Scott Barnett & Associates Blog
Coach Wooden:
How Conversations
with a Great Leader
Upped My Game
September 19, 2024
Scott Barnett & Associates Blog
Coach Wooden:
How Conversations
with a Great Leader
Upped My Game
September 19, 2024
In 2001, the PR firm that handled Bubba Gump called me to see if I was interested in attending a benefit in Los Angeles that had former UCLA basketball coach John Wooden as the featured speaker. I immediately said yes. Any basketball fan would know about Wooden but as a youth growing up in the LA area, I was acutely aware and admiring.
We attended the “meet and greet” and I had the chance to speak briefly with Wooden. The event then featured a fundraising auction. One of the items was a personal dinner for six with Coach Wooden. I bid and won. For $800 I got a personal dinner with someone who is universally considered the greatest coach of all time in any sport. I couldn’t believe it.
But it wasn’t just his coaching ability that awed me. His philosophy and approach to learning, development and life were highly relevant and inspiring. He had written several books articulating this, his “Pyramid of Success” and his players only added to the story in their own testimony.
So here I was to have dinner with a living legend and someone who was quite possibly my greatest personal hero. The evening could never live up to what I anticipated.
But it wasn’t just his coaching ability that awed me. His philosophy and approach to learning, development and life were highly relevant and inspiring. He had written several books articulating this, his “Pyramid of Success” and his players only added to the story in their own testimony.
So here I was to have dinner with a living legend and someone who was quite possibly my greatest personal hero. The evening could never live up to what I anticipated.
Exceeding Expectations as a Leader
I invited people who I thought would appreciate being in Wooden’s presence. I also had my son come to the dinner after convincing his mother that, even though it was a school night, this was worth it. I seated him next to Wooden with me on the other side.
Turns out, the night did live up to my expectations.
Though he was 89 at the time, Wooden was absolutely sharp and his cognitive ability appeared to be the same as in interviews 25 years prior. He spent a lot of time talking about his various teams, players and personal history. During the roughly two hours, he recited poetry from memory, dropped nuggets of advice and enquired about me and the business.
At one point, I bluntly said, “You know, much of what you’re telling me is about sports and teams but I am honestly learning more about leadership from you than I have from anyone else previously.”
He responded, “Well, call me anytime you would like. Happy to talk.”
He had a “handler” who had set up the dinner and when I asked him if I should contact that individual, he said no and then gave me his phone number.
It took me several weeks before I even tried dialing the number. I fully expected to get an assistant or recording.
Nope. To my pleasant surprise, he answered and we spoke for several minutes. This was the first big lesson from him: exceeding expectations as a leader and showing up for people in a meaningful way.
Turns out, the night did live up to my expectations.
Though he was 89 at the time, Wooden was absolutely sharp and his cognitive ability appeared to be the same as in interviews 25 years prior. He spent a lot of time talking about his various teams, players and personal history. During the roughly two hours, he recited poetry from memory, dropped nuggets of advice and enquired about me and the business.
At one point, I bluntly said, “You know, much of what you’re telling me is about sports and teams but I am honestly learning more about leadership from you than I have from anyone else previously.”
He responded, “Well, call me anytime you would like. Happy to talk.”
He had a “handler” who had set up the dinner and when I asked him if I should contact that individual, he said no and then gave me his phone number.
It took me several weeks before I even tried dialing the number. I fully expected to get an assistant or recording.
Nope. To my pleasant surprise, he answered and we spoke for several minutes. This was the first big lesson from him: exceeding expectations as a leader and showing up for people in a meaningful way.
Insights about Team Leadership
I had the good fortune to call and speak with him maybe five times after that. He was unfailingly polite, friendly and enlightening. Our conversations centered around how to handle and motivate people and never lasted more than 10 minutes.
I didn’t want to be a bother yet, in all truthfulness, I was conversing with a master teacher and motivator. I had to be at my best when talking to him. I would sometimes play out how the conversation would go, try to anticipate his questions and I even wrote outlines of what I wanted to say.
He didn’t just make himself available to me - he mentored others too, a trait that any great leader has. He made himself so available, he once told me that former player and basketball great, Bill Walton called every day, sometimes 3 or 4 times. He did admit that sometimes he just let it go to the answering machine (yes, he still had one) because “… I can only take so much of Bill at a time.”
During our conversations, some of what he said could be found in his books or in his players’ descriptions of his coaching style. Things like,
“Be quick but don’t hurry.”
“The will to win is not nearly as important as the will to prepare to win.”
Other times he was more personal. When I asked him how he thought I should handle my partner, Gordon Miles with whom I fought incessantly; he said,
“Look, he is not going anywhere. Learn to get along or get out.”
It was Wooden who told me to go ahead and provoke competition between key people,
“…just be sure they keep it clean…”
I didn’t want to be a bother yet, in all truthfulness, I was conversing with a master teacher and motivator. I had to be at my best when talking to him. I would sometimes play out how the conversation would go, try to anticipate his questions and I even wrote outlines of what I wanted to say.
He didn’t just make himself available to me - he mentored others too, a trait that any great leader has. He made himself so available, he once told me that former player and basketball great, Bill Walton called every day, sometimes 3 or 4 times. He did admit that sometimes he just let it go to the answering machine (yes, he still had one) because “… I can only take so much of Bill at a time.”
During our conversations, some of what he said could be found in his books or in his players’ descriptions of his coaching style. Things like,
“Be quick but don’t hurry.”
“The will to win is not nearly as important as the will to prepare to win.”
Other times he was more personal. When I asked him how he thought I should handle my partner, Gordon Miles with whom I fought incessantly; he said,
“Look, he is not going anywhere. Learn to get along or get out.”
It was Wooden who told me to go ahead and provoke competition between key people,
“…just be sure they keep it clean…”
The ultimate lesson I drew from this, however, was the concept of a team. We talked once about assembling the very best people I could and he corrected me:
"Yes, you want really good people but they have to be able to work together."
I adopted that and have said it regularly ever since.
"Yes, you want really good people but they have to be able to work together."
I adopted that and have said it regularly ever since.
Reflecting on John Wooden today, I realize that although I was receiving business coaching, I was actually getting something much more relevant: learning how an ultra-successful person approached life. He modeled that in every way.
He once wrote, “What people think about you is just your reputation. What you know about yourself- that’s your character.” He also said it to me personally during dinner.
It wasn’t said to me alone. After all, it was often quoted. But I felt like it was.
I have known my share of billionaires, celebrities and “thought leaders”- business executives, politicians, Hollywood people and so on. I have never met anyone who touched me on so many levels. Hugely successful people were in awe of him and he took it all with his characteristic humility- just as you would expect a great team leader to do.
He once wrote, “What people think about you is just your reputation. What you know about yourself- that’s your character.” He also said it to me personally during dinner.
It wasn’t said to me alone. After all, it was often quoted. But I felt like it was.
I have known my share of billionaires, celebrities and “thought leaders”- business executives, politicians, Hollywood people and so on. I have never met anyone who touched me on so many levels. Hugely successful people were in awe of him and he took it all with his characteristic humility- just as you would expect a great team leader to do.
