Motivate Your Team! Cheer Up A Friend! Inspire Yourself!
Motivate Your Team! Cheer Up A Friend! Inspire Yourself!
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| Wooden's Wisdom - Volume 13 | Issue 747 |
| Craig Impelman Speaking | Championship Coaches | Champion's Leadership Library Login | |
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"SHARING YOUR SECRETS WON’T SPOIL YOUR SUCCESS" John Wooden Video Clip (83 sec.): Coach Wooden is asked: "How did you manage strong-willed players?" In 1964 and 1965, John Wooden led UCLA to back-to-back national championships.
In 1966, Coach published a 410-page textbook titled Practical Modern Basketball, detailing everything he did as a coach—on the court and off. He held nothing back. Every drill, every system, every teaching point was laid out for anyone willing to study it. What happened next is what makes this story remarkable.
From 1967 to 1975, Wooden’s teams won eight national championships in nine years, including seven consecutive NCAA titles. To put that in perspective:
The next best streak in college basketball history for consecutive championships is two. His teams won ten total national championships (next best is four) His teams had four undefeated seasons (next best is one).
Clearly, for John Wooden, sharing his secrets did not spoil his success.
Boundaryless Solutions: This same idea has long existed in high-level business environments. At General Electric, Jack Welch built what he called "boundaryless behavior. "When one part of the organization found a better way to do something, it did not remain isolated. It was expected to move across divisions, across teams, and across functions. Solutions were not owned, they were shared.
A solution that stays in one place is not a solution. It is a missed opportunity.
A Championship Culture of Shared Solutions: This mindset was also present at UCLA during the championship years of John Wooden under Athletic Director J.D. Morgan. During that time, UCLA did not just dominate in basketball. Multiple programs reached the highest level:
Jim Bush — 4 NCAA national championships (track & field)
Al Scates — 19 NCAA national championships (men’s volleyball)
Bob Horn — 7 NCAA national championships (water polo)
Glenn Bassett — 13 NCAA national championships (men’s tennis)
Many of these titles were won while these coaches were working together within the same athletic department. This was not coincidence.
There was constant communication. Coaches shared ideas, discussed what was working, and learned from one another across completely different sports. There was no concern about ownership of ideas—only about improving performance. At that time , led by John Wooden, solutions didn’t stay in one locker room. There was a proactive mindset.
A proactive, solution-oriented culture does exactly that. It does not rely on isolated success. It takes what is learned and expands its impact so that everyone benefits from it. From The Pyramid of Success, it requires Cooperation, Initiative and Team Spirit.
It happens when people remember to: (as Coach Wooden would remind us):
"Be as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own."
Are you?
Yours in Coaching, Craig Impelman
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Epilogue to Beaumont and Fletcher’s Honest Man’s Fortune Man is his own star, and the soul that can Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
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