Without high level attitude we can’t reach high level performance in anything. So, if we want to reach high level volleyball and play modern volleyball, we need coaches, players and managers who has high level attitude. If we want to create culture of excellence in our team, first of all we must start with mindset. The only way to develop better players is to develop better brain. Like everything else if don’t have something we can’t give it to someone else, if we as a coach don’t posse positive mindset, how can we teach it to our players? Therefore, the essential element in developing great players and high level teams is developing great mindset first in ourselves as coaches and then in each player and creating culture of success and excellence in the team.
We believe that in pursuit of excellence there are seven steps that everybody should take to be in the road of excellence:
First step: creating inner peace by accepting your current reality; goal setting, planning and mental readiness to start the long, difficult, sweet and bright journey toward your goal. This inner peace is the result of accepting where you are and knowing where you intend to go.
Second step: courage and motivation to go out of comfort zone and start the journey and place in the road of excellence. As you start to walk on the way, the way appears.
Third step: focus on the road of excellence and do what will make you closer to your goal (positive steps) and avoid to do what will make you far from your goal (negative steps). In this step it is very important to turn off worries, avoid distractions and what you can’t control; like social media, what other people say or think and so on. If you lose your focus the ability to refocus and comeback into your way is very vital. Your focus is your leader, let it to lead you positively, constructively and happily.
Fourth step: commitment to stay in the road of excellence and abandon the small enjoyments in order to reach deep and stable happiness. Gain confidence by looking to the way that you have come and obstacles that you have overcome. The key point in this step is that don’t let the bitterness or pain of poor performance or mistakes weaken or waver you, or causes you doubt on your ability or lose passion. By reminding yourself your perfect performances and difficult challenges that you have overcome, take energy and confidence to continue the way.
Fifth step: mental toughness and creativity in face of the difficult problems and complicated obstacles, and also consistency in pursuit of excellence by continues learning from good and bad performances and also from other people experiences. The other essential factor in this step is creating balance between work and rest for deliberate recovery in order to manage power to continue the way with full of energy and quality.
Sixth step: faith to your way to your goal to yourself. Hope and courage to continue your way with tiredness and fatigue. Grit and patient in doing what is right in order to finish what you have stared, finish strong with high quality in high pressure and demanding situation. This attitude that you embrace challenge, causes high quality performance with poise and calmness in high pressure situation, because also you know that this pressure is the privilege that you deserve.
FIGURE 4.1 Personal excellence
Seventh step: if you help others to find their way, reach inner peace and courage to start their journey, growth and shine, then you will hear your calling and will be transformed from passenger in the road of personal excellence to immigrant in the road of becoming useful member of the team of universe.
Pyramid of Success of John Wooden
John Wooden the legend basketball coach, based on his experiences as an athlete, coach, and teacher, defined success this way: “Success is peace of mind that is the direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.” If we define in this way everything is in our control, nobody can give us the success and nobody can take it from us, success is an inner job. According to his definition, he creates his pyramid of success that contain 15 qualities that help everyone to stay in the road of success and level up his performance and perform constantly. you can find everything about the pyramid of success in the official website of John Wooden; www.coachwooden.com. Here is the John Wooden pyramid of success and brief explanation of each quality:
FIGURE 4.2 Pyramid of success of John Wooden
The Fifteen qualities in the Pyramid of Success
The Pyramid of Success of John Wooden is a framework of successful behaviors. From the bottom to the top, they are:
- Industriousness; Industriousness is one of the cornerstones of the Pyramid. Industriousness means hard work. Very hard work. There is no substitute for very hard work when it comes to success. I have not known, heard of, or read about any individual anywhere who achieved real success without working extremely hard. In fact, the great successes we all know about are individuals who almost always have greatly outworked their competition.
- Friendship; Two aspects of friendship are respect and camaraderie. Friendship is about building a community around you. A sense of belonging is needed for all humans to feel fulfilled. Treat people with respect and constantly look for the good in others.
- Loyalty; Loyalty is part of our higher nature and it is also part of the nature of leaders who achieve higher goals. The power of Loyalty is the reason he placed it in the center of the Pyramid’s foundation. Trust is the key to loyalty. When your team trusts you, they are more loyal to you and your organization.
- Cooperation; Sharing ideas, information, responsibilities, creativity and tasks is a priority of good leadership and great teams. This is Cooperation. (The only thing that is not shared is blame. A strong self-confident leader gives credit to others, when deserved, and takes blame. A weak leader takes credit and gives blame.). You are not the only person with good ideas. Others too have brains. In order to reach your organization’s full potential there must be Cooperation.
- Enthusiasm; Your heart must be in your work. Your energy and Enthusiasm stimulates those you work with. It is the ingredient that transforms Industriousness into something of great magnitude – the engine that powers all blocks of the Pyramid. It is why he chose Industriousness and Enthusiasm as the cornerstones of his Pyramid of Success. It is where everything begins.
- Self-control; This characteristic within the Pyramid of Success addresses the importance of controlling yourself in all areas – avoiding temptations, avoiding emotionalism, avoiding peaks and valleys of effort. He liked to remind those under his supervision: “Control yourself so others won’t have to do it for you.”
- Alertness; Alertness means being aware of your surroundings and being willing to learn from them at all times. More importantly, having your eyes open to new opportunities enables you to seize them. Alertness is that asset that keeps you awake and perceptive and increases Skill. The driver who’s asleep at the wheel will crash. The same happens to organizations lacking Alertness: they will crash.
- Initiative; Failure to act is often the biggest failure of all. Initiative is the ability to act. Simple as that. You must prepare thoroughly in all ways. If you have done that you must then summon the wherewithal to apply Initiative. Failure happens. None of us is perfect but you must train yourself not to fear failure. Fear instead inaction when it is time to act. This is true in all areas of life. Proper preparation must be followed with Initiative. As he reminded himself and others often: “Be quick, but don’t hurry.” That’s a good motto for Initiative.
- Intentness; This personal quality may be as important as any within the Pyramid. It is the ability to stay the course even when that course is most difficult and the obstacles seem insurmountable. You do not quit: Intentness. Be persistent. Be determined. Be tenacious. Be unrelenting. The road to achievement is rocky, hard, and long. Things easily achieved are rarely long-lasting or significant. If you have Intentness and your ability warrants it, you will eventually reach the top of the Pyramid.
- Condition; You must be in physical Condition, but you must also have mental and moral Condition. All three are components in this block of the Pyramid because you can’t have one without the others. Weak mental or moral Condition precludes top physical Condition. Some observers felt that top players have top physical Condition. That was only part of it. They also have top mental and moral Condition.
- Skill; At the very center of the Pyramid of Success is Skill. You have to know your stuff and that includes a mastery of details. This is true whether you’re an athlete, a surgeon, or a CEO. You’d better be able to execute properly and quickly and that requires Skill Mastery of the skills you need in your job requires learning and it is why leaders and those who are high achievers are lifelong learners. Skill is an ongoing and lifelong process.
- Team Spirit; This block of the Pyramid addresses a most important characteristic: selflessness which is the opposite of selfishness. John Wooden described this concept in this way:
” I mean by this that you are eager to sacrifice personal glory or gain for the greater good, namely, the welfare and success of your organization, your team, your group. For me it meant I was constantly searching for that player who would make our team ‘great’ rather than a someone who was just a ‘great player’. There is a big difference and that difference is what constitutes Team Spirit. I did not want a person on our team who was reluctant to sacrifice for the good of the team. I prized the individual who was eager to sacrifice for our common good.”
- Poise; Just be yourself. Don’t pretend to be what you are not. Don’t get rattled, thrown off or unbalanced regardless of the circumstance or situation. Leaders with Poise do not panic under pressure. Poise means holding fast to your principles and beliefs and acting in accordance with them regardless of how bad (or good) the situation may be. Know who you are and be true to yourself. Those with Poise have a brave heart in all circumstances. Poise is a powerful gift you give yourself when you acquire the qualities of the Pyramid in the supporting tiers beneath it.
- Confidence; There is no stronger steel than well-founded belief in yourself; the knowledge that your preparation is fully complete and that you are ready for the competition. Confidence cannot be grafted on artificially. True abiding confidence is earned through tenaciously pursuing and attaining those assets that allow you to reach your own level of competency; that is, excellence. You must monitor Confidence because it can easily turn into arrogance which then can lead to the mistaken and destructive belief that previous achievement will be repeated without the same hard effort that brought it about in the first place.
- Competitive Greatness; Competitive Greatness is having a real love for the hard battle knowing it offers the opportunity to be at your best when your best is required. As a leader you must convey this to those you lead: a tough fight can bring forth Competitive Greatness. The hard battle inspires and motivates a great competitor to dig deep inside. You are tested. When properly prepared you will rise to your highest level and achieve Competitive Greatness.