Normal Expectations

One of many books I am in the middle of is Wooden on Leadership, written by the great UCLA coach John Wooden and published when he was 95 years old. It is an impressive, common sense guide to leadership based on his career as a basketball coach. I recommend it highly.

The thought that struck me reading it recently, though, is the stark difference between his basketball teams and any team that I have ever worked on. His teams were strict, not out of misplaced authoritarianism, but out of a single-minded drive and passion for excellence. He talks about the "Normal Expectations" for his team, including being a gentleman, on time, a team player, industrious, emotionally controlled, and unselfish.

How is that different from teams at work? Those characteristics would never be mentioned. In an individualistic society where independence  is valued above all else, people would rebel against being told that they were expected to be "industrious". We are all professionals here, right? Don't tell me what to do or how to act.

Yet excellence on the basketball court or in the meeting room require the same basics of human respect, interaction, and hard work. Very few leaders require such things of their teams, putting faith in the "professionalism" of individuals and caring only about the final work product.

Wooden is one of the greatest basketball coaches of all time because he cared not about the score, but about the details of character and behavior. The score took care of itself. Should we not be following his example?