Who Can Lead?

"Leadership is the ability to get individuals to work together for the common good and the best possible results while at the same time letting them know they did it themselves.

Some people are automatic leaders.  Some can never be leaders.  But many who don't think of themselves as leaders have the potential to become such if they understand the fundamentals of getting individuals to work together."

An excerpt from "Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court" by John Wooden

Eight Suggestions for Succeeding

If you are wanting to be a great leader and a great coach, the first book you should read is "Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court" by Coach John Wooden.  This was the first book that I read while in middle school that really ignited the passion for me to coach.  In it, there are so many valuable nuggets that represent wisdom and knowledge of not only basketball, but every aspect of life.  One of the lessons in the book is a list of his "Eight Suggestions for Succeeding" and it reads like this:

1. Fear no opponent. Respect every opponent.

2. Remember, it's the perfection of the smallest details that make big things happen.

3. Keep in mind that hustle makes up for many a mistake.

4. Be more interested in character than reputation.

5. Be quick, but don't hurry.

6. Understand that the harder you work, the more luck you will have.

7. Know that valid self-analysis is crucial for improvement.

8. Remember that there is no substitute for hard work and careful planning.  Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.


Buy this book here.

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The Bridge Builder

An old man going down a lone highway
Came in the evening cold and gray
To a chasm vast and deep and wide
Through which was flowing  a sullen tide.
The old man crossed in the twilight dim;
That swollen stream held no fears for him;
But he turned when safe on the other side
And built a bridge to span the tide.

"Old man," said a fellow pilgrim near,
"You are wasting your strength with building here;
Your journey will end with the ending day;
You never again must pass this way;
You have crossed the chasm deep and wide --
Why build you this bridge at the eventide?"

The builder lifted his old gray head.
"Good friend, in the path I have come," he said,
"There followeth after me today
A youth whose feet must pass this way.
This swollen stream which was naught to me
To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be;
He, too, must cross in the twilight dim;
Good friend, I am building the bridge for him."

Are You Strong Enough To Handle Critics?

"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.  The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again because there is not effort without error and shortcomings, who knows the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the high achievement of triumph and who at worst, if he fails while daring greatly, knows his place shall never be with those timid and cold souls who know neither victory nor defeat." - Theodore Roosevelt; 26th President of the United States