John Wooden’s famous Pyramid of Success has 15 characteristic blocks that lead to success. However, the structure is held together by 10 corner blocks.
The NCAA final tournament is tonight. We must confess to being fans of March Madness. We’re always a little sad to see it come to an end.
What’s the secret to become a better leader? We thought we’d take this opportunity to highlight five past posts on the subject of entrepreneurial leadership.
Coaches colliding
A while back, we looked at how two of the greatest basketball coaches in history approached team building.
These two coach’s strategies collide. John Wooden built his game around his players. Bobby Knight recruited players around his game.
It’s a perfect example that there is not just one way to get the job done. You have to do what works for you.
Leading diverse generations
These two coaches had an advantage – they were leading people at the same stage in life. How do you lead teams with disparate people?
Specifically, today’s workforce has a greater range of ages than any prior to it. As an entrepreneurial leader, how do you bridge the generation gap at work?
You’ll see a discussion of leading-edge thinking and timeless thinking. We concluded that age doesn’t matter when learning new ways, even if they’re old ways!
The I in Team
You’ve heard the saying, “There is no ‘I’ in team.” Grammatically, it’s a correct statement.
Here in the United States, March Madness is winding down. The Final Four NCAA basketball teams will play tomorrow with the winners meeting Monday for the championship.
That got us thinking about how great coaches build winning teams. So we decided to compare the style of two of the greatest – Bobby Knight and John Wooden.
Bobby Knight spent most of his career at Indiana and recently retired from Texas Tech. He won more games than any other coach in the history of college basketball. He also made more NCAA tournament appearances than anyone else. He won three championships (tied for third) and was selected the coach of the year four times.
John Wooden, the Wizard of Westwood, spent most of his career at UCLA. While there he won a record ten championships, including an amazing seven in a row. He holds the record for most games won in a row (88) and most undefeated seasons (4).
Bobby Knight’s way – Build your playbook and recruit the best talent for it. Bobby Knight was known for his “motion offense” and aggressive man-to-man defense. Knight only recruited players that fit his model. He had a system; his players had to mold themselves to it. This is the most common way to build your team.
Design your playbook. Determine the duties of each position and recruit people to fill it. Then hold them accountable.
John Wooden’s way – Find the best talent and build your playbook around them. Wooden played the game based on who he had. Some years, that meant great guards; at other times, he built around a big man in the middle. Sometimes he played man-to-man; sometimes he played zone – it all depended on his players.
This isn’t as commonly practiced in business as Knight’s strategy. In basketball, you have seasons. In business, you don’t. But you do have phases.
In each phase, you’re trying to accomplish certain things so you can move on to the next phase. That’s where Wooden’s strategy works – think about what you need to accomplish in this phase and who would best help you accomplish it. Then go get your players!
440 Jake’s Take] – Top 5 reasons your team didn’t make the Final Four
#5 – Your players stayed up too late catching the midnight showing of "Horton Hears a Who."
#4 – Your coach went a little too far with the motivational tools he picked up at Guantanamo Bay.
#3 – Your team was too pre-occupied with midterms and grad school applications to focus on silly things like sports. #2 – They did the right thing by losing and thus avoiding the inevitable riots and on-campus arson incidents that happen when teams win the national championship.
#1 – At least by losing, they can finally get those cheerleaders and the pep band to shut the heck up.
Our bigg quote today is by Jean-Claude Kelly:
“The best and fastest way to learn a sport is to watch and imitate a champion.”
So learn from these champions to build your winning team.
Next time, we’ll discuss a key component that gets people to buy into your personal brand. Until then, here’s to your bigg success!
https://biggsuccess.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/bigg-success_stacked-1080.png10801080George Krueger & Mary-Lynn Fosterhttps://biggsuccess.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/BIGG-Success-Nurturing-Your-Inner-Entreprener.jpgGeorge Krueger & Mary-Lynn Foster2008-04-04 00:13:222015-06-14 15:49:43Building a Winning Team – Lessons from Two Great Coaches
A recent episode of Survivor inspired today’s show. In case you’re not familiar with the show, there are two tribes in the competition. One of the tribes, the Malakal tribe, won a couple of chickens in a reward competition. Since food is scarce, the eggs from these chickens are extremely valuable. But the chickens themselves also obviously would provide a much needed feast.
Episode 7 begins with Ozzy, one of the tribe members, angry because Tracy, another tribe member, wants to kill their chickens. Ozzy likes the eggs because they are renewable. Tracy thinks the protein from the whole chicken is needed now by many of the tribe members.
Today, we want to talk about the chicken and the egg strategy – a lot of people choke their chicken, and then they don’t get any eggs – by looking at three situations where people choke their chicken.
#1 – Playing less risky With March Madness winding down here in the States, we had to include an example that applies to sports and to business.
You’ll see a team get momentum. Then they relax, get less aggressive, start playing to NOT lose, and stop taking risks that gave them the momentum.
They choke their chicken! Then they don’t get any more eggs.
When you get momentum, keep pushing in order to win.
#2 – Not acting out There are certain activities that make us successful. Let’s look at sales people for an example. They may send out e-mails or letters, make phone calls to existing clients and prospects, attend networking events, and work their contacts.
At first, they’re hungry. They need the sale. As time goes by, they start achieving a level of success. Then they get content, lackadaisical, perhaps even arrogant or cocky. They stop doing the very things that made them a success.
They choke their chicken! Now they don’t get any eggs.
When you start achieving some level of success, build upon the thing that made you successful in the first place so you get to the next level, rather than taking a step backward. #3 – Money matters A person saves money (chicken). That money makes money (eggs). They start seeing their savings grow. Then they get tempted …
They choke their chicken!
They’re doing so well that they think the chicken doesn’t matter. But now they don’t have a chicken. So they don’t get any eggs. They’ve spent their savings so it doesn’t earn any interest.
If you want to build a nest egg, don’t touch your principal and keep reinvesting your money. When you do that, your money makes money so you’ll eventually be free to spend your time however you want.
Our bigg quote today is an Ashanti proverb:
“One cannot both feast and become rich.”
So don’t choke your chicken until you don’t need any more eggs!
Next time, we’ll discuss how to relax during a job interview. Until then, here’s to your bigg success!
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Here in the United States, March Madness is winding down. The Final Four NCAA basketball teams will play tomorrow with the winners meeting Monday for the championship. 
A recent episode of