Given my new day job, I figured I should investigate my career path. My look began with the UEFA Champions League Final last month and FC Internazionale Milan’s win with Jose Mourinho at the helm. I was utterly impressed by a coach who, despite his critics, just flat out gets it done. How’s this for humbling: since 2002 (at Porto, Chelsea, and Inter) he hasn’t gone a full calendar year without winning at least one trophy.
My interest was piqued. I began to wonder: what’s present in the fabric of a successful coach that makes them different than less-than-successful ones?
So, I read Sacred Hoops by Phil Jackson and re-read The Man Watching by Anson Dorrance. I scoured the Internet. I kicked around some coaching ideas with a really great professor from PSU (he deserves a big “thank you” for allowing me to subject him to my coaching musings).
Things began to come together; each coach that I looked at had different coaching styles, alternative demeanors, and unique audiences (soccer versus basketball, male versus female, etc.). But, through their differences, I began to see similar patterns in their respective coaching philosophies:
Connection —> Family
As stated in a 2009 Harvard Business Review article titled, To Lead, Create a Shared Vision, “the best way to lead people into the future is to connect with them in the present.”
For an example of why this connection [and there’s no stronger connection than that which we share with our family] is important, look no further than the UNC Women’s Soccer program: a winner of 21 National Championships, the program is, plain and simple, a dynasty. But Lori Chalupny, a former Tar Heel, argued in a 2007 ESPN article that “some of the best experiences were off the field … it’s not just a program, it’s not just about soccer; it’s really a family.”
Shared Vision
I watched a TED talk a few weeks back: http://bit.ly/cvWBkz. In it, Simon Sinek states that inspirational leadership starts with “why.”
Jackson echoes this; he shares that before a vision can become a reality, every member of the team must own it. And in order for the team to own it, they must understand “why” it’s a noble vision or simply, “why” they should care.
Paul Hayward wrote a piece for The Sport Blog a few days after Mourinho led Inter to the UEFA Championship last month. In it, he defines Mourinho’s “calling cards” as “strategic forethought and unity of purpose.” Essentially, Mourinho defines the vision, creates buy-in (read as: he gets the team to “share” his vision), and then watches as the team bands together to achieve said vision. Magic.
Team Leadership
Coaches are incapable of leading a successful team by themselves. They can’t cross the line; thus, the team must be groomed to live the game and improvise their actions on their own. In this context, Jackson refers to the coach as an “invisible leader.”
Trust is a piece of this as well. Jackson states that, “after a certain point you have to trust the players to translate into action what they’ve learned. Jackson goes on to refer to this translation as “group intelligence” and states that when a team employs it, “the coach can step back.”
******
I felt like I was onto something. Then, on June 2nd, I found an email in my inbox with a link to a John Wooden TED talk via the professor that I mentioned above. He asked, “what’s your take on him? Is he too old-school for today’s generation?”
Wooden. I’ve heard of him, sure; who hasn’t heard of his legacy as the UCLA basketball coach? But I’d never really taken a hard look at what made him successful and if his legacy is relevant in present day sports.
So, I watched his talk. I was fascinated; the principles I had just teased from present-day coaches Mourinho, Jackson, and Dorrance were part of the very fabric that made Wooden, Wooden.
Connection —> Family
Wooden embraced the importance of his connection with the players and their connection with each other; essentially, he embraced the idea of his team as a family. Not coincidentally, three of the five principles at the base of his infamous Pyramid of Success are “friendship,” “loyalty,” and “cooperation.”
“[Wooden was] more like a parent than a coach. He was really a very selfless and giving human being.”
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, UCLA basketball player (1966-1969)
Shared Vision
His players at UCLA were tremendously proud of the fact that they wore the blue and gold; because of that, they were ready and willing to buy into Wooden’s foresight and embrace his vision for success as their own.
“[Coach Wooden] created an environment that people wanted to be part of …”
- Bill Walton, UCLA basketball player (1971-1974)
Team Leadership
Basketball is a fast, dynamic game. Coaches can call time-outs and make adjustments at halftime, but the execution is up to the players.
“Part of [Wooden’s] genius was that he taught preparation, and once you started playing he left you alone.”
- Kenny Washington, UCLA basketball player (1960s)
However, there’s one critical element that I believe Wooden carries the torch on better than the rest:
Process-Orientation
Arguably Wooden’s most well known quote is as follows: “Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.”
In that, there’s no mention of being THE best. Simply: work to be the best that you can be. To be THE best is a futile task for most of us; it’s an impossible outcome that if we strive for, we will fail.
But, to undertake the mission of becoming the best that we are individually capable of becoming (relative to ourselves, not others) is a worthwhile journey. And that is why Wooden never mentioned “winning.” A “win” is an outcome and is often incongruent relative to the process of becoming better.
Case in point: Wooden states that, “you can lose when you outscore someone in a game; you can win when you’re outscored.” Thus, if we aim only to “win,” we’ve missed the point – we’re not seeking betterment via the journey, only a tangible outcome that can be misrepresentative.
The lesson, via Wooden: “It isn’t what you do, but how you do it.”
******
Too old school? Not a chance; I’m beginning to wonder if every successful coach has some “Wooden” in them.
On June 4th, two days after I watched his TED talk for the first time, John Wooden passed away at 99-years-old. By then, I had already launched into full-fledged “fangirl” status regarding what an amazing coach, leader, and [most importantly] person Wooden was.
He will be missed. But, to me, nothing exhibits his relevance and his reach more than the impact he had on me, a young coach, 35 years after he coached his last basketball game.
For that and so much more: thank you, John Wooden.
