I never had the pleasure of meeting Coach Wooden, but was at the beach this weekend with friends who had connected with him in a number of different ways. And so when the news came out that he had passed away, there was sadness, appreciation and a bit of marveling about this amazing man, the way he lived his life and the way he had touched their lives and the lives of so many.
One of the stories they shared is a perfect reinforcement for last week’s Quote of the Week: Take a Stand. Here it is:
When Wooden coached basketball at UCLA, one of his rules for the players was – no facial hair.
One day, after a break from school, Bill Walton, who was on the team from 1970-1974, showed up at practice wearing a beard. When Coach Wooden asked Walton if he had “forgotten something”, Walton explained that he thought he should be allowed to wear it. “It’s my right”, he said. Coach asked if he felt strongly about it and Walton replied that he did.
Coach Wooden then said very calmly that he had great respect for individuals who stand up for those things in which they believe. And then he said to Walton, “The team is going to miss you.”
Walton went into the locker room, shaved and was ready for practice. Just like that.
Wooden stood his ground. Walton made a choice. No hard feelings on either side.
Later Wooden said he felt that if he had given in, he would have lost control of Walton – and his teammates too.
And Walton – I can imagine that choosing the team over the beard was an easy choice. But letting go of the fact that he was forced to make that choice – I can imagine that was more difficult. Many of us stew about things we cannot do. And that interferes with what we can do.
Maybe Walton had heard Coach Wooden say these wise words from time to time.
Coach Wooden stood for many things. He was a fabulous teacher, coach and person. We’ll be sharing more of his wisdom throughout the week. All of which can help us become better managers, better coaches, better people.
Meanwhile, I invite you to use this quote as wallpaper for your computer. You can do it with just 3 clicks:
- Click on the image.
- Right click on the enlarged image that appears.
- On the pull down menu that also appears, click on “set as background”.
Voila! There’s still plenty of room on the left side of the screen for all your shortcut icons.
There are 153 additional quotes in our Quote Library. Valuable business tools, ready to post, print and share – available for free right here in our Quote Library.
Note: If you don’t like your new wallpaper, don’t want to replace it with a quote from the Business Class Quote Library and don’t know how to get rid of it……
Go to your control panel. Select “Display”. Select “Desktop”. And then choose from the designs offered.”
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Related Articles:
- 10 Favorite Quotes from John Wooden
- Brainteaser of the Week #32
- Movie of the Week: John Wooden on Success
- Video Tribute to Legendary Basketball Coach John Wooden – from Baby Boomer Talk Online
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Jan,
Great story, it is one I had not heard. John Wooden was more concerned about the characters of the men he coached than the number of games he won.
Now I have one more story about John Wooden. I met him once at a very small event 10 years ago in Newport Beach, California, he was patient and gracious to us all.
He was truly a legend of a man.
Mark