By: Maurice Gilbert, Managing Partner of Conselium Executive Search
John Wooden, the legendary basketball coach from UCLA, was famous for his attention to detail and his insistence that every day represented an opportunity to perfect one’s craft. With that in mind, he asked his team to be the best they could be in every practice session; not just on game day. He instilled in his teams a level of urgency to consistently bring their best and stay in the moment. This paradigm helped his teams develop their physical skills, their mental toughness and their confidence. They exuded great pride, accomplishment and confidence in knowing they gave their best every day.
John Wooden’s coaching style translates very well to what you can be doing as a leader. Does it matter that your team at work is not competing for a national championship? Of course not. You are actually competing for something more important: the sustainability of your company. Having you and your staff show up every day with a desire to bring the best and do it now is the only way to bring new products, new services and enhanced products/services to the marketplace. The latter outcomes ensure your company can compete and stay relevant in today’s economy. This is in fact the culture at Apple…not a bad company to emulate.
Maurice Gilbert is Managing Partner of Conselium Executive Search, which specializes in placing Compliance Officers and Legal Counsel for clients in the U.S., Europe, Latin America and Asia Pacific. Maurice is also CEO of Corporate Compliance Insights, a worldwide publication devoted to governance, risk and compliance issues. Maurice can be reached at maurice@conselium.com or maurice@corporatecomplianceinsights.com.
