Issue 732 - "Take It as a Compliment to Be Corrected" (Accountability)


Wooden's Wisdom - Volume 13	Issue 732
Craig Impelman Speaking \| Championship Coaches \| Champion's Leadership Library Login
"TAKE IT AS A COMPLIMENT TO BE CORRECTED" (ACCOUNTABILITY) John Wooden Video Clip (39 sec.): Coach Wooden is asked: "What your thoughts on the phrase-Give 110 percent?" The following is a handout Coach Wooden made for his players: Re: Criticism If the coach "bawls you out," consider it as a compliment. He is trying to teach you and impress a point upon you. If he were not interested in you, he would not bother. A player is criticized only to improve him and not for any personal reasons. Coach Wooden made it clear that a Coach only corrects a player when he believes the player can grow. If he didn’t care, he wouldn’t bother. That message shaped an entire culture: players learned to interpret criticism as interest, not irritation. Years later, when Dr. Ron Gallimore studied Coach Wooden’s practices, he found that nearly eighty-five percent of Wooden’s comments were instructive, neither praise nor reprimand, just steady teaching. When Gallimore asked why there weren’t more "positive" comments, Coach Wooden replied that he viewed instruction as a positive comment. Helping someone improve was one of the deepest forms of encouragement he could offer. And the players felt that. At UCLA, being corrected wasn’t something to fear. It was part of belonging. As a player the only time to worry in practice is when the Coach stops correcting you, it means he no longer sees forward movement. Steady feedback isn’t punishment it’s belief. Coach Wooden also taught players how to receive corrections. In the same handout, he wrote: *"Take your criticism in a constructive way without alibis or sulking."* He wasn’t demanding perfection. He was inviting maturity, the ability to separate the message from the emotion and focus on improvement. When you don’t take correction personally, you can absorb it quickly and move forward. How Leaders Can Create This Environment Today Some workplaces struggle with accountability because people hesitate to give honest feedback. They worry it will be taken negatively or damage relationships. Coach Wooden’s teams thrived because he addressed that issue directly. He told his players what correction meant, before correcting them. They knew in advance: It’s a compliment to be corrected. Are your team members eager for criticism? It may seem like a high standard, but it is a basic one in a true championship culture and it has to go both ways. Click here for personal development exercise: Issue 732. Click here for Printable Poetry: Issue 732. Yours in Coaching, Craig Impelman www.woodenswisdom.com Follow @woodenswisdom	COACH'S FAVORITE POETRY AND PROSE See It Through When you're up against a trouble, Meet it squarely, face to face; Lift your chin and set your shoulders, Plant your feet and take a brace. When it's vain to try to dodge it, Do the best that you can do; You may fail, but you may conquer, See it through! Black may be the clouds about you And your future may seem grim, But don't let your nerve desert you; Keep yourself in fighting trim. If the worst is bound to happen, Spite of all that you can do, Running from it will not save you, See it through! Even hope may seem but futile, When with troubles you're beset, But remember you are facing Just what other men have met. You may fail, but fall still fighting; Don't give up, whate'er you do; Eyes front, head high to the finish. See it through! Edgar Albert Guest (1881-1959)
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