The Power of Mentoring
By John Wooden & Don Yeager
New York, NY: Bloomsbury USA, 2009. 191pp.
Legendary College Basketball Coach John Wooden along with author Don Yaeger recently published, A Game Plan for Life, The Power of Mentoring. Wooden now 99 years of age, offers his perspective in the book on the power of mentoring and the effects on leadership. Wooden profiles seven people including his father, Joshua Wooden, his late wife Nellie Wooden, Abraham Lincoln, and Mother Teresa as some of his mentors who have helped shaped his world view on life. In an ironic twist, the book also offers a perspective of seven individuals who have been mentored by Wooden including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Walton. Wooden's granddauther, Cori Nicholson, also writes that Wooden is a "lifelong learner; ...always looking for new things to discover and new things to teach. When I was young, I thought he knew everything, but he always made sure we understood that wasn't the case" (p.174). The foreword for, A Game Plan for Life, is written by John Maxwell who lists John Wooden as one of his mentors. It is also interesting to note that Wooden lists two people whom he has never met as his mentors and indicates it is never too late to learn from others. Wooden believes in "surrounding oneself with people of strong character. They not only give us an opportunity to study and learn from their lives and habits, they also make us better simply by their proximity, a kind of learning by osmosis" (p.20). Wooden shares his life lessons including "making a resolution after reading another story about Mother Teresa's work that I would strive to do one kind thing each day for someone who could never return the favor" (p.67). Wooden also cites Abraham Lincoln as a person who "modeled how to move past disappointments without carrying grudges. The famous closing remarks of his second inaugural address still move me, as he urged Americans: "With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to the see the righ, let us stive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations" (p.80).
Those who have been mentored by Wooden recall his mantras including:
- "Be quick, but don't hurry. Failing to prepare is preparing to fail. Never mistake activity for achievement. Happiness begins when selfishness ends" (p.123, Bill Walton).
- "I initially remember dismissing the Pyramid handout he (Wooden) provided all his players as being "silly". It looked like nothing more than a collection of words with no recognized order. But the longer I was there, the more sense it made. One of the advantages of getting older is getting wiser, and in time I've grown to appreciate the pyramid and will tell you today that it has been the foundation for my life's work, on and off the court" (p.115, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar).
- "Winning isn't the way you measure success...the seeds of success were sown on the practice court" (p.133, Andy Hill)
- "Don't complain. Keep your head down. Keep doing the right thing" (p.136, Andy Hill).
- "Nobody is bigger than the team" (p.165, Bob Vigars).
- "Make each day your masterpiece" (p.176, Cori Nicholson).
7 Rules For Living [Given to him by his father, Joshua Wooden] [p.13]
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.
Wooden’s Pyramid of Success:
Who are some of my mentors and how are they impacting me? Who am I seeking out to learn from? What can I learn from leaders who have gone before me? Feel free to share your thoughts?
To find out more about John Wooden go to: http://www.woodencourse.com/ or http://www.coachwooden.com/
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