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By Harvey Schachter*

When John Wooden arrived at UCLA in 1948 to launch his record-setting tenure as coach of the university basketball team, the first thing he pinned on his wall was his Pyramid of Success, 15 building blocks for success he had been developing in his teaching and coaching career. In Coach Wooden’s Leadership Game Plan For Success, written with long-time collaborator Steve Jamieson and published last year, he shared that five-tier pyramid, which is worth reviving in the wake of his death earlier this month at age 99.

BOTTOM TIER

Industriousness: This was the first block chosen – a cornerstone because success travels in the company of hard work. He called it industriousness because he felt the word work had lost real meaning. For most people, work simply means going through the motions; industriousness means full engagement.

Enthusiasm: Industriousness is unattainable without enthusiasm, the other cornerstone. You must love what you do. Enthusiasm infuses and stimulates those you lead.

Friendship: Between those foundation cornerstones, he placed three “working together” blocks because most of our accomplishments involve interacting and working together. The first is friendship, which in the context of leadership and team building means building a team filled with camaraderie and respect.

Loyalty: You must have the courage to be loyal to those you lead. That starts with loyalty to yourself – your standards, system, and values. Loyalty was placed at the center of the pyramid’s foundation.

Co-operation: Co-operation is a priority of effective leadership. The only thing not shared is blame. A strong and secure leader accepts blame and gives credit.

SECOND TIER

Self-control: Control of your organization begins with control of yourself. Mr. Wooden told his players when they lost control, they made themselves vulnerable. The same is true for a leader.

Alertness: You must constantly be alert in evaluating yourself as well as the strengths and weaknesses of your organization and your competition.

Initiative: He believed a basketball team that won’t risk mistakes won’t win many games, and the same was true for other organizations. Have the courage to make decisions and the willingness to risk failure. Do not be afraid to fail.

Intentness: Persistence, determination, fortitude and resolve are features in great leaders. When thwarted, try again – harder, and smarter.

THIRD TIER

Condition: To achieve your leadership potential you must possess mental, moral, and physical strength. If we make the wrong choices, we can undermine those important conditions for leadership success.

Skill: You must constantly learn, building your skills. As he told legendary star Bill Walton, who stopped listening to his coach in his senior year, leading to a semi-finals loss in the national championship the team had won seven consecutive years: “It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.”

Team spirit: Team spirit is an eagerness (not just willingness) to sacrifice personal interests or glory for the welfare of the group.

FOURTH TIER

Poise: Be true to yourself, even if it goes against popular sentiment and you must stand alone. Leaders lacking poise panic under pressure.

Confidence: You must earn the right to be confident: It comes from proper preparation, from the knowledge that you have done everything possible to ready yourself and your organization for challenges.

THE APEX

Competitive greatness: Perform at your best when your best is needed.

THE MORTAR

In addition to the 15 blocks, he added some “mortar” to keep everything in place:

Faith: A leader must have boundless faith in the future – that things will work out as they should.

Patience: A wise leader also knows that good things take time.

*Harvey Schachter is a freelance writer who writes the Monday Morning Manager and Managing Books columns in The Globe and Mail.  He also writes for various magazines and organizations, is a former editor of The Kingston Whig-Standard, and a two-time winner of a National Newspaper Award for his political commentary.

This article originally appeared in the Globe and Mail’s “Morning Manager” column on June  21, 2010. 

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