Wooden's Wisdom | Leadership Resource Center

Issue 174 You Can Give Without Loving, But You Cannot Love Without Giving


Wooden's Wisdom - Volume 4	Issue 174
Craig Impelman Speaking \| Championship Coaches \| Champion's Leadership Library Login
YOU CAN GIVE WITHOUT LOVING, BUT YOU CANNOT LOVE WITHOUT GIVING Coach Wooden’s message to the players at the beginning of each UCLA season was as follows: “I will not like you all the same, but I will love you all the same. Furthermore, I will try very hard not to let my feelings interfere with my judgment of your performance. You will receive the treatment you earn and deserve.” In his book Wooden on Leadership, with Steve Jamison, Coach Wooden expanded on the importance of a leader truly having love for those under his/her supervision: A leader in sports, business or any other field of endeavor should possess and provide the same qualities inherent in a good parent: character, consistency, dependability, accountability, knowledge, good judgment, selflessness, respect, courage, discipline, fairness and structure. And while all of these will make you a good leader, they will not make you a great leader. For that, one additional quality - perhaps the most important of all - is necessary. Although it may sound out of place in the rough-and-tumble context of sports or corporate competition, I believe you must have love in your heart for the people under your leadership. Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care. The individuals on our UCLA teams became true members of my extended family. It’s vital to let those you lead know you care. Love is so important, because it moves you to do the right things in all areas of life, including leadership. What is love? Let me offer the following definition: Love is patient; love is kind. It is not jealous; it is not pompous; it is not inflated; it is not rude; it does not seek its own interest; it is not quick-tempered; it does not brood over injury; it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. These are qualities we can all use when we interact with others and, as a result, give them love. Yours in Coaching, Craig Impelman www.woodenswisdom.com Twitter: @woodenswisdom	COACH'S Favorite Poetry AND PROSE Sonnet: On his blindness When I consider how my light is spent, Ere half my days, in this dark world and wide, And that one talent which is death to hide, Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent To serve therewith my maker, and present My true account, lest he returning chide, Doth God exact day-labour, light denied? I fondly ask; but Patience to prevent That murmur, soon replies, God doth not need Either man's work or his own gifts, who best Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best, his state Is kingly. Thousands at his bidding speed And post o'er land and ocean without rest: They also serve who only stand and wait. John Milton
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