John Wooden's Pyramid of Success Hinges on Playing to Our Strengths

If you’ve ever watched the Apple TV mega-hit series, Ted Lasso, you’ve likely seen John Wooden’s Pyramid of Success hanging in Ted’s AFC Richmond office. Interestingly, Jason Sudeikis, who co-wrote the show and plays the character Ted Lasso, was heavily influenced by his basketball coach at Shawnee Misson West High School in Kansas. This coach, Donnie Campbell, was, in turn, influenced by John Wooden, the legendary UCLA basketball coach who won 10 National Championships during his tenure.

Building the Pyramid

In 1932, at the age of 22, John Wooden took a job as a high school English teacher at Dayton High School in Kentucky, where he also coached the basketball team. (As a side note, this first year of Wooden’s coaching career was the only losing season he had in 42 years of coaching.) He soon grew frustrated with the grading system he was required to use in his class, as he felt that it put excessive and unwarranted pressure on the students. Coach Wooden felt compelled to help the students better understand success as a result of their efforts.

By the same token, he was also deeply influenced by his father, Joshua, who instilled in him many values and virtues. His father always told John when he was a boy, “Never try to be better than anyone else, but never stop trying to be the best you can be.” this notion had a profound impact on how John viewed success, and he eventually wrote his own definition of success, which he then used with his students and players (and their parents). His definition was:

“Success is peace of mind attained only through self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to do the best of which you’re capable.”

Realizing that his definition of success was insufficient as a tool to help guide his students and players to greater heights, Coach Wooden began to work on something that became known as the Pyramid of Success. He began to work on the Pyramid in 1934 and finished it in 1948. The final version of the Pyramid has 25 behaviors Coach Wooden believed were necessary to achieve his idea of success.

Two Cornerstones of the Pyramid

The cornerstones of the Pyramid are Industriousness and Enthusiasm. Coach Wooden defined Industriousness as, “There is no substitute for work. Worthwhile results come from hard work and careful planning.” He then defined Enthusiasm as, “Brushing off on those with whom you come into contact. You must truly enjoy what you are doing.”

Cornerstones & Strengths: Level Up Your Game

As we think about playing to our strengths at work, it is easy to see why Coach Wooden chose these two characteristics as the cornerstones of the Pyramid. It can be taxing to work hard at something we don’t enjoy. For most of us, there is a significant distinction in how we feel about our jobs when we are working on those tasks and responsibilities that we are good at and enjoy versus working on those things we are good enough at but don’t necessarily enjoy doing. It is interesting to note that Coach Wooden made numerous changes to the Pyramid over the 14 years he was developing it, but he never changed these two cornerstones because he recognized that without the ability to enjoy what we are doing, we are unlikely to put in the necessary time and effort to excel.

Here's one tactic to play more to your strengths and level up your game for ultimate success: Look for opportunities to try new things that you might enjoy and be good at. Many times, people who play to their strengths on a daily basis gradually “build” their job by looking for opportunities to put their talents and strengths to use.

Joe Bertotto has more than three decades of experience helping leaders improve their workplace cultures. He is the SVP/chief culture officer at Vizo Financial Corporate Credit Union and a Gallup Certified Strengths Coach. In 2014, Joe was named a Credit Union Rock Star by Credit Union Magazine. He also recently published his book, Pick Up the Gum Wrapper: How To Create a Workplace That Increases Performance While Improving Lives, which credit union leaders have been using as a guide to increase the effectiveness of their leadership skills and overall culture.