This month's issue is about team building, one of those characteristics that make great places to work stand out from the rest.

Regardless of size, mission or field of endeavor, each of the companies on Washington CEO Magazine's list of 100 Best Companies to Work For incorporates the fundamentals of team building in their workplaces, which leads to achievement, success and excellence.

John Wooden, the illustrious former basketball coach at UCLA who led his team to an unprecedented 10 NCAA championships, would be proud of the companies featured on this year's list. In fact, he would have words of praise for all 167 organizations that took part in this year's evaluation process.

Coach Wooden offers sage advice on building loyalty, trust and bringing out the best in people in a short, but very worthwhile book he co-authored with Steve Jamison 10 years ago, Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court. It's a great reference when you need to think about what's important in life and what winning is all about, both individually and as a team. Wooden's thoughts are as applicable to business as they are to basketball.

Here are 10 principles from Wooden's book. They apply to both leaders and those who aspire to be in the corner office:

• On bringing out the best in people: "In the workplace you'll get better cooperation and results if you are sincerely interested in people's families and interests, not simply how they do their job. It all comes back to courtesy, politeness and consideration."
• Remember that winners make the most mistakes: "The doer makes mistakes. The individual who is mistake free is also probably sitting around doing nothing. And that's a very big mistake."
• Characteristics of a team player: "Understanding that the good of the group comes first is fundamental to being a highly productive member of a team. Gifted players who are not team players will ultimately hurt the team, whether it involves basketball or business."
• Leadership is a sacred trust and a privilege: "Helping to mold character, instill productive principles and values and to provide a positive example to those under my supervision is a sacred trust. Furthermore, it is a privilege to have that responsibility, opportunity and obligation, one that should never be taken lightly."
• Respect is critical: "You must have respect, which is part of love, for those under your supervision. Then they will do all you ask and more. They'll go the extra distance, make the extra effort in trying to accomplish the most they can within the framework of the team."
• A leader is fair: "Fairness is giving all the people the treatment they earn and deserve. It doesn't mean treating everyone alike. That's unfair, because everyone doesn't deserve the same treatment. As long as those under your supervision know that you are trying hard to be fair, you'll do fine -- whether it's your children, employees or athletes."
• Leadership and punishment: "Leaders have to discipline. Those who dispense discipline must remember that its purpose is to help, to prevent, to correct, to improve, rather than to punish. You are not likely to get positive results if you antagonize. Punishment antagonizes."
• The value of feeling valued: "Everyone on the team, from the manager to the coach, from the secretary to the owner, has a role to fulfill. That role is critical if the team is to come close to reaching its potential. The leader must understand this."
• A leader can be led: "Stubbornness, an insistence on having your own way, narrowmindedness, a refusal to listen, an inability to see both sides are antithetical to leadership. If you cling to those traits, you and whatever team you wish to lead will not progress."
• A manager's highest compliment: "One of the finest things a player could say about me [Wooden] after he left the team was that I cared every bit as much about him as an individual as I cared about him as an athlete. There's a great deal of love involved in coaching. That's what a team should be to a coach."