About John Wooden

John Wooden spent his life reading about and studying great leaders such as Confucius, Aristotle, Shakespeare, and Lincoln. He spent 14 years developing the famed Pyramid of Success and made improvements over the remainder of his life. John Wooden documented his understanding of personal or professional improvement, great leadership, team building, and true success. He shared his ideas and wisdom with renowned leadership professionals and coaches.

Author - He wrote 14 books (12 after he turned 90 years young).

A Game Plan for Life: The Power of Mentoring
Coach Wooden One-on-One: Inspiring Conversations on Purpose, Passion and the Pursuit of Success
Coach Wooden's Pyramid of Success: Building Blocks for a Better Life
Coach Wooden's Pyramid of Success Playbook: Applying the Pyramid of Success to Your Life
Coach Wooden's Leadership Game Plan for Success: 12 Lessons for Extraordinary Performance and Personal Excellence
Inch and Miles: The Journey to Success
John Wooden's UCLA Offense
Life Wisdom from Coach Wooden: Inspiring Thoughts from the UCLA Coaching Legend
My Personal Best: Life Lessons from an All-American Journey
Practical Modern Basketball
Quotes from Coach John Wooden: Winning with Principle
The Essential Wooden: A Lifetime of Lessons on Leaders and Leadership
The Wisdom of Wooden: A Century of Family, Faith, and Friends
They Call Me Coach
Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court
Wooden on Leadership: How to Create a Winning Organization

Coach - As an NCAA Division I men's basketball coach, John Wooden continued to learn his craft. He improved how he recruited players and assistant coaches. He learned from others how to get the best ideas and performance from everyone, including himself. Once he focused on things within his control, his teams:

Won 10 NCAA championships in 10 championship games (next best 5)
Won 7 consecutive NCAA Championships (next best 2)
Won 38 consecutive NCAA tournament victories and also won the next best 13 consecutive NCAA tournament victories on a separate streak
Completed 4 undefeated seasons (next best 1)

Awards – Two of John Wooden's most cherished of his many awards included:

Presidential Medal of Freedom – the nation's highest honor a president can bestow on a civilian.
Greatest Coach in the History of American Sports - In 2009 Sporting News Magazine published their list of the 50 greatest coaches of all time, as selected by a panel of 118 Hall of Famers, championship coaches and other experts. Coach Wooden garnered 57 first-place votes from the panel. Green Bay Packers great Vince Lombardi came in second place, picking up 20 first-place votes.

Mentees, Collaborators, and Fans – For 35 years after he retired from basketball coaching, John Wooden became one of America's premier authors, life coaches, and public speakers. Noted leadership and motivational speakers such as Jim Collins, Ken Blanchard, Steven Covey, John Maxwell. and Bill Gates sought his wisdom. Countless coaches and athletes listened to his simple, true, concise, and direct advice for constant improvement.

At Wooden's Wisdom we continue teaching John Wooden's leadership philosophy. Whether you knew John Wooden or not, his positive attitude, careful planning, and processes serve as a model that can lead your organization and you to unbounded success. Our goal is to share his timeless wisdom through video clips of Coach Wooden himself, customized presentations and workbooks for your organization, and memorable John Wooden quotes.