“What occurred in the practice is what gave me joy and satisfaction—teaching others how to bring forth the best of which they are capable. Ultimately, I believe that’s what leadership is all about: helping others to achieve their own personal greatness by helping the organization succeed.
How you accomplish that—at least, how I approached leadership—is the subject of this book.
It was a privilege to have been in a leadership position for 40 years. I miss the excitement of being on that practice court working hard with our team in pursuit of Competitive Greatness—‘being your best when your best is needed.’ To me, that is the most exciting part of being a leader: the journey to become the best of which you and your team are capable.
I miss the joys of that journey very much but take comfort in the fact that this book may provide some ideas useful in your own leadership journey. If it does, I’ll be very pleased. I offer you best wishes all along the way.”
~ John Wooden from Wooden on Leadership
John Wooden is one of my all-time favorite Heroes.
As you know if you’re a sports fan, he’s considered THE greatest coach of the twentieth century. His UCLA Bruins won a staggering 10 NCAA National Championships in 12 years. They also had an 88-game winning streak and won 38 straight NCAA tournament games.
Wooden only had ONE losing season in his entire 41-year coaching career. And, that losing season came in his FIRST season coaching high school basketball.
Now... We have featured wisdom from the Wizard of Westwood in our Notes on Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court and Be Quick But Don’t Hurry by Andrew Hill.
But... I somehow managed to go all this time without reading this book and my goodness am I glad my dear friend (and big Heroic Investor and Heroic Coach!) Jeff Everage reminded me that I hadn’t included it in my collection yet.
I read this book on my flights to and from Norfolk, Virginia (Feb 2024) where I was honored to spend time with Captain Dave Pollard and his leadership team on the USS GEORGE HW BUSH. To put it in perspective, CAPT Pollard and his crew helped defend Ukraine and our allies.
I had the privilege of leading a 3-hour workshop to help them roll out Heroic across the 20 departments of their carrier to serve the 5,000 sailors who are serving my family (and your family!) so profoundly.
I repeat: FREEDOM ISN’T FREE.
And... I repeat: Without the men and women (and their families!) dedicating their lives to protecting the freedoms we can so easily take for granted, there’s NO WAY we will have a shot at fulfilling our Mission of helping create a world in which 51% of humanity is flourishing by 2051.
Which is why it is such a SACRED HONOR to serve the Force and their Families who have sacrificed so much to preserve the freedoms on which our flourishing are so dependent.
As you’d expect, this book is PACKED (as in PACKED!) with Big Ideas. My copy of the book is absurdly marked up and we will only scratch the surface of all the wisdom in it so, if you feel so inspired, I HIGHLY recommend you get a copy today.
With that, let’s get to work. It’s time to activate our Heroic potential—what Coach Wooden calls our “Competitive Greatness—being your best when your best is needed.”
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