The Pyramid of Success

John Wooden is known as 'The greatest Coach of All Time.' The legendary men’s basketball coach led UCLA to an unprecedented 10 national championships. He took the UCLA basketball team to 88 consecutive victories, 8 undefeated conference seasons, 38 straight NCAA tournament victories, and 4 perfect seasons. During his tenure with the Bruins, Wooden became known as the "Wizard of Westwood." His 'Pyramid of Success' is as famous as the coach himself.

The principles of his pyramid can be summarized as

Industriousness:

• Work hard. Don’t just go through the motions. Be totally focused and fully engaged to accomplish the task at hand.

Enthusiasm:

• Be passionate about what you do. Energy and enjoyment, drive and dedication prevent work from becoming drudgery and stimulate a team to succeed.

Friendship:

• Instill respect and camaraderie, or a spirit of goodwill, amongst team members.

Loyalty:

• First, don’t betray yourself by compromising your standards and values. Second, don’t betray those you lead by compromising their trust.

Cooperation:

• Be more committed to what’s right than to who’s right. Freely share ideas, information, creativity, and responsibility regardless of who gets the credit.
• “A strong leader accepts blame and gives the credit.”

Self-Control

• Show self-discipline in the little things. Resist the easy choices, the expedient solutions, and the temptations that will drag you and your team down.

Alertness:

• Constantly observe, absorb, and learn from what’s going on around you. Evaluate your strengths and weaknesses as well as your competitors’.

Initiative:

• Exercise the courage to make decisions and to act. Be willing to risk failure. Take a strong stand.
• “Make each day your masterpiece.”

Intentness:

• Exhibit diligence and determination, fortitude and resolve. Constantly, relentlessly persist in your pursuit of excellence.

Condition:

• Develop mental, moral, and physical strength.
• “Practice moderation and balance in all you do.”

Skill:

• Be proficient in performing all aspects of your job.

Team Spirit:

• Be eager to sacrifice personal interests or glory for the good of all.
• “Define success for those under your leadership as total commitment and effort to the team’s welfare.”

Poise:

• Hold fast to your beliefs and live them out, regardless of how bad or good a situation might be. Avoid pose or pretense. Don’t compare yourself to others or act like someone you’re not. Be brave in all circumstances.

Confidence:

• Believe firmly that you’ve done everything you can to successfully face the challenges ahead. Then, rest assured that you’re prepared to perform at the highest level.

Competitive Greatness:

• Wooden defines competitive greatness as “A real love for the hard battle, knowing it offers the opportunity to perform at your best when your best is required.”
• Derive joy from the struggle, the journey, the contest.
• “The hard struggle is to be welcomed, never feared. In fact, when you define success this way, the only thing to fear is your own unwillingness to make the full, 100 percent effort to prepare and perform at the highest level or your ability.”