The Ten Principles of Leadership I Learned from Coach Wooden

Principle 7: Set Goals and Then Set Them Aside
Swen Nater

After one of us made a guest appearance at his summer basketball camp, it was customary to give Coach Wooden a ride home. His Encino condominium was on the way. The conversation was always good, usually including catching up, a little about basketball, and a joke or two.

The trip I remember most was the one after my rookie year. We walked from the gym to my car and we both got in. Coming to the camp, I had my radio turned way up. However, I failed to turn it off before shutting the engine down. So, when I started the engine, guess what? Right. The music was so loud, it rivaled a Metallica rock concert. Coach actually jumped in his seat. With quick reactions (developed during UCLA practices I’m sure), I turned the volume down to almost zero and apologized. “Sorry, Coach. I didn’t realize I had the radio on.”

He thought a couple of seconds (You know, with his index and middle finger pressed against his pursed lips; eyes moving right, left, right left) and said, “Swen, may I ask you a question?” I knew something humbling was about to happen but I told him to go ahead.” (He was going to  anyway.) He continued, “Are you hard of hearing? They have doctors for that, you know.”

That was how the trip started but that’s not what I wanted to tell you. A few minutes later, as we floated onto Highway 101 (I went speed limit.), I learned what Coach believed about setting goals. That season, UCLA had lost to North Carolina State in the first game of the Final Four. I wasn’t about to bring it up but Coach did. He told me, “I know exactly why we lost that game. I let the players get away with too much. (I thought, ‘Glad I wasn’t there.’) Swen, I’ve got a team this year that I will have no problem with. They’re talented but they really play together. Don’t tell anyone I said this but, we’re going to win it all.” I didn’t, and they did.

As he went on, I learned, that prediction was not a wish. It was the product of a formula he developed and perfected, that would, with little margin for error, predict the winner of any upcoming game. He told me, “Every year, sometime during the summer, I predict the win/loss record for the next season. I was rarely wrong.” (In hindsight, I should have taken him to Vegas with me.)

I asked him his secret for being so accurate. He said, “I take all things into account, even things not under my control.” He went on to say, one game at a time, he determined the winner by considering the following: Home or away, Who the coach was, Talent vs. talent, Style vs. style, Time of day, Time of year, and Who the officials were. Lastly he said, “Nellie is the only one I give my prediction to. When I have finished, I seal it in an envelope, put the envelope in my desk drawer, and forget about it. For me, it’s kind of a game but it’s more than that. When I set the goal—and that’s what I was doing—I get that part of it over with. From that moment on, I can concentrate on preparing practices. It’s practices that can get you to your goal. Writing down and putting it away, for me, was like burying it. It helped me focus.”

Imagine a basketball coach telling his team, “We’ve got to beat that team this Friday,” or “We’re one game out of first place. Let’s win this next one.” You don’t really have to imagine, right? That happens. And it happens in business as well. Bosses go around reminding employees of the goals that need to be met. Hey, boss! They know. You don’t have to tell them. You’re wasting your time and theirs. The horse already knows the carrot is in front of his face. You put it there. You don’t have to put up a sign that reads “carrot” also. He gets it, all right?

It’s important for employees to know what, collectively, they are shooting for. In business, it’s important for leaders to communicate the objectives like profit or market share. But that should ring for a minute, followed by the bell to go to work. At UCLA, we already knew our fist goal: to win the conference. (You couldn’t go to the playoffs if you didn’t win league.) That was perfect for Coach. He didn’t need to waste time saying it and that kept the focus away from the championship banners hanging above the grandstands, and down to the grindstone, the basketball floor. In a real sense, by getting our minds on daily improvement, he put the ultimate goal “away in a drawer.”

A great leader sets reachable but challenging goals, and gets employees to focus on the process it takes to get there. But that didn’t mean Coach didn’t think about winning games during the season. On the contrary, he and his assistants were constantly studying statistics and evaluating chemistry to improve the team. But they also prepared for upcoming games. Coach said he didn’t scout other teams because he was more concerned with our improvement than the opponents. Then how do you explain the fact, the second team (of which I was a member) ran the opponents’ plays during practice? He didn’t scout by physically watching games, but he did know what the other teams ran.

Coach Wooden set the goal of winning the conference championship and we understood that, although it was unwritten and unspoken. Then, he had us focus on the journey to get there. Smart leaders set goals and then get their people doing what it takes to reach those goals.

I work for Costco, a Fortune 500 company. Every year, our CEO sets the budget objective—a determined margin of profit. But he tells us how to get there with “Our Mission” and “Our Code of Ethics.” 

Our Mission
To continually provide our members with quality goods and services at the lowest possible prices. In order to achieve our mission we will conduct our business with the following Code of Ethics in mind:

1. Obey the Law
2. Take Care of Our Members
3. Take care of Our Employees
4. Respect our Suppliers

If we do these four things throughout our organization, then we will achieve our ultimate goal, which is to:
5. Reward our shareholders

I learned something from Coach Wooden on that ride to his condo. Good leaders set goals and monitor progress towards those targets. But they don’t allow their people to get so wrapped up in them it takes focus from what it takes to get there. It’s like repeatedly looking at the scoreboard during a game. You can’t concentrate on the game. Oh yes, I learned something else too: Turn that darn radio off before you shut the engine down.