Wooden's Wisdom | Leadership Resource Center

Issue 246 - Team Rules and Suggestions


Wooden's Wisdom - Volume 5	Issue 246
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TEAM RULES AND SUGGESTIONS In his early years Coach Wooden had a lot of rules and a few suggestions. In his later years he had a lot of suggestions and a few rules. Coach also moved away from the idea of having a fixed punishment for violation of a rule. In John Wooden, A Life in Basketball, Coach describes an incident that sparked the shift in his view of rules and suggestions. I think one of my greatest failures was when I was teaching in high school. I had an absolute rule of no smoking. It was dismissal from the squad immediately. There were no second chances. I saw no gray area at all. It was either black or white to me. I caught my best player smoking, face-to-face, and I dismissed him from the squad. Later on I would not have done that. I would've probably worked it out in some other way. I didn't know this but he quit school. He never graduated. He wouldn’t have had the money to go to college on his own, but he was certain to get a scholarship. He would've received one but he didn't finish school. I feel that that was my failure because I had this blind spot in a sense, no gray area, and I think I learned from that; but that is one of my great disappointments. There are two perspectives when it comes to team rules. One perspective is that of the person enforcing the rules. The other perspective is from the person who is being asked to follow the rules. It is important to teach young people that if they are a member of a team they should follow the rules. It is equally important to teach them not to be concerned the way the rules are enforced with them, compared to somebody else. Whether it is on a basketball team or in the workplace one person will not always know, nor should they necessarily know, all the circumstances that leads to the outcome of somebody else’s disciplinary situation. Comparison is the root of unhappiness. Comparing yourself to someone else with regard to a disciplinary situation may lead to unnecessary frustration. Parents who advocate this thinking may be creating a mental approach that will not necessarily help their youngster in the long run. Focus on what you can control: your behavior, your relationships and your life. Time spent worrying about others will take away from time you have to improve yourself. Yours in Coaching, Craig Impelman www.woodenswisdom.com Twitter: @woodenswisdom	COACH'S Favorite Poetry AND PROSE Some Favorite Thoughts from Coach Wooden’s Library If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing. Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. 1 Corinthians 13
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