The Coach Who Built a Standard and a Culture that Outlived Him (John Wooden, USA)
Quick answer: Why did John Wooden teach players how to put on their socks?
Wooden traced a chain from a wrinkled sock to friction, a blister, a missed practice, and a player who couldn't improve. So the first thing he taught UCLA players was smoothing their socks. The standard started at the very beginning, and his teams went on to win ten NCAA championships.
The first thing John Wooden taught his UCLA players, many of them the best young players in the country, was how to put on their socks: smooth at the heel, no wrinkles, pulled taut at the toe. Then he walked the line and checked. A wrinkle causes friction, friction a blister, a blister a missed practice, and a player who can't practice can't improve. He started the standard at the beginning of everything. From 1948 to 1975 his teams won ten NCAA championships, seven in a row, with an 88-game winning streak. He'd spent fourteen years in Indiana designing his Pyramid of Success, and defined success as peace of mind from doing your best. Winning wasn't in it. His father had given him two sets of rules: never lie, never cheat, never steal; and don't whine, don't complain, don't make excuses. Wooden applied both for twenty-seven years. His players and assistants carried them into programs of their own. A standard travels that far when you build it from the sock up.
Why it matters for leaders: Culture is what you repeat; set the standard at the smallest, earliest detail and it will outlive you.
Q: What is Wooden's Pyramid of Success?
A: A tiered model he spent fourteen years developing, with industriousness and enthusiasm at the base and competitive greatness at the top.
Q: How did Wooden define success?
A: Peace of mind from knowing you made the effort to do the best of which you are capable; winning doesn't appear in it.
Read the full essay on Substack → https://heroespath.substack.com/p/the-coach-who-built-a-standard-and
By John Fenzel, founder and CEO of Heroes' Path Foundation