Dress –  Wooden’s appearance and personal grooming reflect his good habits and his respect for others.  He was always conservatively yet crisply dressed – dressing more like a teacher than an athletic coach.  His dress reflected his personality and his values.  Dress in the way that reflects who you are and shows respect for others.  Wooden’s success with his players who were two generations and a culture apart comes from authenticity – he made no attempt to be like them.  

Speech – Wooden used aphorisms to impart his wisdom and repeated them frequently.  One of your first activities will be determine the aphorisms you'll use as Wooden. 

Wooden believed that success in life and career depends on guiding principles, good habits, self-awareness, and effort.  To emulate John Wooden, you need to develop these.  

Establish a set of principles – You should start your time as Wooden by writing down a set of principles that reflect what you aspire to.  Review the seven principles below and the Pyramid of Success at the end of the profile and choose amongst those. Feel free to write your own, but limit your list to 10-12 maximum.  

    1 Be true to yourself.  

    2 Make each day your masterpiece.  

    3 Help others.  

    4 Drink deeply from good books.  

    5 Make friendship a fine art.  

    6 Build a shelter against a rainy day.  

    7 Pray for guidance, and give thanks for your blessings every day.  

After you write your principles, hang them on your wall.  

Use aphorisms for simple, yet memorable, communication – Wooden loved poetry.  He often recited it to his players.  He appreciated poetry for its economy – it said so much with so few words.  Wooden’s communication was intentionally simplified and repeated.  His players remembered his sayings years after playing for him, resonating louder with life experiences long after their basketball careers ended.  To be Wooden, you will have to find and adopt the use of aphorisms.  Search the internet for adages that resonate with you, make some up or use some of Wooden’s:

    • “Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out.”

    • "Never mistake activity for achievement.”

    •  "Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.”

    • "Adversity is the state in which man most easily becomes acquainted with himself, being especially free of admirers then.”

    • "If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?"

    • "If you're not making mistakes, then you're not doing anything.  I'm positive that a doer makes mistakes.”

    • "It isn't what you do, but how you do it.”

Know thyself – Wooden devoted his life to self-improvement, a devotion that he encouraged his players to develop.  Wooden’s path to self-improvement required knowing and reflecting on the gaps between how he conducted himself and his life’s guiding principles.  As you play Wooden, be observant of how you conduct yourself and determine how it measures up to your own principles.  On a daily basis, reflect on your principles and what you do well and don’t do well.  Think of ways and techniques that will enable you to better embody your ideals.  Although you want to strive for perfection, remember that Wooden felt his best efforts met 80% of his ideal, anything higher was unrealistic.  Be satisfied with yourself if you meet that 80%.  

Develop a set of good habits – For Wooden, good habits provide the foundation for success.  In his opinion, good habits enabled his players to do what is best without having to think.  (To quote another coach:  the best teams do the ordinary things the best.)  More importantly, good habits free up the mind so that one can be more observant and responsive to the situation.  So, to develop your own set of good habits, think about what can be routinized.  They may include:

    • work methods and practices, 

    • meeting management,

    • feedback practices, and 

    • personal work schedules that maximize your productivity

Some examples are to create email templates for standard responses, set ground rules for meetings, and install internet blockers during certain hours.  While Wooden believed in good habits, he was not rigid.  He would modify them if experience proved them to be ineffective.  

Impart your principles and habits – Wooden was first and foremost a teacher.  Although known as a basketball coach, he intended to be an English teacher.  He believed in providing his players with good examples and habits.  Meet with your team to share the results of your activities above – 

your principles and new habits – and set the example that they should conduct the same exercises for themselves.  Take time to brainstorm other work habits that can help your team be more effective.  

Build teamwork and community – Wooden’s father’s seven point creed included “help others and make friendship a fine art.”  He believed in community and teamwork.  Teamwork was more important than winning:  Wooden benched one of his best players for an entire season until he learned the importance of teamwork.  Conduct a team building activity with either your peers or your direct reports while you are being John Wooden.  This activity should require being dependent on each other in order to build trust.  Some suggestions are the desert survival game, the human knot or human spring, or the minefield, all of which you can find on the internet.   

Facilitate group discussions on leadership and personal growth – Make self-improvement a habit by instituting regular feedback and opportunity sessions where you identify areas for improvement. You can incorporate these after events or meetings or conduct standalone sessions on a regular basis.  Make sure you also identify the areas that are already performing well to ensure your team stays motivated.