The Wooden 12

John Wooden's 12 Lessons in Leadership: (with my one-beat comment on each)

1. Good values attract good people. Not always true, there are exceptions.

2. Love is the most powerful four-letter word. No contest.

3. Call yourself a teacher. And a student.

4. Emotion is your enemy. Love your enemy.

5. It takes 10 hands to make a basket. My two clap for this.

6. Little Things make Big Things happen. Amen.

7. Make each day your masterpiece. A labor of love.

8. The carrot is mightier than the stick. Motivation trumps fear.

9. Make greatness attainable by all. One at a time.

10. Seek significant change. Might be my fave.

11. Don't look at the scoreboard. Unless time is running out (and it is)

12. Adversity is your asset. I am loaded with assets.

Coach Wooden stands head and shoulders above almost every other coach who has ever attempted to motivate, inspire, lead, instruct and counsel athletes. It is an almost impossible job. Coach Wooden was able to master the physiological aspect of his game in order to achieve the results to which everyone who has ever played a team sport aspires: To win. Not just one game, but many games. Many big games. Championships. Several.

To obtain these results he used the same motivational and inspiration techniques that leaders in other fields have used successfully. The challenge to: Become the best you can be. Work hard. Study. Practice. Focus. Be willing to sacrifice. Have respect. Play hard but play fair. Never say die.

I was thinking this morning in Michelle's marvelous Yoga with Weights class about the importance of consistency. How practice makes perfect and how the best students make the best teachers. How we continually and naturally flow to new levels of success and adaptation with dedication through the passage of time. How such a small thing like a subtle shifting of balance can shake an entire continent. How this one pose can be a masterpiece unto itself, powerful enough to change vegetables to diamonds. About little things. How big they are. Because...

There are no little things.

One of my favorite lines on this is, "Anyone who thinks little things are unimportant has never spent the night in a tent with one mosquito." And from Dan Millman: "There are no ordinary moments."

It all counts. Don't look at the scoreboard.

Pic: In 2005 a rag-tag group of cyclists spent 24 hours on a bike trying to enter the Guinness Book. Four hours each. Took twelve legs. Front: Keil and Jim. Back: Glen, Chris, Sully, me.