March Madness is the pinnacle of college basketball each year…2 weekends of “madness” as 68 teams (64+4…don’t get me started…) scramble furiously for a spot in the Final Four and seek the coveted title of NCAA Basketball Champion.  The Final Four this year will be in Houston April 2-4, but crazed fans will be screaming at televisions and updating brackets all over the US and abroad.

John Wooden was arguably the greatest NCAA basketball coach of all time.  Wooden coached bright stars, such as Bill Walton and Lew Alcindor (you may know him as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar).  Wooden’s teams at UCLA set a new standard of excellence.  His results were unmatched.  John Wooden led the UCLA Bruins to dominate NCAA basketball winning 10 National Championships, including 7 years in a row.  No other team in men’s college basketball has come close to that string of success.

Here’s the part of the story that gives me hope.  Wooden was ordinary at his job for a long time.  Then he changed.

It’s never too late for you and me.  You see…John Wooden celebrated his birthday 52 years before he shifted course.  He had been head coach at UCLA 15 seasons when an assistant coach convinced him to implement a major change (he switched to a full-court zone press.)  In those prior 15 seasons, UCLA had decent results under Coach Wooden.  After this change in defensive strategy, Wooden took his teams to new heights – they became unstoppable.  He shifted gears and pushed the envelope.  And, you can too.

You can change.  Doesn’t matter how many candles stick out of your birthday cake, or how many times you’ve had ordinary results.  It’s never too late to improve.  John Wooden was 53 when he won his first championship…then success became contagious.  Wooden would have made a stellar project manager.  As a coach and leader, John Wooden is a legend.