"Do Your Best, That Is Success" - The Legacy of John Wooden

In my previous post, I discussed the basketball career of Wilt Chamberlain and noted how Wilt’s approach to developing and utilizing his talents prefigured the Strengths-Based Development movement. Several years before Wilt’s emergence, however, another basketball legend – usually associated with California but born and bred in my home state of Indiana – created a simple yet profound model of success that also was anchored in defining and maximizing one’s unique capabilities.

I’m speaking, of course, about John Wooden, the longtime coach of the most successful team in college basketball history, the UCLA Bruins. Yet, to Coach Wooden, the “success” of his teams was determined, not by the won-lost ledgers, but by his players’ alignment with a maxim that grew out of his Hoosier upbringing:

"Success is peace of mind, which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to do your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming."

Or, more simply, as Coach Wooden writes in his book Coach Wooden's Leadership Game Plan for Success:

“Do your best, that is success.”

As I read this definition, I thought back to the “Famous Daily Improvisers” I’ve been citing throughout this blog – Robert Benchley, Burr Tillstrom, Ernie Anderson … and Wilt Chamberlain. I used each of their careers to illustrate the power of focusing on your strengths and becoming “the best you can be.” As I mentioned in the Benchley article, your challenge lies in identifying your own unique set of talents, working hard (though it won’t seem like hard work) to hone them into your own special cluster of skills, and most importantly not comparing yourself to others!

Who is your benchmark – your own “best self” or an idealized picture of somebody else? Do you get frustrated because you can’t live up to that picture? Or do you ignore those judgmental voices of what you “should be” and “can’t be” and instead set your own goal, based on your own assessment of your capabilities?

Do you define success for yourself – or do you let others do it for you?

As Coach Wooden approaches his 99th birthday on October 14, I’m sure he must be gratified with his own success – not only on the basketball court, but also in the wider world of organizational and human development as the Hoosier values embedded in his success model continue to expand in influence.