I have just finished reading the biography Wooden - A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court and was fascinated by how the basketball coach John Wooden accomplished unrivalled success by focusing his team on being the best. It is apparent that what separated his success from all the other great coaches was his relentless pursuit of perfection.
He coached the UCLA basketball team from 1948 to 1975, becoming one of the most successful college coaches. His accolades include 10 national championships, seven of them in consecutive years, undefeated seasons, and an 88-game winning streak. But what is truly remarkable is that he inherited an abysmal team, fashioned an instant turnaround and sustained the success until his retirement.
This brings us to his leadership insight and understanding of success.
During Wooden's sophomore year in high school, his maths teacher instructed his pupils to write a paper defining success for homework one day. Long after this assignment was turned in and for years to come, Wooden continued to think hard about this subject until 1934, when he pinned down his own definition of success.
Success is peace of mind that is the direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your utmost to become the best you are capable of.
The foundation of success is that you should do your very best all the time. And anything stemming from it - fame, fortune and trophies - is a by-product. The same is true in business as in athletics - the focus every day should be employees doing their very best, not trying to just get by with what is good enough.
Then the leader's job becomes helping the team succeed by achieving their personal best. This requires improving a little each day until big things happen. Not tomorrow, not the next day, but eventually a big gain is made by small improvements every day.
Coach Wooden charged his players with trying to improve a little each day, trying to close in on becoming their best. He expected them to give everything they had in trying to reach perfection. "We won't reach 120 per cent or 110 per cent, but how close to 100 per cent of our potential can we reach?" was the goal. When individuals are sincerely motivated to take up that challenge, the results can be astonishing.
Don't look for big improvements right away. Seek small improvements one day at a time. That is the only way it happens - and when it does happen it lasts.
Leaders are not the same as coaches in all things, but we are all the same in having the opportunity to make the most of what we have. The ultimate challenge for leaders is to help their team along the way in becoming the best.
As a leader, like a coach, the practical advice in instructing employees to achieve their best is to be clear about your expectations, remove distractions, constantly communicate the goal, relentlessly measure and give feedback on the effort, and motivate the team. This is what Coach Wooden did to achieve success. Leaders who follow his example will also delight in seeing their team achieve stellar results.
Tommy Weir is an authority on fast-growth and emerging-market leadership, an adviser and the author of The CEO Shift. He is the founder of the Emerging Markets Leadership Center
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Farasan Boat: 128km Away from Anchorage
Director: Mowaffaq Alobaid
Stars: Abdulaziz Almadhi, Mohammed Al Akkasi, Ali Al Suhaibani
Rating: 4/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Tips for taking the metro
- set out well ahead of time
- make sure you have at least Dh15 on you Nol card, as there could be big queues for top-up machines
- enter the right cabin. The train may be too busy to move between carriages once you're on
- don't carry too much luggage and tuck it under a seat to make room for fellow passengers
Ticket prices
- Golden circle - Dh995
- Floor Standing - Dh495
- Lower Bowl Platinum - Dh95
- Lower Bowl premium - Dh795
- Lower Bowl Plus - Dh695
- Lower Bowl Standard- Dh595
- Upper Bowl Premium - Dh395
- Upper Bowl standard - Dh295
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
About Proto21
Date started: May 2018
Founder: Pir Arkam
Based: Dubai
Sector: Additive manufacturing (aka, 3D printing)
Staff: 18
Funding: Invested, supported and partnered by Joseph Group
Jewel of the Expo 2020
252 projectors installed on Al Wasl dome
13.6km of steel used in the structure that makes it equal in length to 16 Burj Khalifas
550 tonnes of moulded steel were raised last year to cap the dome
724,000 cubic metres is the space it encloses
Stands taller than the leaning tower of Pisa
Steel trellis dome is one of the largest single structures on site
The size of 16 tennis courts and weighs as much as 500 elephants
Al Wasl means connection in Arabic
World’s largest 360-degree projection surface
A new relationship with the old country
Treaty of Friendship between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates
The United kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates; Considering that the United Arab Emirates has assumed full responsibility as a sovereign and independent State; Determined that the long-standing and traditional relations of close friendship and cooperation between their peoples shall continue; Desiring to give expression to this intention in the form of a Treaty Friendship; Have agreed as follows:
ARTICLE 1 The relations between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates shall be governed by a spirit of close friendship. In recognition of this, the Contracting Parties, conscious of their common interest in the peace and stability of the region, shall: (a) consult together on matters of mutual concern in time of need; (b) settle all their disputes by peaceful means in conformity with the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations.
ARTICLE 2 The Contracting Parties shall encourage education, scientific and cultural cooperation between the two States in accordance with arrangements to be agreed. Such arrangements shall cover among other things: (a) the promotion of mutual understanding of their respective cultures, civilisations and languages, the promotion of contacts among professional bodies, universities and cultural institutions; (c) the encouragement of technical, scientific and cultural exchanges.
ARTICLE 3 The Contracting Parties shall maintain the close relationship already existing between them in the field of trade and commerce. Representatives of the Contracting Parties shall meet from time to time to consider means by which such relations can be further developed and strengthened, including the possibility of concluding treaties or agreements on matters of mutual concern.
ARTICLE 4 This Treaty shall enter into force on today’s date and shall remain in force for a period of ten years. Unless twelve months before the expiry of the said period of ten years either Contracting Party shall have given notice to the other of its intention to terminate the Treaty, this Treaty shall remain in force thereafter until the expiry of twelve months from the date on which notice of such intention is given.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned have signed this Treaty.
DONE in duplicate at Dubai the second day of December 1971AD, corresponding to the fifteenth day of Shawwal 1391H, in the English and Arabic languages, both texts being equally authoritative.
Signed
Geoffrey Arthur Sheikh Zayed
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Other promotions
- Deliveroo will team up with Pineapple Express to offer customers near JLT a special treat: free banana caramel dessert with all orders on January 26
- Jones the Grocer will have their limited edition Australia Day menu available until the end of the month (January 31)
- Australian Vet in Abu Dhabi (with locations in Khalifa City A and Reem Island) will have a 15 per cent off all store items (excluding medications)
