Beyond Success: The 15 Secrets to Effective Leadership and Life Based on Legendary Coach John Wooden's Pyramid of Success

by Brian D. Biro

Book Overview

Building upon the fundamental principles devised by Coach John Wooden, Brian D. Biro presents an accessible system for leadership development. With anecdotes, excercises, and Wooden's philosophy, the author captures the essence of Wooden's Pyramid of Success and the secrets behind each of the pyramid's building blocks.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0399526900
• ISBN13: 9780399526909
• Release Date: January 2001
• Publisher: Tarcherperigee
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.78 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.9" x 9.2"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Captures Wooden's Keys to Success

I have always respected the tremendous success of John Wooden and his Pyramid of Success. The UCLA basketball coach who won 10 NCAA Championships in twelve years demonstrated his successful system not by winning basketball games, but by inspiring and directing his players to perform at their highest level and achieve greatness by doing their best. Brian Biro's book is based on Wooden's Pyramid of Success. In his book, Biro effectively describes and identifies each building block, starting with the key foundations of industriousness and enthusiasm. Biro then illustrates these qualities with entertaining anecdotes of his work as a swimming coach, businessperson, and "life coach." While Biro's name does not have the prestige of Wooden, he is able to write an entertaining and informative description of Wooden's principles. Moreover, Biro provides the reader with a few useful tips and exercises to help us realize our potential. In addition to quoting from Wooden, Biro also seems to rely on the work of Tony Robbins as well. Most readers will appreciate this book. While nothing in here is groundbreaking or revolutionary, it encapsulates the keys to success in any endeavor. You will enjoy it.

Wooden's Way

I've always admired John Wooden's work as a leader of men. I have his Pyramid of Success on my office wall. Mr. Biro's work has brought the building bricks of the pyramid into focus for me. This a well written work that reaches far beyond the "self help" genre. It was very well organized, inspirational and motivating.

Exceptional Man...Fundamental Values

Throughout the history of athletic competition, John Wooden is among the greatest coaches. According to those with whom he has had extensive personal contact, he is a great human being. Upon first glance, his "Pyramid of Success" seems so simple-minded, so obvious. (At least that was my first reaction when he sent a copy to me many years ago.) Live and learn. Nonetheless, ours is a society in constant search of "secrets" to success. "Keys" to unlock "doors" of opportunity. Short-cuts. "Faster" and "easier" ways to get wherever...to accomplish whatever. In this immensely readable as well as valuable book, Biro skillfully correlates John Wooden's personality and character with his career as a basketball coach and life since retirement. Coach Wooden found neither "secrets" nor "short-cuts" to success at U.C.L.A. On the contrary, his teams began to win a series of national championships only after several mediocre seasons. What is especially noteworthy is that the values on which Coach Wooden's "Pyramid of Success" are based are essentially the same values he had as a school and college player...and the same values by which he was guided when he began to coach high school teams in Indiana. How relevant are these values today? Examine your own life. You'll find the answer there.

This book has a tremendous impact on those who read it.

I have read literally hundreds of books on topics like leadership, team building, motivation and the like. Beyond Success is clearly one of the best. It is packed full of extremely useful and practical leadership and coaching skills. If more people used Brian's tactics and strategies for building a stronger team in the workplace and a stronger family at home, our lives would be much better balanced...and we would be better people because of it. I've attended Brian's seminars before and the impact he has on people is truly remarkable, and that is because his message has both passion and practicality. One without the other will not move anyone to action, but this book has both in great abundance. If you read this book, you will understand specific actions you need to take to significantly boost your productivity in all facets of your life. I can't recommend it enough.

Leadership Lessons from a Brilliant, Ethical Coach

Coach John Wooden of UCLA will always be remembered for the quality of the character he helped build, as well as the quality of the team play that emerged. Most NBA teams today would have trouble emulating the team effectiveness of Coach Wooden's basketball squads. This book does a superb job of capturing the philosophy and practices behind Coach Wooden's success, and translating it into what can be done in other spheres of life, such as work. Anyone can learn or be reminded of important lessons from this book that will provide much personal satisfaction and accomplishment. Coach Wooden's philosophy started with something his father taught him at a young age. "Never compare yourself to others." From that, he learned to appreciate that there is a victory in making the most out of your talents when they are small, as well as when you achieve a victory in competition over another person or team. He translated this idea into helping each player feel successful. This was an inner feeling from the "self-satisfaction of knowing we'd given our best to become the best of what we were capable." It was a long time before Coach Wooden's philosophy and skills developed to the point that he routinely produced championship teams on the court. But his players always had the joy of winning from having developed themselves in the context of the team. This approach also works well in establishing high-level performance because of the Pygmalion effect -- "the transformative power of expectation." Experiments have shown that if teachers think that a child is bright, the child will perform like a bright child. By treating everyone as though they have high potential, you will usually find they have great, untapped potential. "There are no overachievers; we all have an almost infinite supply of potential." Coach Wooden's personal creed is an important part of being a successful leader: (1) Be true to yourself (2) Make friendship a fine art (3) Make each day your masterpiece (4) Build a shelter against a rainy day (5) Help others (6) Drink deeply from good books (7) Pray for guidance and give thanks for your blessings every day. Here are the 15 collaborative elements of Coach Wooden's approach. Just reading the list will not get the points across. You need the discussions of what these terms mean and how to apply them that are in the book. Also, Mr. Biro has done a nice job of rounding out the basketball experiences with many examples from other areas of endeavor and life. #1 Industriousness (this should complement and not detract from a sense of balance in life)#2 Enthusiasm (needs to be combined with industriousness to permit "strict attention to little details")#3 Friendship#4 Loyalty#5 Cooperation#6 Self-Control ("dedication to repetition" was a feature of his practices)#7 Alertness (opportunities come at unexpected times)#8 Initiative#9 Intentness (how can I contribute so my effort will work for the team?)#10 Condition (phys