Wooden on Leadership

I love basketball—that’s my bias. So, getting to look over the shoulder of the greatest college coach in history—in my estimation—was a thrill. Wooden’s original notes in his own handwriting give this book a kind of authenticity few such books offer. It’s as much a scrapbook on his leadership as it is a primer for leaders. His famous Pyramid for Success, comprised of 15 elements, gets a bit tedious, but the stories and the bon mot’s (“It takes 10 hands to score a basket.”), the sidebars and clips from his game and practice plans are delightful and worth the read.

If Wooden decided to be a CEO, he would have been one of Jim Collins good-to-great leaders. Instead, he chose to teach others to become leaders.