​John Wooden and Pete Newell had tremendous respect for each other. Coach Wooden once announced to a gathering at a John Wooden Award luncheon: "You know, if Pete Newell hadn't retired, this award might be is his name, not mine." Coach Newell and Coach Wooden had very different styles from a basketball perspective, but they also had much in common. They both were great teachers of fundamentals, masters of having extremely well-conditioned teams and absolutely knew who "The Right People" were for their teams.
 
In the book A Good Man the Pete Newell Story, by Bruce Jenkins, Coach Wooden talked about how great Pete Newell was picking and utilizing "The Right People" for his system:
 
"I would say that there has never been a coach more difficult to beat if you let him hand-pick his material. It might not be the material I'd pick, but it would be great for Pete. Darrall Imhoff (Cal's All-American center), for example, isn't a guy you'd figure to carry you, but he was great for Pete. I consider Pete to be one of the truly great coaches because his teams were so fundamentally sound. I think he taught things well. Very well!! You don't have to say anything else. And I think that playing against Pete made me a better coach."
 
Whether its basketball or business, successful leaders know exactly the type of people they want on their team. John Wooden wanted quickness with as much size as possible but only if he was confident the individual could be a team player. Bear Bryant wanted quickness but only if the individual was extremely tough mentally and physically. Bill Marriot wanted great customer service at his hotels, so he only hired "nice people". John Shields, the former CEO of Trader Joe's, grew annual sales from 132 million to more than 2 billion dollars in twelve years by staffing his stores with fun, enthusiastic people. Shields once commented that when he interviewed somebody for retail, he wouldn't hire them if they didn't smile within 30 seconds.
 
Coach Newell's teams were legendary for their toughness, team work and defense. In A Good Man the Pete Newell Story, Coach Newell described his recruiting approach to get "The Right People" for his teams:
 
"So often the star player I'd go to see, he'd have talent and all that, but he was a self-centered guy. Wouldn't play both ends of the court. Wouldn't play unless he had the ball in his hands. That really turned me off. I'm not going to get a guy like that and try to change him. I'm not that optimistic about changing some¬body who's been one way for 18 years. That's not my responsibility as a coach. I'm not a social worker or a psychiatrist, I was more interested in kids who wanted to go to Cal. And I guess I had enough confidence in my ability to teach."
 
Different leaders want different types of people for their teams. One great player can't make a team great but one bad player can ruin a team.

​Hall of Fame Legend Pete Newell's first game as a collegiate coach came against USC and future fellow Hall of Fame coach Sam Barry. They lost the game 57-41. In the book A Good Man the Pete Newell Story by Bruce Jenkins, Coach Newell described how the rival coach, Sam Barry, helped him after the game:
 
"This is the type of person Sam Barry was: He knows I'm really down, and we happen to walk out of the building around the same time. He had this terrific double-screen play that we just couldn't handle. He'd pop his best shooter behind the screen and got open shots all night. I was so curious how they ran the play. So, he starts taking me through the play right there in the parking lot. He's got his wife out there, and she's part of the double-screen with an old buddy of mine who was leaving with me. I'm the passer; Sam's coming off the screen. We're using his car as the fifth player. Here's this great coach showing me one of his best plays. I couldn't wait for the next practice day. And you know, I used that play the rest of my career"
 
After his last game as a Coach, Pete Newell described how he was able to "pay it forward" by helping his biggest rival, UCLA coach John Wooden:
 
"When I had announced my retirement in the middle of the 1959-60 season, Coach Wooden told me that he wanted to sit down and talk about defense in the summer. I told him I would be happy to. I ended up coaching the Olympic team in Rome, but my assistant, Rene Herrerias, who later took my place as head coach, discussed strategies with John's assistant, Jerry Norman, who was critical in helping UCLA implement their own full court press defense which helped UCLA win their first championship in 1964."
 
Two of the greatest professional players of that era, rivals Bill Russell of Boston and Oscar Robertson of Cincinnati, also shared ideas. The famous rivals were also best friends and ate lunch at each other's home on game days when playing in the other's city. This didn't make them any less competitive with each other that night.
 
The idea of sharing ideas with your "competitive rivals" has been continued by the best professional basketball players from today's NBA. Kevin Durant's off-season workouts included sessions with "rivals" Russell Westbrook, James Harden and Paul George. Another set of his workouts were with "rivals" LeBron James and Kawhi Leonard.
 
The media sometimes romanticizes "bitter rivals". Whether it is Pete Newell and John Wooden or Kevin Durant and LeBron James, the lesson is that "great champions don't keep secrets they share ideas and grow together."
 
Do you have a "rival" you could share ideas with and grow?
 

Always ahead of his time future hall of legend Pete Newell understood that Less is More. In the book A Good Man, the Pete Newell Story by Bruce Jenkins Coach Newell explained how he kept his players refreshed and sharp:
 
1. "I didn't demand a lot of a player's time, the way coaches do today, where you watch films morning, noon and night. We didn't overdo any of that stuff. In fact, we practiced less than two hours a day and that was it."
 
2. When the semester break arrived Newell gave the team 10 days off, then followed one of his old customs by playing his reserves in the first game back. "During the break, I wouldn't even let the guys come on the court. I wanted them to change their habits, think about other things, and come back mentally refreshed. I sacrificed a little conditioning with all the time off, but mentally, I think the game was fun for them again and without question, mental conditioning is just as important. I did this every year at the break, and often we'd be rising at the end of the year when other teams had flattened out". In 1959 Newell’s team won the National Championship. In 1960 they were the national runner up.
 
Prior to the 1961-62 season, Coach Wooden had been at UCLA for 13 years. His teams had been in the NCAA tournament three times and lost in the first round all three times. In 1962, two years before Coach Wooden won his first national championship, UCLA came up short, losing to Cincinnati in the Final Four. Coach felt it was his fault. In Coach Wooden’s Complete Guide to Leadership, he described two of the changes he made:
 
In the past, when UCLA qualified for the NCAA post season tournament, I had intensified our already grueling practices, working players even harder-so hard in fact, that by tournament time they were physically and mentally spent.
 
I had added new plays and piled on more information. Instead of staying with what had worked during the regular season - a clear and uncomplicated strategy.
 
Coach stopped adding new plays and shortened late season practices to ninety minutes or less. Ten championships in twelve years followed.
 
Are you giving yourself enough time to disconnect and refresh? Less is more.
 

Beyond every great coach and leader, a brilliant mentor can be discovered. As we unleash our vast potential and explore the outer depths of who we are on our self-discovery journey, mastering the art of relationship building is essential. Relationships are partnerships. They must be authentic and sustainable. The goal of partnerships is to create value and win-win situations. Instead of entering relationships and situations with the mindset of receiving. Shift your focus on what you can deliver and give. Make it easy for people to know you, help you, believe you and value you. 

We all need a portfolio of conversation partners. Your network is your net worth. The people you surround yourself with most have a significant influence on your behaviors, attitudes, beliefs, and performance. How these relationships impact the thoughts you think, the actions you take, the words you express and how you envision yourself in this world set the course for your life today and your future tomorrow.

At sixty years of age, I no longer believe in waiting for the right moment. I believe in living immediately while using the resources available to find a way. Let each day be a step forward in cultivating your dreams. Courage is the only virtue you cannot fake. The more burning the fear, the greater the grit must be. You can win a lot in life just by being the last one to give up. Sometimes the difference between winning and losing is the ability to summon up extra reserves of energy and strength you did not know you possessed.

Repetition and obstacles are vital to our personal growth journey’s towards mastering ourselves. I have come to realize, one of the most overlooked personal growth objectives is how we incorporate learning and knowledge acquisition into our everyday lives. Learning transpires when you acknowledge what you do not know. To successfully compete in this 21st-century global marketplace your skillset must be fresh, valuable, relevant and compelling. Remember you are always a work in progress. It is about disrupting your own operations and habits while auditing your life to find ways to improve and get 1% better every day. You must be your own disrupter and coach. 

As life changes, so must your mind. If you do not manage your thoughts and allow repeated falsehoods to take hold, they become truths. Intellectual capital and living in a state of peace emotionally, physically, mentally and spiritually will always trump financial assets and gain. Wealth, luxury and fame cannot protect a person from despair, loneliness, depression, anxiety, and pain. You cannot heal what you do not acknowledge. What we suppress, we empower!