Wooden on Leadership: How to Create a Winning Organization

You are not a failure until you start blaming others for your mistakes

The heights by great men reached and kept, Were not attained by sudden flight. But they, while their companions slept, Were toiling upward in the night.” –Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

there are no big things, only a logical accumulation of little things done at a very high standard of performance.

A strong leader accepts blame and gives the credit. A weak leader gives blame and accepts the credit.

I thought treating everyone the same was being fair and impartial. Gradually I began to suspect that it was neither fair nor impartial. In fact, it was just the opposite. That’s when I began announcing that team members wouldn’t be treated the same or alike; rather, each one would receive the treatment they earned and deserved.

Work without joy is drudgery. Drudgery does not produce champions, nor does it produce great organizations.

As a leader you must be sincerely committed to what’s right rather than who’s right.

To my way of thinking, when you give your total effort—everything you have—the score can never make you a loser. And when you do less, it can’t somehow magically turn you into a winner.

A player who is working hard and productively for the group shouldn’t receive the same treatment as someone who is offering less. And while each and every person on your team fills a role and performs a function, some of those roles and functions are filled by people much harder to replace than others. It would be naïve to suggest that a superstar in your organization—a top producer—won’t receive some accommodations not afforded others. This is not a double standard but rather a fact of life. Those small accommodations, however, must not apply in areas of your basic principles and values or they will soon be replaced by the perception that favoritism and special treatment are the norm.

Before You Can Lead Others, You Must Be Able to Lead Yourself.

Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best of which you are capable.

Set your standards high; namely, do the absolute best of which you are capable. Focus on running the race rather than winning it. Do those things necessary to bring forth your personal best and don’t lose sleep worrying about the competition. Let the competition lose sleep worrying about you. Teach your organization to do the same.

You must define success as making the complete effort to maximize your ability, skills, and potential in whatever circumstances—good or bad—may exist.

don’t worry about whether you’re better than somebody else, but never cease trying to be the best you can become. You have control over that; the other you don’t.

It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. -John Wooden

The two qualities of Friendship so important for a leader to possess and instill in team members are respect and camaraderie.

A leader in sports, business, or any other field of endeavor should possess and provide the same qualities inherent in a good parent: character, consistency, dependability, accountability, knowledge, good judgment, selflessness, respect, courage, discipline, fairness, and structure.

there is one similarity between a prison guard and a leader: Both have the final word. When a decision is made, it must be accepted by those on your team, or they must be encouraged to find another team.

Good values are like a magnet, they attract good people.

Minor details—like pennies—add up. A good banker isn’t careless with pennies; a good leader isn’t sloppy about details.

Ultimately, I believe that’s what leadership is all about: helping others to achieve their own greatness by helping the organization to succeed.