John Wooden
The Pyramid
The 25 Building Blocks of the
Pyramid of Success
Block 1: Industriousness
"In plain and
simple English this means hard work. Very hard work. There is no substitute for
very hard work when it comes to success."
Most
of what we do on a day-to-day basis is simply what we have to do to survive.
Your job, your chores, your obligations to your family and the favors to your
friends—that’s not hard work. That’s regular work. That’s your routine—the
stuff that you and every other human being does every single day. Hard work is
what you do on top of all that. It’s what you do after you’ve put in your eight
hours, after you’ve cleaned your apartment, after you’ve kept all your
appointments and followed through on all your promises. Hard work is above and
beyond—and it’s the only thing that will push you above and beyond. That’s not
even the end of the story. What makes hard work truly hard isn’t even the work
itself. It’s everything else that you take on when you make the decision to
work hard toward your goals. It’s the brutally honest self-evaluation, the
tough personal sacrifices and the ever-lurking uncertainty.
Block 3: Friendship
"Comes from mutual esteem, respect and devotion. Like
marriage it must not be taken for granted but requires a joint effort."
I believe there are various kinds and degrees of Friendship based
on a wide range of appreciations. We may have an acquaintance with whom we are
friendly because of a shared interest in politics or sports; another whose
humor we enjoy, some may be golfing, bowling, or fishing buddies; perhaps we
have an old friend from high school whom we haven't seen in 20 years. All are
friends in different and good ways - but not in the way I mean
Friendship. The two qualities of Friendship so
important for a leader to possess and instill in team members are respect
and camaraderie. To me these are the most noteworthy characteristics of true Friendship as
it pertains to leadership.
Block 6: Ambition
The desire to achieve
something, or to succeed, accompanied with motivation, determination and an
internal drive.
Ambition describes those that achieve success
based on their inner desire to do so and their belief in themselves. Ambition
in itself may not be a key to success. Successful, ambitious people need both
energy and goals to succeed. Someone with plenty of energy but no goals may
find themselves pursuing one opportunity after another without success,
wondering what it is that they are wanting out of life.
Block 7: Self-Control
"Practice
self-discipline and keep emotions under control. Good judgement and common
sense are essential."
Self-Control is most essential for discipline and mastery of emotions. You
cannot function effectively unless your emotions are under control. That is why
I did not engage in pre-game pep talks to stir emotions to a sudden peak.
Control of self is difficult when an individual is riled up with emotions.
Careless mistakes are likely to occur. I preferred to create a gradually
increasing level of both intensity and achievement rather than trying to create
artificial emotional highs. For every contrived peak you create, there is a
subsequent valley. I do not like valleys. Self-Control provides emotional stability and fewer
valleys. I do not like valleys. Self-Control provides emotional stability and
fewer valleys. Thus, I prized intensity very much- controlled focus and
directed energy. Self-Control makes
this possible
Block 8: Alertness
"Be observing constantly.
Stay open-minded. Be eager to learn and improve."
is Alertness at the most intense level. Should
it be any different with you? There is something going on around us at
all times from which we can acquire knowledge if we have Alertness. Too
often we get lost in our tunnel vision and we don't see the things that are
right in front of us for the taking, for the learning. My favorite American hero is
Abraham Lincoln. He had Alertness. Mr. Lincoln once said that he never met a
person from whom he did not learn something although most of the time it was
something not to do. But that's also learning and it comes from your own Alertness.
Block 9: Initiative
"Cultivate the ability to make
decisions and think alone. Do not be afraid of failure, but learn from
it."
Initiative means having the courage to make
decisions and take action. Simple as that. Keep in mind that we all are going
to fail at times. You must understand this and not fear failure. None of us is
perfect. But if you are afraid to fail you will never do the things you are
capable of doing. If you have thoroughly prepared and are ready to give it
everything you've got there is no shame if you fail - nothing to fear in
failure. But fear of failure is what ofter prevents one from taking action -
from using initiative.
Block 10: Intentness
"Set a realistic goal. Concentrate on its achievement by
resisting all temptations. Be determined and persistent."
I
could say Intentness means determination; I could say it means persistence;
I could say it means tenacity or perseverance. I will say
it is the ability to resist temptation and stay the course, to concentrate on
your objective with determination and resolve. Impatience is wanting
to much too soon. Intentness doesn't involve wanting something. It
involves doing something often for a very long time. The road to real
achievement is usually bumpy and long, but you do not give up. You may have
setbacks. You may have to start over. You may have to change your method. You
may have to go around, or over, or under. You may have to back up and get
another start. But you do not quit. You stay the course. To do that, you
must have Intentness
Block 11: Sincerity
Keeps friends
A quick examination of the idea of sincerity, the antithesis of bad faith, will be very instructive in this connection. Actually sincerity presents itself as a demand and consequently is not a state. Now what is the ideal to be attained in this case? It is necessary that a man be for himself only what he is. But is this not precisely the definition of the in-itself -- or if you prefer -- the principle of identity? ... If candor or sincerity is a universal value, it is evident that the maxim "one must be what one is" does not server solely as a regulating principle for judgments and concepts by which I express what I am. It posits not merely an ideal of knowing but an ideal of being; it propose for us an absolute equivalence of being with itself as a prototype of being. In this sense it is necessary that we make ourselves what we are. But what are we then if we have the constant obligation to make ourselves what we are, if our mode of being is having the obligation to be what we are?
Block 12: Adaptability
To any
situation
You have never changed
your mind about some fundamental tenet of your belief, if you have never questioned the basics, and if you have no wish to
do so, then you are likely ignorant.
Before it is too late, go out there and find
someone who, in your opinion, believes, assumes, or considers certain things
very strongly and very differently from you, and just have a basic honest
conversation.
Block 13: Condition
"Mental-Moral-Physical.
Rest, exercise and diet must be considered. Moderation must be practiced.
Dissipation must be eliminated."
You must be in physical Condition, but you must also have
mental and moral Condition. All three are components in this block of the
Pyramid because you can't have one without the others. Weak mental or moral
Condition precludes top physical Condition. Some observers felt that our
players had top physical Condition. That was only part of it. They also had top
mental and moral Condition. I reminded them, the players, of their
responsibility to achieve Condition with this little rhyme:" There is a
choice you have to make, In everything you do.
So keep in mind that in the end, The choice you make makes you. "If you
make the right choices you will achieve Condition.
Block 14: Skill
"A knowledge of and the
ability to properly and quickly execute the fundamentals. Be prepared and cover
every little detail."
The range of Skills
necessary for leadership, of course, differs from job to job and organization
to organization. Those skills required to manage a small business
differ from those needed to lead a Fortune 500 company, just as skills needed
for coaching basketball differ from those necessary for coaching baseball. But
regardless of the specific skills required in a profession, you must master all
of them. Mastery of skills requires learning
and it is my opinion that great leaders are lifelong learners. They also take
measures to create an organization that fosters and inspires learning
throughout. The most effective leaders are those who realize it's what you
learn after you know it all that counts most. Skill is located
in the exact center of my Pyramid because it is at the heart of
performance at a level of
competitive greatness."
Block 15: Team
Spirit
"A genuine consideration
for others. An eagerness to sacrifice personal interests of glory for
the welfare of all."
"The final block on the third tier- the center tier of
my Pyramid- is Team Spirit. Initially, I defined Team Spirit as "A
willingness to sacrifice personal interest or glory for the welfare of
all," but there was something in the definition that bothered me,
something not quite right. What wasn't quite right was the word
"willingness." When you stop and think about it- as I did many years
ago- there is a profound difference between mere willingness and eagerness. A
prisoner on a chain gang may be willing to break rocks to avoid punishment. But
how eager is he? I wanted to work with individuals who were eager to do what
was best for the group -our team- even at the expense of their own personal
statistics or gain. Thus, in my definition I changed "willingness" to "eagerness". And
it's stayed that way for fifty years. Of course, we all want to do well and
receive individual praise. That's fine if the praise comes because your
'individual' effort was something that contributed to the improvement or
strength of the group, the team, whatever your team is: sports, business,
family, or community. Praise that comes because of your contribution to the
group is the kind of praise I prize. And so should you.
Block 18: Poise
"Just being yourself. Being
at ease in any situation."
Graceful and elegant bearing in a person.
Poise means holding fast to your principles and acting in accordance
with them regardless of how bad or good the situation may be. Poise means
avoiding pose or pretense, comparing yourself to others, or acting like someone
you're not. Poise means having a brave heart in all circumstances. You'll
know you possess Poise when you achieve what Rudyard Kipling
described in his poem written a hundred years ago: "If you can meet
Triumph and Disaster And treat those imposters just the same..."That's Poise:
not being thrown off stride in how you behave or what you believe because of
outside events.
Block 19: Confidence
"Respect
without fear. May come from being prepared and keeping all things in proper
perspective."
"There is perhaps no stronger steel than
well-founded self belief: the knowledge that your preparation is complete, that
you have done all things possible to ready yourself and your organization for
the competition, whatever form it comes in. This is Confidence.
Confidence cannot be grafted on artificially. Real abiding Confidence, like
Poise, is earned only by tenaciously pursuing and attaining those assets that
allow you to reach your own level of competency- the potential you have within.
For me those personal assets are contained in, and provided by, the blocks of
the Pyramid of Success that I have described previously. Confidence must be
monitored so that it does not spoil or rot and turn into arrogance. Arrogance,
or elitism, is the feeling of superiority that fosters the assumption that past
success will be repeated without the same hard effort that brought it about in
the first place. Thus, I have never gone into a game assuming victory. All
opponents have been respected, none feared. I taught those under my supervision
to do the same. This reflects Confidence, not arrogance. Arrogance will bring
you down by your own hands. We see it happen all around us in all areas of life
all the time. Success requires Poise and Confidence. Both are attained through
proper preparation. Acquiring the personal characteristics and values of the
Pyramid. I believe, constitutes proper preparation.
Block 20: Reliability
reliability has to do with the quality of measurement. In
its everyday sense, reliability is the "consistency" or
"repeat ability" of your measures. Before we can define reliability
precisely we have to lay the groundwork. First, you have to learn about the foundation
of reliability, the
true score
theory of measurement. Along with that, you need to understand the different
types of
measurement error because errors in measures play a key role in
degrading reliability. With this foundation, you can consider the basic
theory of
reliability, including a precise definition of reliability. There
you will find out that we cannot calculate reliability -- we can only estimate
it. Because of this, there a variety of different
types of
reliability that each have multiple ways to estimate
reliability for that type. In the end, it's important to integrate the idea of
reliability with the other major criteria for the quality of measurement --
validity -- and develop an understanding of
the
relationships between reliability and validity in measurement.
Bock 22 Competitive Greatness
Competitive Greatness is having a real love for the hard
battle knowing it offers the opportunity to be at your best when your best is
required. The great competitors I have played for and against, taught and
admired all shared a joy in the struggle itself - the journey, the contest and
competition. The tougher the battle the better. A leader must convey this to
those you lead: a tough fight can bring forth Competitive Greatness. The hard
battle inspires and motivates a great competitor to dig deep inside. That's why
I relish the challenge a worthy competitor presents. You are tested. When
properly prepared you will rise to your highest level and achieve Competitive
Greatness.
Block 23: Integrity
Purity of intention
consistency is about being the same regardless of the
situation. For example, do you know of leaders whose mood changes by the day
and make rash decisions on certain days, yet calm and engaging on other days?
This would be an example of inconsistency of actions and outcomes. Consistency
is a choice that we make as leaders every single day, even when the situation
or environment is not great. If you just had an argument with someone before
walking into your next meeting, consistency means that you will make a
conscious choice to shift gears and release yourself from the negativity of the
last conversation and not bring that to the next meeting
BLOCK 24 FAITH
We shall arrive at a better understanding of the habit or virtue of faith if we have previously analysed an act of faith; and this analysis will be facilitated by examining an act of ocular vision and an act of reasoned knowledge. In ocular vision we distinguish three things: the eye, or visual faculty the coloured object, and the light which serves as the medium between the eye and the object. It is usual to term color the formal object of vision, since it is that which precisely and alone makes a thing the object of vision, the individual object seen may be termed the material object, e.g. this apple, that man, etc. Similarly, the light which serves as the medium between the eye and the object is termed the formal reason (objectum formale quo) of our actual vision. In the same way, when we analyze an act of intellectual assent to any given truth, we must distinguish the intellectual faculty which elicits the act the intelligible object towards which the intellect is directed, and the evidence whether intrinsic to that object or extrinsic to it, which moves us to assent to it. None of these factors can be omitted, each cooperates in bringing about the act, whether of ocular vision or of intellectual assent.
Pyramid of Success Final Reflection
1. These building blocks can benefit me into being a better character in life, and also make me want to succeed more.
2. The building blocks that im applying now are 24 Faith and 19 Confidence.
3. The difference this makes in my life is something big because now i feel like i can do anything with faith as long as i keep my confidence.
4. I will have faith into doing my goals and also build my confidence to make them happen.
5. I will pass this information over to friends and family by explaining each building block and making them understand the concept.
