While casual observers characterize UCLA’s championship teams

as having tall superstars, they are incorrect. In fact, UCLA’s first

championship team in 1964 is perhaps the shortest ever to win a
NCAA Division I basketball title. It wasn’t

“It’s what you learn after you

much different in 1965 when UCLA won

know it all that counts.”

its second championship.

What all our teams had in common was not height, but

quickness—physical quickness, of course, but also something of

equal value: mental quickness, that is, Alertness.

Alertness, the ability to be constantly observing, absorbing, and
learning from what’s going on around you, is a critical component
for the individual in charge, the leader who strives for continuous
improvement. You must constantly be awake, alive, and alert in
evaluating yourself as well as the strengths and weaknesses of your
organization and your competitors. In sports today, we see instantaneous
adjustments during play—film, photos, and spotters in the
booths with binoculars providing immediate information to
coaches and players during the game.

Should it be different with you and your organization? The same
sense of urgent observation—Alertness—must exist in you and be
taught to those under your supervision. A leader who is sluggish in
recognizing what’s going on may soon be out of a job.