Lessons from Basketball's Greatest Coach

(By John Maxwell)

At 97 years of age, John Wooden is a legend in the coaching profession. In 1999, ESPN named him The Greatest Coach of the 20th Century.

The list of honors garnered by Coach Wooden during his coaching career is unrivaled.

• Over the course of twelve years, his UCLA Bruins basketball teams won ten NCAA Championships, including an astonishing seven in a row from 1967 to 1973. For comparison's sake, no other men's coach has won more than 4 NCAA titles.
  
  
• He led his teams to four undefeated seasons; no other coach has had more than one undefeated season.
  
  
• His teams set a record by winning 88 games in a row, including 38 in a row in the NCAA Tournament.

Winning: More than the score

After glancing at Coach Wooden's record, a person may be misled into thinking Coach Wooden was a man preoccupied with winning. However, nothing could be further from the truth. For Coach Wooden, competition was never about comparing his team to the opposing squad. Despite all of the victories, trophies, and championships, Coach Wooden never spoke to his team about winning.

John Wooden was college basketball's greatest coach because he kept score differently than any other coach. Rather than measuring success in terms of wins and losses, he focused relentlessly on potential and improvement. Coach Wooden would grow livid if his players loafed when the team was ahead by 20 points, and he could be thrilled with his team's performance - even when they lost by 20 points.

Leadership Application: When businesses focus exclusively on market share or the bottom line, they run the risk of overlooking or undervaluing the people, processes, and systems that drive results.

Practice: Not perfection, but preparation

When questioned by reporters about missing team practices, current NBA star Allen Iverson gave a disdainful tirade on the pettiness of practice. "We're sitting here, and I'm supposed to be the franchise player, and we're talking about practice. I mean, listen, we're sitting here talking about practice, not a game... how silly is that?"

For many sports fans, Iverson's comments were emblematic of the arrogance and me-first attitude of an athlete in the National Basketball Association. If nothing else, his words revealed his underlying attitude: I'm an NBA superstar; I've arrived; I'm good enough to skip practice; practice doesn't matter, it's my performance on game day that counts.

To John Wooden, such an attitude would have been reprehensible. Coach Wooden's style was best noted for his keen attention to detail and the rigors of his practice regimen. In his words, "If you prepare properly, you may be outscored but you will never lose. You always win when you make the full effort to do the best of which you're capable."

For Coach Wooden, winning happened when the stands were empty and the spectators absent. He loved the day-by-day discipline of practice. By convincing his team to give their best effort at practice, he coached them to perform at a higher level than opponents. As a result, he enjoyed unprecedented success when games were played and championships were on the line.

Leadership Application: Challenge your people to give top effort every day, and prepare to the point of excess. If you don't tolerate sloppiness when the team prepares, then they will perform better in pressure situations.

Peak Performers: More than Talent

John Wooden gained an advantage over other coaches because he had a superior method of selecting players. While most recruiters scoured high school gyms solely in search of talent and athleticism, Coach Wooden began his search from a different vantage point.

When selecting players, Coach Wooden's primary consideration was the student's transcript. For him, a student's discipline in the classroom spoke volumes about the young man's priorities. Coach Wooden wanted players who recognized their primary responsibility was to earn a college degree rather than excel on the court.

When evaluating potential recruits, John Wooden's second criterion was the student's family life. Did the student respect his parents or guardians? Did the student treat his siblings kindly? By looking into a potential player's family life, Coach Wooden measured the player's ability to build healthy relationships. He knew relational skills were essential for establishing teamwork and camaraderie.

John Wooden's third consideration when selecting talent was the composite evaluation of six coaches. He was leery of basing his analysis on a single performance. By diligently consulting the opinion of six coaches, Coach Wooden measured consistency. He wanted to avoid selecting players who gave top effort one night only to withhold it on another evening.

Coach Wooden's final criteria for selecting players were quickness and talent. He wasn't naïve. He knew speed and natural ability were uncoachable and irreplaceable. Even so, he refused to select a player until he felt comfortable with the young man's priorities, relationships, and track record of consistent performance.

Leadership Application: By looking blindly at talent, leaders end up with malcontents who place personal gain above team spirit or talent-rich sluggards who rarely give their best effort. When hiring, consider an interviewee's life priorities, relational history, and career accomplishments. Don't discount talent, but never elevate it as the sole quality in a prospective teammate.

For information on John Maxwell's Leadership seminars, please email us at bingericta@gmail.com or call 813-2049/2732 and ask for Bing Ericta. Text MAXWELL ON to 4632 (Smart) to get daily SMS leadership insights from John Maxwell.

Develop Relationships Before Starting Out

(By John Maxwell)

Leaders often make the common mistake of trying to lead others before developing relationships with them. As you prepare to develop other people, take time to get to know each other. Ask them to share their story with you—their journey so far. Find out what makes them tick, their strengths and weaknesses, their temperaments. And spend some time with them outside the environment where you typically see them. If you work together, then play sports together. If you know each other from church, meet with them at their workplace. If you go to school together, then spend some time together at home.

You can even use this principle with your family. For example, if you spend time with your children outside your everyday environment, you'll learn a lot more about them. It will develop your relationship in ways it hasn't before, and it will help you grow.

Get out of your normal environment today with someone you lead.


Taken from Maximize Your Day by John Maxwell. (Published by OMF Literature, Philippines. Available now at Powerbooks and National Bookstore.)

The Law of Sacrifice

(By John Maxwell)

If you desire to become the best leader you can be, then you need to be willing to make sacrifices in order to lead well. If that is your desire, then here are some things you need to know:

1. There Is No Success Without Sacrifice: Leaders must give up to go up. Talk to leaders, and you will find that they have made repeated sacrifices. Effective leaders sacrifice much that is good in order to dedicate themselves to what is best.

2. Leaders Are Often Asked to Give Up More Than Others: The heart of leadership is putting others ahead of yourself. It's doing what is best for the team. For that reason, I believe that leaders have to give up their rights.

3. You Must Keep Giving Up to Stay Up: If leaders have to give up to go up, then they have to give up even more to stay up. What gets a team to the top isn't what keeps it there. The only way to stay up is to give up even more.

4. The Higher the Level of Leadership, the Greater the Sacrifice:
The higher you go, the more it's going to cost you. And it doesn't matter what kind of leadership career you pick. You will have to make sacrifices. You will have to give up to go up.

Are you willing to give up to go up?

Taken from Maximize Your Day by John Maxwell. (Published by OMF Literature, Philippines. Available now at Powerbooks and National Bookstore.)

Watch Another Person Bloom

(By John Maxwell)

Scott Adams, creator of the popular Dilbert cartoon, tells this story about his beginnings as a cartoonist:

You don't have to be a "person of influence" to be influential. In fact, the most influential people in my life probably are not even aware of the things they've taught me. When I was trying to become a syndicated cartoonist, I sent my portfolio to one cartoon editor after another—and received one rejection after another. One editor even called and suggested that I take art classes.

Then Sarah Gillespie, an editor at United Media and one of the real experts in the field, called to offer me a contract. At first, I didn't believe her. I asked if I'd have to change my style, get a partner — or learn how to draw. But she believed I was already good enough to be a nationally syndicated cartoonist. Her confidence in me completely changed my frame of reference and altered how I thought about my own abilities. This may sound bizarre, but from the minute I got off the phone with her, I could draw better.

There is no telling what might happen if you were to begin encouraging the dreams of the people around you.

Encourage someone today and you might get to watch them bloom tomorrow.

Taken from Maximize Your Day by John Maxwell. (Published by OMF Literature, Philippines. Available now at Powerbooks and National Bookstore.)

The Power of Failure

By John Maxwell

Success doesn't mean avoiding failure. All of us fail. As we travel, we all hit potholes, take wrong turns, or forget to check the radiator. The only person who avoids failure altogether is the person who never leaves her driveway. So the real issue is not whether you're going to fail. It's whether you're going to fail successfully (profiting from your failure). As Nelson Boswell observed, "The difference between greatness and mediocrity is often how an individual views mistakes." If you want to continue on the success journey, you need to learn to fail forward.

Unsuccessful people are often so afraid of failure and rejection that they spend their whole lives avoiding risks or decisions that could lead to failure. They don't realize that success is based on their ability to fail and continue trying. When you have the right attitude, failure is neither fatal nor final. In fact, it can be a springboard to success. Leadership expert Warren Bennis interviewed seventy of the nation's top performers in various fields and found that none of them viewed their mistakes as failures. When talking about them, they referred to their "learning experiences," "tuition paid," "detours," and "opportunities for growth."

Successful people don't let failure go to their heads. Instead of dwelling on the negative consequences of failure, thinking of what might have been and how things haven't worked out, they focus on the rewards of success: learning from their mistakes and thinking about how they can improve themselves and their situations.

Try to see failure as a learning experience today.

Taken from Maximize Your Day by John Maxwell. (Published by OMF Literature, Philippines. Available now at Powerbooks and National Bookstore.)

Sold out...again

I just got the good news that we only have 12 seats left to the final Maxwell Videocast this Friday at the RCBC Plaza (CPR Auditorium.) The place can fit 440 people.

The acoustics and AV stuff is really good there. If you haven't watched, go out of your way to go! (I heard there will be free Krispy Kreme being passed around too.)

Imagine a world without Filipinos - from someone who can't imagine living without Pinoys

Imagine a world without Filipinos
Abdullah Al-Maghlooth | Al-Watan, almaghlooth@alwatan.com.sa

Muhammad Al-Maghrabi became handicapped and shut down his flower and gifts shop business in Jeddah after his Filipino workers insisted on leaving and returning home. He says: “When they left, I felt as if I had lost my arms. I was so sad that I lost my appetite.”
Al-Maghrabi then flew to Manila to look for two other Filipino workers to replace the ones who had left. Previously, he had tried workers of different nationalities but they did not impress him. “There is no comparison between Filipinos and others,” he says. Whenever I see Filipinos working in the Kingdom, I wonder what our life would be without them.

Saudi Arabia has the largest number of Filipino workers — 1,019,577 — outside the Philippines. In 2006 alone, the Kingdom recruited more than 223,000 workers from the Philippines and their numbers are still increasing. Filipinos not only play an important and effective role in the Kingdom, they also perform different jobs in countries across the world, including working as sailors. They are known for their professionalism and the quality of their work.

Nobody here can think of a life without Filipinos, who make up around 20 percent of the world’s seafarers. There are 1.2 million Filipino sailors.

So if Filipinos decided one day to stop working or go on strike for any reason, who would transport oil, food and heavy equipment across the world? We can only imagine the disaster that would happen.

What makes Filipinos unique is their ability to speak very good English and the technical training they receive in the early stages of their education. There are several specialized training institutes in the Philippines, including those specializing in engineering and road maintenance. This training background makes them highly competent in these vital areas.

When speaking about the Philippines, we should not forget Filipino nurses. They are some 23 percent of the world’s total number of nurses. The Philippines is home to over 190 accredited nursing colleges and institutes, from which some 9,000 nurses graduate each year. Many of them work abroad in countries such as the US, the UK, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Singapore.

Cathy Ann, a 35-year-old Filipino nurse who has been working in the Kingdom for the last five years and before that in Singapore, said she does not feel homesick abroad because “I am surrounded by my compatriots everywhere.” Ann thinks that early training allows Filipinos to excel in nursing and other vocations. She started learning this profession at the age of four as her aunt, a nurse, used to take her to hospital and ask her to watch the work. “She used to kiss me whenever I learned a new thing. At the age of 11, I could do a lot. I began doing things like measuring my grandfather’s blood pressure and giving my mother her insulin injections,” she said.

This type of early education system is lacking in the Kingdom. Many of our children reach the university stage without learning anything except boredom.

The Philippines, which you can barely see on the map, is a very effective country thanks to its people. It has the ability to influence the entire world economy.

We should pay respect to Filipino workers, not only by employing them but also by learning from their valuable experiences.

We should learn and educate our children on how to operate and maintain ships and oil tankers, as well as planning and nursing and how to achieve perfection in our work. This is a must so that we do not become like Muhammad Al-Maghrabi who lost his interest and appetite when Filipino workers left his flower shop.

We have to remember that we are very much dependent on the Filipinos around us. We could die a slow death if they chose to leave us.

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Thanks to Dr Mark Crapo for sending this to me. This is dedicated to everyone who has a relative working abroad -- I guess that's all of us!