Coach Wooden is one of the great men of modern time who exemplified the balance of family, success and contribution. If you read any Coach Wooden book, this is the one I recommend.

This easy-to-read book begins at his foundation: family, values and virtues and then discusses and offers wisdom on the topics of success, achievement, competition and leadership.

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I've pulled some of my favorite quotes from the book to share with you:

• “Being a role model is the most powerful form of education.
• [People] need good models more than they need critics.”
• “[Happiness is] being at peace with yourself knowing that you are making the effort, the full effort, to do what is right.”
• “’Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.’ If you prepare properly, you may be outscored but you will never lose.”
• “Leaders Listen.” “I feel that hard public criticism embarrasses people, antagonizes them and may discourage them from being receptive to your message.”
• “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.”

Last night, in Game 5 of the Lakers vs. Suns, Ron Artest made a heroic shot with no time on the clock to win the game.  I was fortunate to be at the game and see this exciting play in person.

Before that shot, Artest was the goat.  He had a horrible game.  With about 57 seconds left on the clock he made a bad decision in taking a shot and was booed by the crowd.  Phil Jackson, the Lakers coach, who rarely criticizes players during games, spoke to Artest during a time out about his decision.

Artest did not get discouraged however.  He did not stop believing in himself and he did not hang his head.   Instead he focused on the next play and made what he said was the biggest play of his career.

The lesson here is that we all make mistakes.  We all embarrass ourselves by our poor decisions at one time or another. But it's the winners that never stop believing and always focus on the next play.

If you missed this shot check it out on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xax1FRfHV40

We just announced our expansion into the retail industry. Cydcor will now be providing full service, seasonal support and niche product in-store marketing services.

After engaging with Cydcor, territory management teams and retail product experts collaborate with client staff to identify objectives and expectations, and then create and implement scalable, custom programs that translate customer engagement and service into sales.

Click here to read more about this announcement.

Join our team!  Cydcor is recruiting talented salespeople to support new in-store marketing initiatives.  Interested candidates should send a resume to retailjobs@cydcor.com.

Making mistakes is all part of doing business.  Just ask Louis B. Mayer and Frank Capra.

Mayer, who built one of the greatest Hollywood studios ever – Metro-Goldwyn Mayer (MGM) – turned down Walt Disney when the young, struggling Walt came to him with an idea of making a movie about a mouse.  Mayer said women were afraid of mice, and that no one would ever pay money to see a film about them.

Frank Capra, the legendary movie director of It’s a Wonderful Life and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, turned down a friend’s request to cast a then struggling actor because he didn’t think she was anything special.  Marilyn Monroe went on to become a big star.

You might say these were colossal blunders.

How can people who make such big mistakes be so successful?  They did a lot right, too.

There is nothing wrong in making mistakes.  If you are going to make things happen, you will litter the ground with mistakes.  It is part of the process.  The successful people do not let the mistakes hurt them, they just keep moving forward.