The number 47 carries a good deal of significance in the Wilkinson family.

Bud Wilkinson’s first season as head football coach at the University of Oklahoma was in 1947. He went on to lead the Sooners to an NCAA record 47 straight victories. And then, when Bud Wilkinson retired from college coaching, he was just 47 years old.

Jay Wilkinson was 47 when he received the NCAA’s Silver Anniversary award for distinction 25 years after college graduation. Interestingly, the atomic number for silver is 47.

47. 4 and 7. 4 + 7.

Almost any first-grader can tell you that 4 + 7 = 11. There are 11 players on a football team, a soccer team, on a side in cricket and in field hockey.

Winning the Wilkinson Way suggests that 4 + 7 tallies something of great significance:

4 + 7 = SUCCESS

Bud Wilkinson believed whole-heartedly in Four Core Principles of Transformational Leadership as the foundation to achieving success:

• Values
• Attitude
• Preparation
• Persistence

Once these fundamental principles have been mastered, then the real journey to success begins via the Seven Steps to Gaining Greatness. These seven steps should be at the core of everyone’s game plan for life. The Seven Steps to Gaining Greatness require preparation and persistence coupled with the right values and a positive attitude in order to master their power.

As Bud Wilkinson famously said, “The will to prepare is more important than the will to win.”