Winning and succeeding are not the same thing. Coach John Wooden talks about his beliefs and the philosophy that shaped his life. He says:
“Peace of mind attained only through self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to do the best of which you're capable. I believe that's true. If you make the effort to do the best of which you're capable, trying to improve the situation that exists for you, I think that's success, and I don't think others can judge that; it's like character and reputation -- Your reputation is what you're perceived to be; your character is what you really are. And I think that character is much more important than what you are perceived to be.”
[...]
“I believe starting on time, and I believe closing on time. And another one I had was, not one word of profanity. One word of profanity, and you are out of here for the day. If I see it in a game, you're going to come out and sit on the bench. And the third one was, never criticize a teammate. I didn't want that. I used to tell them I was paid to do that. That's my job. I'm paid to do it. Pitifully poor, but I am paid to do it. Not like the coaches today, for gracious sakes, no. It's a little different than it was in my day. Those were three things that I stuck with pretty closely all the time.”
Watch the video of his talk below.
For a deeper dive on how to create a winning organization, I recommend Wooden on Leadership: How to Create a Winning Organization.
[image of Wooden’s 12 Lessons in Leadership and his acclaimed Pyramid of Success]