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

Brian D. Biro (Author), John Wooden (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 9, 2001

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.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Astonishing reading. Read Beyond Success and totally outperform yourself. -- Mark Victor Hansen, co-author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series

Beyond Success reads like the final seconds of an NCAA playoff...this book is alive with calculated, confident brilliance. -- Harvey Mackay, author of Swim with the Sharks without Being Eaten Alive

Brian Biro has captured Coach John Wooden's timeless philosophies and woven them into a timeless leadership formula.... -- Ken Blanchard, co-author of The One Minute Manager

Brian Biro weaves this tapestry around absolutely compelling true stories. -- Stephen Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

About the Author

Brian D. Biro is one of the nation's foremost speakers on leadership and team-building and is the author of three highly-acclaimed books. He is the founder of CLASS (Coaching, Leadership, and Synergy Services) through which he gives lectures nationwide. He has been featured on Good Morning America and CNN's Business Unusual, and the Fox Network as well as having been on hundreds of radio shows across the country

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Perigee Trade; 1st Perigee edition (January 9, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399526900
• ISBN-13: 978-0399526909
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #86,701 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

57 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Leadership Lessons from a Brilliant, Ethical Coach, January 17, 2001

By 

Donald Mitchell "Jesus Loves You!" (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 109,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Beyond Success - The 15 Secrets to Effective Leadership and Life Based on Legendary Coach John Wooden's Pyramid of Success (Paperback)

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 (physical, mental, moral, and emotional)

#11 Skill (flexible visualization)

#12 Team spirit

#13 Poise (very critical in the final 5 minutes of a game)

#14 Confidence (look for ways to win, even when things look dark)

#15 Competitive Greatness (rising to the occasion by focusing on what you want, as great relay teams have often done).

I hope you will read and enjoy this book, share it with others, and apply it to your life, your family, and your work. You will find no better role model of a team coach than this one.

If you are likely to be in a position of coaching children in the future, you may also want to read Ken Blanchard's new book, High Five! It will give you some other useful insights into helping youngsters.

May you always be justly filled with that internal feeling of self-satisfaction described here!

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book has a tremendous impact on those who read it., March 2, 2001

By 

Steven R. Gardner (Overland Park, KS) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Beyond Success - The 15 Secrets to Effective Leadership and Life Based on Legendary Coach John Wooden's Pyramid of Success (Paperback)

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.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wooden's Way, November 14, 2003

By 

Michael DENNISUK "cc coach" (trenton, michigan USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Beyond Success - The 15 Secrets to Effective Leadership and Life Based on Legendary Coach John Wooden's Pyramid of Success (Paperback)

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.