From the legendary basketball coach who inspired generations of athletes and businesspeople, an inspiring book about the power of mentoring and being mentored. After eight books, many of them bestsellers, A Game Plan for Life is the one closest to John Wooden’s heart: a moving and inspirational guide to the power of mentorship. The first half focuses on the people who helped foster the values that carried Wooden through an incredibly successful and famously principled career, including his college coach, his wife, Abraham Lincoln, and Mother Teresa. The second half is built around interviews with some of the many people he mentored over the years, including Kareem Abdul- Jabbar, Bill Walton, fellow coaches, family members, and even a middle school coach in Canada. Their testimony takes readers inside the lessons Wooden taught to generations of players, bringing out the very best in them not just as athletes but as human beings. In all, it’s an inspiring primer on how to achieve success without sacrificing principles, and on how to build one of the most productive and rewarding relationships available to any athlete, businessperson, teacher, or parent: that of mentor and protégé.
A Game Plan for Life
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“Coach Wooden is the most respected mentor I’ve ever met. He’s had a powerful impact on my life and now, through this book, he’ll touch you as well. Get ready for a life-changing experience.”—Pat Williams, Sr. Vice President, Orlando Magic, author of Extreme Dreams Depend on Teams
“All of us need to read John Wooden’s tips on mentoring and build them into our lives. There is no better person to give you A Game Plan for Life.”—Mike Krzyzewski, Duke University basketball coach
“There is no coach or former coach, in the U.S.A., more admired by his peers than John Wooden. When someone asks me who is the best athletic coach ever, my vote is John Wooden. A Game Plan for Life speaks loudly about the importance of learning and teaching for a lifetime. Coach Wooden’s message is one reason I keep coaching!”—Bobby Bowden, Head Football Coach, Florida State University
“My time learning from Coach Wooden—sitting and asking him questions, soaking up his answers—has provided some of the most significant lessons in my life. Any way that you can be mentored by a giant like him, including reading A Game Plan for Life, will provide great lessons for you, too.”—Pat Summitt, Women’s Basketball Coach, University of Tennessee
“Few coaches have effected their player’s lives so fully as John Wooden, so here’s a natural question: Who mentored the mentor? Well, John Wooden is glad we asked…”—Bob Costas
“Who better to learn you all his experiences than John Wooden? This is a positively great book by a great man.”—Yogi Berra
About the Author
John Wooden is the most successful coach in NCAA history, having led the UCLA Bruins to 665 victories and ten championships in the years leading up to 1975. Since his retirement, he has become a mentor to dozens of athletes, journalists, and writers, and the author of eight books. Don Yaeger is the author or coauthor of sixteen books, including Never Die Easy, with Walter Payton, and Running for My Life, with Warrick Dunn.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
When it's all said and done and the maker calls us home, the real measure of a successful life has to have a lot to do with how much you improved the lives of those around you. With that in mind, few people come close to the life of John Wooden. There are untold vast numbers of people who have become better people and lead better lives because of the coach. Through his books, many of those people, like myself, never even met him.
In his newest book, and quite possibly his last, A GAME PLAN FOR LIFE, Coach Wooden teaches about mentoring. I really like the way the book gives mentoring from two different approaches, but giving and receiving. The first half of the book profiles seven people who mentored Coach Wooden. The last half profiles seven people who were mentored by him, either directly or indirectly.
I found the mixture to be very interesting, and yet probably very similar to most other people. Among his mentors, coach lists his father, 3 former coaches and two people from history he never met but spent hours reading about. Among the mentees, who each wrote their own chapters in the book, we find 3 former players at UCLA, 2 other coaches, a teacher who had never met the coach, and his great-grand-daughter.
It's interesting to see how mentoring is both given and received in different ways to meet the needs of the recipient. The book is filled with sage quotes and life lessons that will touch readers ina variety of ways.
While as always, I loved what the coach wrote, I particularly enjoyed the chapter written by Dale Brown, coach of the LSU basketball team. Coach Brown knew Coach Wooden, but only because they had played against one another when Coach Brown was an assistant coach at Utah State. When he accepted the head coaching job at LSU, he turned to Coach Wooden for advice.
Detailed in his chapter are some of the many questions he asked coach. This really gave a good structure on how to proceed when seeking out a mentor and how to best learn from someone you don't know well.
I took a lot away from this book. I think you will too.
In his newest book, and quite possibly his last, A GAME PLAN FOR LIFE, Coach Wooden teaches about mentoring. I really like the way the book gives mentoring from two different approaches, but giving and receiving. The first half of the book profiles seven people who mentored Coach Wooden. The last half profiles seven people who were mentored by him, either directly or indirectly.
I found the mixture to be very interesting, and yet probably very similar to most other people. Among his mentors, coach lists his father, 3 former coaches and two people from history he never met but spent hours reading about. Among the mentees, who each wrote their own chapters in the book, we find 3 former players at UCLA, 2 other coaches, a teacher who had never met the coach, and his great-grand-daughter.
It's interesting to see how mentoring is both given and received in different ways to meet the needs of the recipient. The book is filled with sage quotes and life lessons that will touch readers ina variety of ways.
While as always, I loved what the coach wrote, I particularly enjoyed the chapter written by Dale Brown, coach of the LSU basketball team. Coach Brown knew Coach Wooden, but only because they had played against one another when Coach Brown was an assistant coach at Utah State. When he accepted the head coaching job at LSU, he turned to Coach Wooden for advice.
Detailed in his chapter are some of the many questions he asked coach. This really gave a good structure on how to proceed when seeking out a mentor and how to best learn from someone you don't know well.
I took a lot away from this book. I think you will too.
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
By Brian
Format:Hardcover
Mr. Wooden, who is ninety-nine, divides the book between seven people who mentored him, and seven people he mentored. In the section about his mentors, Mr. Wooden points beyond himself to two mentors, Abraham Lincoln and Mother Teresa, vast expanses of character capable of mentoring anyone.
This is how John Wooden begins the book:
"Over the years, I have written books about basketball, about leadership, about coaching, and about my life. But this may well be my most important work. While I made my living as a coach, I have lived my life to be a mentor--and to be mentored!--constantly."
I think he's right that this is his greatest work, not because of the book, but because of his life.
Two stories about his life:
When Mr. Wooden was ninety-seven, his walker caught on his bathroom rug and he fell, breaking his wrist and collarbone. His wife Nellie had made him promise to wear an emergency bracelet, but as Mr. Wooden says, she did not make him promise to push the button. Wooden regained consciousness on the bathroom floor. Pushing the button meant waking up his family. He waited for his friend to come at the regular time to take him for breakfast. Fourteen hours after the fall, sitting up in his hospital bed he eagerly ate chicken soup while watching a John Wayne movie.
Earlier this year, a non-Division 1 women's college basketball team, in California for a tournament, sought to meet him, unbeknownst to Mr. Wooden, at the diner where he eats breakfast everyday. The team arrived late, and inquiring, was told Mr. Wooden had hurried home. I knew Mr. Wooden was writing this book, and I like to think of the ninety-nine year-old coach hurrying home to work on it.
But what I like to think of more is what actually happened:
Mr. Wooden was phoned and invited the whole team to the tiny starter condo he has continued to live in since Nellie died. They spent the day talking and eating his favorite candy from childhood that Mr. Wooden still gets from Martinsville, Indiana.
And they were all made to feel as if they were the ones doing him the favor.
Brian
www.squidoo.com/coachjohnwooden
This is how John Wooden begins the book:
"Over the years, I have written books about basketball, about leadership, about coaching, and about my life. But this may well be my most important work. While I made my living as a coach, I have lived my life to be a mentor--and to be mentored!--constantly."
I think he's right that this is his greatest work, not because of the book, but because of his life.
Two stories about his life:
When Mr. Wooden was ninety-seven, his walker caught on his bathroom rug and he fell, breaking his wrist and collarbone. His wife Nellie had made him promise to wear an emergency bracelet, but as Mr. Wooden says, she did not make him promise to push the button. Wooden regained consciousness on the bathroom floor. Pushing the button meant waking up his family. He waited for his friend to come at the regular time to take him for breakfast. Fourteen hours after the fall, sitting up in his hospital bed he eagerly ate chicken soup while watching a John Wayne movie.
Earlier this year, a non-Division 1 women's college basketball team, in California for a tournament, sought to meet him, unbeknownst to Mr. Wooden, at the diner where he eats breakfast everyday. The team arrived late, and inquiring, was told Mr. Wooden had hurried home. I knew Mr. Wooden was writing this book, and I like to think of the ninety-nine year-old coach hurrying home to work on it.
But what I like to think of more is what actually happened:
Mr. Wooden was phoned and invited the whole team to the tiny starter condo he has continued to live in since Nellie died. They spent the day talking and eating his favorite candy from childhood that Mr. Wooden still gets from Martinsville, Indiana.
And they were all made to feel as if they were the ones doing him the favor.
Brian
www.squidoo.com/coachjohnwooden
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Very few authors can inspire through their writings the way John Wooden does. Wooden does it again showing the world how we can all learn something from each person we interact with. A Game Plan for Life: The power of mentoring, includes lessons and philosophies for anyone regardless of their age, occupation, education, or experience. His lessons are simple and timeless. I especially enjoyed how throughout the book, he celebrated his mentors, honored his mentees, and empowered the reader to be truly inspiring. If Wooden suggests "...that the people who stand out are the ones who challenged me with words and inspired me with actions" then his most recent book has done just that. His simple life lessons remind the reader that remaining true to your values and ideals will help create a sense of calmness in your heart. This is not just a game plan for life ... it is a game plan brought to life. Personal anecdotes, inspirational messages, and simple reminders throughout the book suggest win or lose...the life lesson to the reader is . . . keep playing as teaching and learning are timeless.
My Choice - My Life: Realizing Your Ability to Create Balance in Life
My Choice - My Life: Realizing Your Ability to Create Balance in Life
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great read!
A great summary of short stories about the folks who have helped and made him the avid learner he is. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Steve
4.0 out of 5 stars
John Wooden makes the case for Mentoring
This book was an interesting read, and helped me form a practical perspective about being mentored and mentoring. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Marcus Ellard
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great book
This was a gift for my husband but I ended up reading it, too, What a sound philosophy for any young person! Not just any athlete but anyone.
Published 4 months ago by authorsandy
5.0 out of 5 stars
I have given it to a friend and family member
I had to write a review after reading the one negative review about the book. The critic's comments are wrong and he doesn't know Wooden all that well. Read more
Published 5 months ago by David
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great insights from The Coach!
I really like the way Don Yaeger captures the spirit of Coach Wooden, in clear, personal manner. From growing up, to mentoring his players, The Coach was a class act!
Published 6 months ago by Jim Upshaw
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great Reference
I bought this book because I started working with the mentorship program at my YMCA. The program teamed up with my school I work for and I wasn't sure what kind of mentor I was... Read more
Published 7 months ago by kristen may
4.0 out of 5 stars
Through the smallest of things, teaching
I chose to read this book because I am an avid sports fan and have a special interest in college basketball. Read more
Published 11 months ago by T. Stewart
4.0 out of 5 stars
Game Plan for Life
Every so often, a great man or woman walks the Earth. Many times we don't realize or understand how great they were until they are gone. Such was the case with John Wooden. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Robert T. Hess
5.0 out of 5 stars
Motivation to be mentored and to mentor others
I picked this up at a Borders closing sale because of John Wooden's fame. It turned out to be a great read - both motivational and inspiring. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Andrew Nam
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great mentoring resource!
When the word, "mentoring" is heard, most people think of adult/youth mentorship but in all actuality, mentoring "can be any action that inspires another" and can "happen at any... Read more
Published on December 25, 2010 by M. Teresa Trascritti
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