Wooden on Leadership Quotes

“You are not a failure until you start blaming others for your mistakes”
― John Wooden, Wooden on Leadership: How to Create a Winning Organization

“Little things make the big things happen”
― John Wooden, Wooden on Leadership: How to Create a Winning Organization

“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.”
― John Wooden, Wooden on Leadership: How to Create a Winning Organization

“A strong leader accepts blame and gives the credit. A weak leader gives blame and accepts the credit.”
― John Wooden, Wooden on Leadership: How to Create a Winning Organization

“there are no big things, only a logical accumulation of little things done at a very high standard of performance.”
― John Wooden, Wooden on Leadership: How to Create a Winning Organization

“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”
― John Wooden, Wooden on Leadership: How to Create a Winning Organization

“The teams that compete at the highest level love the thrill of the contest. They may have winning in their heads, but they have a love for the effort and struggle in their hearts.”
― John Wooden, Wooden on Leadership: How to Create a Winning Organization

“Work without joy is drudgery. Drudgery does not produce champions, nor does it produce great organizations.”
― John Wooden, Wooden on Leadership: How to Create a Winning Organization

“Good values are like a magnet, they attract good people.”
― John Wooden, Wooden on Leadership: How to Create a Winning Organization

“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.”
― John Wooden, Wooden on Leadership: How to Create a Winning Organization

“Never lie; never cheat; never steal. Don’t whine; don’t complain; don’t make excuses.”
― John Wooden, Wooden on Leadership: How to Create a Winning Organization

“As a leader you must be sincerely committed to what’s right rather than who’s right.”
― John Wooden, Wooden on Leadership: How to Create a Winning Organization

“The two qualities of Friendship so important for a leader to possess and instill in team members are respect and camaraderie.”
― John Wooden, Wooden on Leadership: How to Create a Winning Organization

“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.”
― John Wooden, Wooden on Leadership: How to Create a Winning Organization

“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.”
― John Wooden, Wooden on Leadership: How to Create a Winning Organization

“But one of the primary ways to ensure it occurs is to make your values visible, to let the outside world—potential employees and others—know what you stand for and who you are. In doing so, you will attract those who share similar principles and standards—your code of conduct for competition. The opposite is also true, of course, as the owner in Cleveland discovered when he revealed that $25 meant more to him than my commitment and loyalty to his team.”
― John Wooden, Wooden on Leadership: How to Create a Winning Organization

“Let me be clear: Results matter. They matter a great deal. But if this is an organization’s singular purpose, then the people who sign on are often doing it for the wrong reasons. Individuals of this type are perhaps more interested in winning the race than in running the race, which means they are less inclined to put in the hard work that “winning” requires. This is the kind of person who is quick to quit in tough times, eager to leave when offered a better chance of winning or making more money elsewhere. That type of person’s allegiance, loyalty, and commitment are paper thin, and it is difficult to build an ongoing and successful team when fidelity is no deeper than a dollar bill. A person who values winning above anything will do anything to win. And such people are threats to their organizations.”
― John Wooden, Wooden on Leadership: How to Create a Winning Organization

“My reason was simple: I didn’t think I should have to talk a young man into attending UCLA and playing basketball for the Bruins. If he wasn’t eager to join us, then perhaps it was best he attended another school. I believe my policy, in effect, helped keep things in perspective for the young man. Also, it may have had the added benefit of weeding out individuals who were simply shopping around for the best offer, waiting for me, and others, to come and “sell” them on our school. If any selling was going to be done, I preferred to have the young athletes try and sell me something; let them take the initiative, reach out and contact us. That would serve as a good indication they had a strong desire to come to UCLA and be a part of our team.”
― John Wooden, Wooden on Leadership: How to Create a Winning Organization

“Most anyone can withstand adversity, but to test a man’s character, give him power.”
― John Wooden, Wooden on Leadership: How to Create a Winning Organization

“Where’s the rest of my pay?” I asked. He looked at me and said, “Wooden, you missed the entire first half of the game because you were late getting here. I’m paying you for the half you played—25 bucks.” Right there he revealed his true colors. My friend and I had risked our lives driving through that snowstorm for him, and I had then helped his team secure victory. But, as I learned when he handed me the money, all this meant very little to him; it meant a lot to me. His values were not my values.”
― John Wooden, Wooden on Leadership: How to Create a Winning Organization

“Never Allow Anyone Else to Define Your Success. Only you, the leader can and should define the finish line—Success. Others will attempt to force their definition upon you. Don’t allow them to do it. Define it properly, and Success along with Competitive Greatness will belong to you and your team. Organizations Succeed When They Become More Than the Sum of Their Players. That’s one of the real tests of any leader, making the whole more than the sum of its parts. No team will consistently succeed unless the leader is able to achieve this critical goal.”
― John Wooden, Wooden on Leadership: How to Create a Winning Organization

“There is a choice you have to make, in everything you do. So keep in mind that in the end, the choice you make, makes you. —Anon.”
― John Wooden, Wooden on Leadership: How to Create a Winning Organization

“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.”
― John Wooden, Wooden on Leadership: How to Create a Winning Organization

“The great competitors I have played for, coached, and admired have shared a joy derived from the struggle itself—the journey, the contest. They have done so because only in that supreme effort is there an opportunity to summon your best, a personal greatness that cannot be diminished, dismissed, or derided because of a final score or bottom line. Competitive Greatness is not defined by victory nor denied by defeat. It exists in the effort that precedes those two”
― John Wooden, Wooden on Leadership: How to Create a Winning Organization

“If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster And treat those two impostors just the same . . . That’s Poise: not being thrown off stride in what you believe or how you behave because of outside events.”
― John Wooden, Wooden on Leadership: How to Create a Winning Organization

“A willingness to be selfless suggests a begrudging aspect of doing what is required for the team. I wanted each player to be eager to sacrifice personal interests for the good of the group. To me, there is all the difference in the world between willingness and eagerness. Thus, I changed that single word in the definition. Team Spirit—an eagerness to sacrifice personal interests or glory for the welfare of all—is a tangible driving force that transforms individuals who are “doing their jobs correctly” into an organization whose members are totally committed to working at their highest levels for the good of the group.”
― John Wooden, Wooden on Leadership: How to Create a Winning Organization

“The best leaders are lifelong learners; they take measures to create organizations that foster and inspire learning throughout. The most effective leaders are those who realize it’s what you learn after you know it all that counts most. I recognized this fact quickly when I began my career as a basketball coach. While I understood the fundamentals necessary for playing the game, I had little understanding of the second part of my job, namely, the ability to teach the fundamentals of basketball. Once I recognized this, I set out on a journey to educate myself to become a better teacher. That, in turn, made me a better leader. I wanted to be able both to get open and to shoot. I wanted my skills to be as complete as possible.”
― John Wooden, Wooden on Leadership: How to Create a Winning Organization

“It starts with control of your emotions, but it also extends to having the resolve to resist the easy choice, the expedient solution, and, at times, temptation in its various and alluring forms. Description A torn piece of paper with typed text discussing self-control and leadership. The text emphasizes the need for a leader to maintain complete emotional control and think clearly at all times. It mentions that a leader can still be a fighter while supporting their team. The text advises disciplining when necessary but stresses fairness and avoiding grudges to maintain respect. It concludes with a reminder to keep poise at all times.”
― John Wooden, Wooden on Leadership: How to Create a Winning Organization

“Hard work and enthusiasm are contagious. A leader who exhibits them will find the organization does too.”
― John Wooden, Wooden on Leadership: How to Create a Winning Organization

“The ultimate role of the Pyramid was not to produce championships; championships were a by-product. Rather, it provided directions for reaching one’s own ultimate level of excellence as a part of a team or as leader of the team. The Pyramid didn’t guarantee that UCLA would outscore an opponent, only that our opponent would face individuals—united as a team—who were fully prepared to battle hard and compete at their highest level. The score would take care of itself.”
― John Wooden, Wooden on Leadership: How to Create a Winning Organization