Research Paper On John Wooden

677 Words2 Pages

William Huang Sandburg Middle School Honors English & History. Ninth Grade Honor Placement Test Positivity, intelligence, and strategizing are all characteristics of a successful leader. However, a great leader cannot succeed without understanding and working with their people. For instance, John Wooden, a highly famed basketball player and coach that carried his several UCLA teams to win ten NCAA championships, is known for his positive teaching methods to maximize the potential of his students and make them try their best. This essay describes the legendary coaching methods of John Wooden and his leadership, who accomplished an all-time championship record left unbroken to this day. Subsequently, it details a similar philosophy of a famed …show more content…

By playing with the utmost confidence, Wooden was sure that “... [his players] would win”. [And] if they played their best and lost, he could live with that” (Davis, Seth: Paragraph 2, Remarkable Legacy of John Wooden, 2017). After all, the players tried their absolute best and scolding his team on a loss would only worsen both the morale of the players and the coach, destroying the connection and limiting potential growth. Naturally, a loss meant the people failed–that their efforts were not enough. However, it wasn’t the same for Wooden. Instead of being frustrated at the team, Wooden remained level-headed in disappointing times, his system devoted to improving weaknesses and prioritizing conditioning over uncontrollable factors. For instance, a human cannot increase their height, but they can be in better condition than their opponents. Using this ideology, Wooden won “his first NCAA title in 1964 behind a full-court press and a starting lineup that did not include a player taller than 65” (Davis, Seth: Paragraph 3, Remarkable Legacy of John Wooden, 2017). Accordingly, height is undeniably a considerable advantage in playing basketball, but Wooden worked around it by maximizing potential in other areas. Instead of shaming his players’ weaknesses, Wooden …show more content…

In “Atomic Habits,” James Clear argues it’s not about achieving goals, but establishing a system to get there. Moreover, Clear was aware that failing is natural and expected in the steps of achieving goals, and that a loss does not mean the end of the journey. Moreover, a step back could be turned into three steps forward if done correctly. For instance, the first week working out in a gym cannot possibly give instant results. This is natural, yet most people give up here. Accordingly, they are weighed down by high expectations. However, success requires pain and suffering, as well as time. Clear warns his reader of the inevitable dark times he calls the “valley of disappointment,” which is the necessary sacrifice before achieving success: slow motion is better than no motion. Moreover, the pain and suffering makes the reward all the more worth it: it is the pain that makes us grow, so one cannot understand success without the distress of loss. Hence, Clear motivated millions of people to keep moving forward, no matter what. Regardless if it meant improving atomically–or one percent every day. Subsequently, the ideologies of John

Open Document