Wooden on Leadership

I selected to read this book for a school project. However, I did not look at it as a chore. Instead, I was extremely excited to further my knowledge about not only my favorite sport and one of its best coaches of all time, but previously unknown aspects of leadership as well. I had high expectations heading into this book, and it did not disappoint. Wooden on Leadership reminded me of The Last Season, by Phil Jackson, but with a much more applicable-to-life feel, meaning that it is both enthralling and informative.
I strongly recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of Wooden, the game of basketball, or sports in general, along with anyone who is interested in learning leadership techniques and how to achieve success in their own lives, no matter what their angle. Although the ideas in the book are derived from the mind of a basketball coach, the messages in the book are anything but limited to sport. Rather, Wooden finds a way to turn them into universal lessons, and deliver lessons on the game of life, all while discussing the game of basketball. Being an avid basketball fan, it was more exciting and interesting for me to learn leadership techniques through real life sport, rather than through a bland step-by-step guide, and I feel that it was equally as informative.
At no point did the book get boring or repetitive. In fact, it was often difficult to put down, and I finished it in a matter of days. It was the rare book that I found to be both entertaining and informative. Although I selected this book for a class project, I would have gladly read it on my own, and willlikely read it again, along with using it as a reference. It has also made me want to read Wooden's other works.
Overall, I cannot find anything negative to say about this book. It provides important life lessons, and explores leadership techniques all through the perspective of sport. Coach Wooden is a celebrated coach and a renowned leader, and this book illustrates why.

The more I read about John Wooden, the more I admire him as a man, and a coach. WOW! This book is terrific, taking his simple (not easy) principles of life, basketball, and leadership and standing them up to let them take shape in the form of his stories from his coaching Days.

Another great part of this book are the notes and examples from Coach Wooden's previous players and staff. Each chapter has a story that punctuates the main point presented.

This is a book that every leader should own!

Hands down this is the best basketball philosophy book. This tells exactly how Wooden ran UCLA's basketball program and explains why they won 10 national championships. To truely understand the mind of one of basketball's greatest coaches, you must read this book. From discipline to practice planning, Wooden on Leadership has it all.

It is one thing to read a successful coach's leadership story written by the coach, but it is quite another experience to read the personal accounts of a coach that other coaches look up to, and to have those accounts reinforced and complemented by commentaries from peers, players, competitors, and assistant coaches from throughout that revered coach's life and career. This excellent book is that other experience about a once-in-a-lifetime man, coach, teacher, mentor, leader, and winner in the most important game of all - the game of life.

The book's fifteen chapters are organized into three parts ("The Foundation for My Leadership" (Wooden's legendary "Pyramid of Success"), "Lessons in Leadership," and "Lessons from My Notebook"). Each chapter finishes with a summary called, "Rules to Live By," which did a great job of highlighting the chapter's main points. Particularly enjoyable were the many great inspirational quotes, passages, and anecdotes that perfectly reinforced and complemented Wooden's text. Also, while the third part was completely devoted to Wooden's famous notebooks, excerpts from those notebooks (typed and hand-written) were included throughout the book and added a great 'personal touch' to the overall contents.

There are many "So-and-So on Leadership" books in the market, but none can match the richness of character and the unequalled quality of the lifetime body of work specified and implied in the simple title of "Wooden on Leadership."

After taking a class where much time and focus was spent studying leadership I began reading John Wooden's book titled Wooden on Leadership. I found this book extremely interesting as Hall of Fame coach, John Wooden, allowed readers to understand his very own philosophy of leadership.
As many may know, Coach Wooden is a legend. As a basketball coach at UCLA He coached four perfect season and led his athletes to ten national champions in twelve years. With many accolades bestowed upon him it is interesting to see just how he become so successful and what actions helped him to reach his goals. This Coach of the Century (named by ESPN) and basketball hall of famer explains just how he reached success throughout his entire novel Wooden on Leadership.
Filled with personal beliefs, lessons, and excerpts from his personal notebook Wooden and co-author Steve Jamison work together to explain the leadership qualities Wooden used on the basketball court that can help make any business successful.
The novel begins with his attempts to reach "Competitive Greatness" by explaining his "pyramid of success" which include his fundamental leadership qualities and characteristics. He also thoroughly discusses such aspects of teamwork, desire, confidence, and improvement.
Wooden on Leadership focuses mainly on key points Wooden has derived from coaching basketball for many years of his life, but such aspects explained in the book, he insists, can help make any team, business, or corporation a success. This book is filled with great lessons, notes, and even stories about how and why Wooden believes what he does.
I considered this book a very easy read. At times, I found myself so thoroughly into his lessons that I found it hard to put down. Each chapter starts with a new lesson to help lead any business to success and ends with personal recollections from those who have been under the guidance of Coach Wooden in the past. Each recollection provided by those who have worked with Coach Wooden serve as direct support in the belief that his lessons and methods have worked in the past and if applied correctly, will continue to bring about success in the future. All aspects of this book were, as a coach myself, easy to relate to and understand. Wooden on Leadership also provides many great quotes and phrases to help inspire or motivate the team you work and communicate with.
I would recommend this book to any leader, coach, or teacher who is responsible for guiding those around them. It provides first hand insight on leadership and direct lessons to cultivate success. This coach is one of the most winningst coaches in basketball history and can now add another `success' to his lists of accomplishments with this particular book!