Brian Johnson narrates a short podcast episode summarizing John Wooden's Pyramid of Success (from Wooden on Leadership). He quotes Wooden's description of the Great Pyramid metaphor and then lists and briefly explains the 15 virtue-blocks arranged in tiers — cornerstones (Industriousness, Enthusiasm), second tier (Self-control, Alertness, Initiative, Intentness), third tier (Condition, Skill, Team spirit), a higher tier (Poise, Confidence), and the pinnacle (Competitive Greatness: "be at your best when your best is needed; love the battle"). Johnson links Wooden's summit idea to ancient concepts of eudaimonia and offers a single-word summary ("orate") as a mnemonic for living these virtues.
Chapters
Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another heroic one. In our last plus one, we talked about Coach Wooden and his brilliant book, Wooden on Leadership. I highly, highly, highly recommend that book for everyone who is a leader, which, to be clear, includes you. Check out the notes linked in the plus one and get the book linked in the plus one or just go to Amazon Wooden on Leadership. Wherever you get your books now, I promise that today we chat about Wooden's Pyramid of Success. Let's get to work. Wooden tells us, and I quote, I remembered reading about the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt when I was a student at Purdue. It was the last of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Built with blocks of red granite and pure limestone, some weighing up to 60 tons, the great Pyramid was constructed on a massive foundation whose huge cornerstones were the biggest and most important of the whole structure. He continues by saying additional blocks, each carved with a specific purpose and position in mind, were then painstakingly ramped and hoisted into place, creating successive tiers, each one supported by what had come before. Andy says there was a center or heart of the Great Pyramid, which then rose to the apex that towered 481ft over over the sands of the desert. For 4,300 years, it remained the tallest structure on earth. And despite its size, the Great Pyramid was built with such precision that when it was completed, after decades of labor, you couldn't slide a single playing card between its huge blocks of granite and limestone. Even in the 21st century, it is considered one of the sturdiest and best planned structures ever built. And I'm not alone in this thinking. The great management writer and analyst Peter Drucker, when asked who were the greatest managers of all time, answered, the builders of the Great Pyramids. Now that's from chapter number one, the Pyramid of Success. In the book, Wooden walks us through the 15 blocks that form the basis of his entire leadership philosophy. Got a picture of the pyramid in my copy of the book. You can click on a link to check that out or Google Wooden's Pyramid of Success to see it visually. Let's take a quick look at the 15 blocks now. First, the pinnacle of success. I repeat, Wooden calls that competitive greatness. He sums that up with, be at your best when your best is needed. Love the battle. The cornerstones of the pyramid, they are the most important. Industriousness and enthusiasm. Now for the quick look at those 15 virtue blocks. Coach tells us that success is all about industriousness. Work hard. Worthwhile things come only through hard work, friendship, Mutual esteem, camaraderie and respect. Create great bonds of strength. Loyalty to yourself and all those depending on you. Cooperation. Be interested in finding the best way, not in having your own way. And enthusiasm. You must truly enjoy what you're doing. That's the first tier. Second tier, Self control. Practice self discipline and keep emotions under control. Alertness. Be observant and eager to learn and improve. Initiative. Summon the courage to make a decision and take action. Intentness. Stay the course. Concentrate on your objective with steely resolve. That's the second tier. Third tier. Condition. Mental, moral, physical, Moderation must be practiced. Skill. Be able to execute all aspects of your job. Keep learning. Team spirit. An eagerness to sacrifice. Personal interest for the welfare of all. Third tier. Next tier. Poise. Stay calm under fire. Avoid pretense or posturing. Just be yourself. And confidence. Proper preparation creates the right kind of confidence. And finally, competitive greatness. Be at your best when your best is needed. Love the battle. End quote. Now, before we wrap up today's +1, I want to note a couple of things. First, notice that each of those blocks in the pyramid is a virtue. Also, notice that the summit, AKA the summum bonum, or the greatest good, is the ability to be your best when it matters most. You know what the ancient Greeks and Stoics called the person who actualized their potential and activated their competitive greatness? They called them a eudaimon, a good soul. As we discuss in our notes on Aristotle's ethics, the eudaimon was a success. And know this. We can summarize all 15 of those virtues from Wooden's Pyramid of success in a single word. Once again, that word is orate. Here's to living with wisdom, discipline, love, courage, gratitude, hope, curiosity and zest as we activate our heroic potential. Or to channel our inner Wooden. Here's to living with industriousness, friendship, loyalty, cooperation, enthusiasm, self control, alertness, initiative, intentness, condition, skill, team spirit, poise and confidence as we activate our competitive greatness. When Today's the day, hero, it's day one. We're all in. Let's go.
