Pyramid of Success Discussions

You may be aware of Coach John Wooden’s Pyramid of Success (pictured below). It is a graduated set of values Coach Wooden developed and taught across his long and storied career coaching college basketball in the USA. His remarkable success across many years wins his ideas a hearing among coaches, Christian or not. Coach Wooden was a highly committed believer as well, and we can certainly see Biblical values in the Pyramid.

In past seasons I have used the Pyramid and its values as topics for discussion with players, and I am now leading a series of discussions with our college Men’s Basketball coaching staff. Below are a sampling of the questions I ask to facilitate discussion. Each session lasts about twenty minutes and is concluded by my praying with them. This is simple, easy, and effective. I hope it’s of value to you and those you serve.

 

To begin the series of discussions, I will acquaint everyone with Coach Wooden’s coaching record. I don’t just mention the championships because the path to that series of great teams is also important. This is especially important for the youngest coaches in the room, as they are not likely aware of coaches from beyond 5 years ago.

Head coaching record

College basketball

Statistics overview
Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Indiana State Sycamores (Indiana Intercollegiate Conference) (1946–1948)
1946–47	Indiana State	17–8	5–2	1st	NAIA invitation declined
1947–48	Indiana State	27–7	7–0	1st	NAIA Runner-up
Indiana State:		44–15 (.746)	12–2 (.857)
UCLA Bruins[30] (Pacific Coast Conference) (1948–1959)
1948–49	UCLA	22–7	10–2	1st (South)
1949–50	UCLA	24–7	10–2	1st (South)	NCAA Regional Fourth Place
1950–51	UCLA	19–10	9–4	T–1st (South)
1951–52	UCLA	19–12	8–4	1st (South)	NCAA Regional Fourth Place
1952–53	UCLA	16–8	6–6	3rd (South)
1953–54	UCLA	18–7	7–5	2nd (South)
1954–55	UCLA	21–5	11–1	1st (South)
1955–56	UCLA	22–6	16–0	1st	NCAA Regional Third Place
1956–57	UCLA	22–4	13–3	T–2nd
1957–58	UCLA	16–10	10–6	3rd
1958–59	UCLA	16–9	10–6	T–3rd
UCLA Bruins[30] (Pacific-8 Conference) (1959–1975)
1959–60	UCLA	14–12	7–5	2nd
1960–61	UCLA	18–8	7–5	2nd
1961–62	UCLA	18–11	10–2	1st	NCAA University Division Fourth Place
1962–63	UCLA	20–9	8–5	T–1st	NCAA University Division Regional Fourth Place
1963–64	UCLA	30–0	15–0	1st	NCAA University Division Champion
1964–65	UCLA	28–2	14–0	1st	NCAA University Division Champion
1965–66	UCLA	18–8	10–4	2nd
1966–67	UCLA	30–0	14–0	1st	NCAA University Division Champion
1967–68	UCLA	29–1	14–0	1st	NCAA University Division Champion
1968–69	UCLA	29–1	13–1	1st	NCAA University Division Champion
1969–70	UCLA	28–2	12–2	1st	NCAA University Division Champion
1970–71	UCLA	29–1	14–0	1st	NCAA University Division Champion
1971–72	UCLA	30–0	14–0	1st	NCAA University Division Champion
1972–73	UCLA	30–0	14–0	1st	NCAA University Division Champion
1973–74	UCLA	26–4	12–2	1st	NCAA Division I Third Place
1974–75	UCLA	28–3	12–2	1st	NCAA Division I Champion
UCLA:		620–147[3] (.808)	300–67 (.817)
Total:		664–162 (.804)

 

For each session I will introduce the block being discussed (starting across the bottom row and methodically moving up row by row), and emphasizing the text below the block’s title. I will ask questions like these:

• With whom have you played or coached who was a great example of this?
• Why would Coach Wooden find this so important?
• What attitudes and behaviors build this characteristic?
• What attitudes and behaviors tear it down?
• How do you coach so as to develop this trait in your players?
• Who among your present players is a good model of this? How and when would we see it?
• How can you build this characteristic into your coaching?
• How do you build this into your relationships with coaching colleagues, support staff, and family?

Invariably, coaches will ask follow up questions, prompting a reply from me, and I’ll ask more follow up questions. Once the discussion is going, we only need steer it. As relationships of trust grow and develop, one may feel emboldened to interject truth along the same path from scripture and his or her own experience.

I hope Coach Wooden’s Pyramid leads you to success with your coaching staff, builds relationships, and opens hearts to our Savior.