Coach John Wooden built one of the most accountable cultures in the history of sports not by demanding accountability later, but by mapping it precisely in advance. He understood that accountability begins with the person who assigns the work. Coach Wooden believed that if instructions are clear, accountability can be established. Take something as simple as moving from the locker room to the court for a game. Coach Wooden told his players exactly how it would happen: "We will not leave the room until the floor is clear, and we’ll go out calmly and quietly, although quickly, without a lot of commotion and false chatter." In his book, Practical Modern Basketball, Coach clearly defined how players were to behave while on the bench: "They must be taught to cheer, encourage, instruct, warn, and advise their playing teammates on occasion, but refrain from making remarks to the officials, opposing players, or spectators. They should study the game and pay particular attention to the man that they are most likely to guard, the man who is most likely to be guarding them, and all situations from which advance knowledge may enable them to do a better job if and when they are called upon. They are not to be spectators, but students of the game." That level of clarity eliminated confusion before it ever appeared, and it existed in every detail of the entire program for everyone involved. Nothing was left to chance. Players didn’t have to guess what was acceptable or wonder where accountability lived. Their role was defined in advance, and accountability followed. Most accountability failures are instruction failures. That’s why Side One of accountability—the person who assigns the work—carries real responsibility: Clarity of outcome. What does "done" look like? Clarity of scope. What’s included—and what’s not? Clarity of timeline. When is it due, and how firm is that deadline? Confirmation of understanding. Was the pass catchable? Defined communication expectations. What happens if someone falls behind? When those things are clear, accountability is fair. When they’re not, accountability becomes emotional, political, and reactive. Coach Wooden didn’t need to chase accountability. He built it—quietly, deliberately, and in advance. How clear are your instructions? Click here for personal development exercise: Issue 733. Click here for Printable Poetry: Issue 733. Yours in Coaching, Craig Impelman www.woodenswisdom.com Follow @woodenswisdom	COACH'S FAVORITE POETRY AND PROSE The Front Seat When I was but a little lad I always liked to ride, No matter what the rig we had, right by the driver's side. The front seat was the honor place in bob-sleigh, coach or hack, And I maneuvered to avoid the cushions in the back. We children used to scramble then to share the driver's seat, And long the pout I wore when I was not allowed that treat. Though times have changed and I am old I still confess I race With other grown-ups now and then to get my favorite place. The auto with its cushions fine and big and easy springs Has altered in our daily lives innumerable things, But hearts of men are still the same as what they used to be, When surreys were the stylish rigs, or so they seem to me, For every grown-up girl to-day and every grown-up boy Still hungers for the seat in front and scrambles for its joy, And riding by the driver's side still holds the charm it did In those glad, youthful days gone by when I was just a kid. I hurry, as I used to do, to claim that favorite place, And when a tonneau seat is mine I wear a solemn face. I try to hide the pout I feel, and do my best to smile, But envy of the man in front gnaws at me all the while. I want to be where I can see the road that lies ahead, To watch the trees go flying by and see the country spread Before me as we spin along, for there I miss the fear That seems to grip the soul of me while riding in the rear. And I am not alone in this. To-day I drive a car And three glad youngsters madly strive to share the 'seat with Pa.' And older folks that ride with us, I very plainly see, Maneuver in their artful ways to sit in front with me; Though all the cushions in the world were piled up in the rear, The child in all of us still longs to watch the engineer. And happier hearts we seem to own when we're allowed to ride, No matter what the car may be, close by the driver's side. Edgar Albert Guest (1881-1959)
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