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
In the book, "They Call Me Coach" by John Wooden, he talks about the importance of a teacher and coach as a role model for kids. He talks about his successes he had in coaching, the lessons he has learned, and the ones he has taught. In the book, you will get to walk through his life from when he was a little kid and first fell in love with basketball to when he retired from active coaching at UCLA in 1975. He also talks about his "Pyramid of Success" and the traits that every player should have.
Jim Valvano, otherwise known as “Jimmy V”, was a college basketball player, coach, and broadcaster. This paper will cover Jimmy and define his true leadership qualities. Jimmy was an icon in the sports world not only for his coaching ability. He taught the world that leaders need a vision, leaders need to connect with their followers, and that leaders learn from their followers. Jimmy defied the rules and transformed his players into exceptionally good players and even better people. He taught more than basketball to his players and reached outside of his coaching arena to touch the lives of people across the world.
In the following essay, I will argue that Herbert “Herb” Brooks was a charismatic leader due to his powerful motivation and his high expectations. He expected great things from the players he coached, but mostly, he expected them to think of the team and not themselves. He motivated with a powerful punch, mostly through fear, but was able to unite his teams and eventually the country.
Krzyzewski, M. (2001). Leading with the Heart: Coach K’s Successful Strategies for Basketball, Business, and Life. New York, NY: Business Plus
“Be more concerned with you character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.” These words of John Wooden are just a few out of many wise quotes millions of people, not just athletes, are inspired by today and likely will continue to be inspired by for a very long time. Basketball fans and experts consider John Wooden as one of, if not, the greatest coaches of all time. Much of his success is a result of his beliefs and coaching system. Knowing the background of Coach Wooden’s playing and coaching career plays a significant role in understanding how he practiced his beliefs with his teams and how his philosophy and success intertwined to set a precedent for the remainder of collegiate basketball.
Most people think that being a leader is all about prestige, loyalty, or fame. While being a leader certainly is a great confidence and social status booster, there is more to being a leader than these. Being a leader requires passion, dedication, time, effort, and most importantly hard work. I would like to make myself believe that leaders are made and not born and that hard work can spell the difference between an immature and a holistically effective leader. The objective of this paper is to discuss by knowledge, belief system, and perception of leadership in relation to Bleachers by John Grisham which outlines the leadership story of Coach Eddie Rake and how he handled his team through thick and thin and through the greatest leadership challenges, towards success; to outline which character in the story I see myself in; and to characterize what type of leader I want me to be not in the future, but as early as now.
As I have asserted, coaching is far more than winning or losing. A coach is an essential cog in shaping qualities such as sportsmanship, competitiveness, self discipline, and work ethic. A quality coach can build a player up while a bad coach can tear them down. My goal as a coach was to always leave the player striving to be the best they could be. A good coach
Throughout the book “Leading with the Heart,” I read about prime examples of the following leadership theories: transformational leadership, trait theory, behavioral theory, and situational leadership. He recommended that leaders begin with the trait theory when beginning the selection process when starting his or her organization. In chapter one and as well as chapter two, Coach K refers to coachable players. Meaning, players or members that do not mind being taught and learning; willing to take a back seat to someone else in charge. Establish right away in the first meeting the only rule for the team: “Don’t do anything that’s detrimental to yourself, because if it is detrimental to you, it will be detrimental to our program (Krzyzewski, 2000, p.4). He reiterates that leaders must be very selective in this process, because the people you select represent you as the leader, and your company. In some cases leaders must sacrifice some skill and talent for people who have outstanding character. “Character and respect will outlast talent when talent can’t see past themselves.” Krzyzewski mentions that he will sign a kid who has the character of a leader and train them to gain the skill necessary down the road. I believe that this is why the Duke Men’s basketball program is very successful because he picks
As a college basketball player, I learned that being an effective leader did not mean that I had to be a constant bundle of energy. Rather, I realized over time it is more important to understand your teammates and what makes them tick, and to translate that knowledge into separate leadership styles to match each individual. This is crucial when working with an extremely diverse group of attitudes, personalities, and mindsets. I believe people would describe my style as steady, positive, and upbeat – opposite of my head coach in many ways. Countless times I would pull a teammate aside who had been berated and explain in a constructive
“The odds of a high school basketball player making it to the “next level” to play college basketball (DI, II, or III) is slim. In fact, only 3.4% of high school players go on to play college basketball. Taking it even further, only 1.2% of college basketball players go on to get drafted in the NBA” (Winters, 2016). There are two types of players in the game. There are the kids who play basketball because they are athletic, and all they are seeking to gain is the recognition and awards. They want to be known. Those players are self-centered, they do not play for the team, and generally don’t play because they love the game. These are the types of players who don’t usually go on to play at the next level. On the other hand, there are the players that absolutely dedicate their life to the game of basketball just because they love the game. That is what coaches are looking for in a player, and that is the kind of player I am striving to be.
Flaherty, J. (2011). Coaching: Evoking excellence in others (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Taylor & Francis.
Growing up I was extremely blessed having an incredible coach at every level of sport I participated in. From those experiences I know how much a coach can make a difference in your life. For that reason my dream job is coaching college basketball at any division. It does not matter to me what level, because kids at the D-3 level need just as much guidance and help as student athletes at the D-1 level. During my coaching career I hope to blend two leadership styles in particular together in order to make my athletes better men, but also to keep the game they love fun to play. I feel by taking the Charismatic Leadership style’s enthusiasm and loyalty and mixing it with a Transformational Leaders innovation and emphasis on change, I can be an extremely effective and power leader for my student athletes.
Green, Mike. "Ten Keys to Being a Good Coach." The Sports Family Club. N.p.. Web. 28 O
The goal is to get a better understanding of how scholars, coaches, administration, student athletes, and faculty can learn to leverage skills or downfalls to improve themselves as leaders. The goal is to provide readers with insight that can be beneficial in understanding how leadership in college athletics can be enhanced in an ever-changing environment. Throughout this section of my research, I explored a variety of
Although there are many outstanding, albeit necessary qualities of a good leader, it is the leader’s beliefs in which greatness is given its first breath, fostered by action, and spread throughout the institution. A great leader believes in encouraging, not destroying; in setting the precedence instead of yielding to prominence ; in collaboration, not division; in giving, not taking; and in having high standards and volunteering to be the first of many to be held to them. A great leader does not take advantage of the people being lead, but instead, creates an advantage for the people by giving them the opportunities to lead. Only when people take ownership of an institution will passion be cultivated, action be taken, and greatness be achieved.