Mar 23, 2010

Ad Man's Book Club: March 2010 Choice


Wooden on Leadership - John Wooden
and Steve Jamison


This month's book choice is about leadership. John "Coach" Wooden won 10 NCAA Basketball Championships in a row. It's the Stanley Cup of college basketball.

Wooden won those titles while 40 percent of his team changed positions or left
every year. 20 percent of the team graduated and another 20 percent of freshmen came in – every year. How would you handle that kind of employee turnover in your company?

As former English teacher Wooden believed in written principles like many other architects of great institutes such as David Ogilvy. Here are a few excerpts from the book which you may find interesting.

The book's message is simple:

"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."

"Set standards high – namely do the absolutely best of which you are capable. Focus on running the race rather than winning it. Do those things necessary to bring forth your personal best and don't lose sleep worrying about competition. Let the competition lose sleep worrying about you. Teach your organization to do the same."

"Star of the team is team."

"When the best leader's work is done the people say, 'We did it ourselves.'" –Lao-tse

"You must earn the right to be confident."

"Never lie; never cheat; never steal. Don't whine; don't complain; don't make excuses."

"Successful leadership is not about being tough or soft, sensitive or assertive, but about a set of attributes. First and foremost is character."

"Emotion is your enemy. Intensity makes you stronger. Emotionalism makes you weaker."

And last, "In the end the choice you make makes you."

You can get the book from Amazon

Previous book of the month choices:

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