John Woodens 7-Point Creed: Be True to

Yourself

Four things a man must learn to do

If he would make his life more true:
To think without confusion clearly,
To love his fellow-man sincerely,
To act from honest motives purely,
To trust in God and Heaven securely. Rev. Henry Van Dyke

The best thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother. - Abraham Lincoln

But his father would walk over until he was within earshot of the mule and simply say, Kate. This
alone would be enough to spur the animal back into action. Over time, Coach learned that even an
obstinate mule could be persuaded with gentleness.

Coach learned from his father that one should never mistake gentleness for weakness; in fact, quite
the opposite is true.

Joshua Wooden proved the famous words of Han Suyin: There is nothing stronger in the world than
gentleness.

The choices he made about how he spoke, the way he interacted with people, and the approach he
took to coaching were all consistent with his deepest and dearest beliefs. As a result, people were
naturally drawn to Coach in the same way that people and animals responded to his fathers
contagious serenity.

That peace of mind stems directly from knowing that every decision is consistent with ones own
values. Being true to ones self breeds confidence and is one of the fundamental traits of effective
leadership.