John Wooden was one of the most successful college basketball coaches in the history of the game. Although he coached in a different era, his approach to coaching provided a foundation his players used for successful lives after graduating from UCLA. Wooden’s “Pyramid of Success” has become famous for its simple yet profound concepts. A […]
It’s Not What You Know…
It’s how much you care. OK, some people thought it was “who you know” that matters, right? Well, maybe that’s true for advancing your own career but in leadership positions people need to know and feel you care about them. How I Failed Miserably As a young, up and coming athletics administrator I had ambitions […]
Quantifying Athletics Impact on Enrollment
In this episode of Perspective on Athletics, we discuss the issue of enrollment management and the role athletics plays. Many small campuses are tuition dependent, if not tuition driven, institutions. In other words, hitting enrollment targets plays a critical budgetary role for the entire campus. The relationship between athletics and admissions departments can make or […]
Summer’s Here: Hurry up and relax
Summer is officially almost here. Very soon are the 7-10 days of the year that athletics administrators can exhale, unwind and (dare I say) relax. But, next year is right around the corner and fall sports will be in full swing. It’s time to review your “I wish I would have…” list. You know, it’s […]
Compromised Virtue: Where do we go from here?
Athletics’ virtue has been obliterated by one scandal after another played out publicly in various media. If one thing can come from all of the recent media coverage of alleged coach “abuse” of student-athletes, it should be that we all need to pay more attention to what it happening within athletics programs… even if there […]
Why You Should Scrap Your Mission Statement
Most mission statements are useless. Organizations spend time crafting and word-smithing statements that they want to use as a guiding force for the people that work there. However, few organizations get beyond words on a web page or a printed piece of paper. Some even print glossy color posters of their mission statement and hang […]
Little League, Puppies and Leadership
Our eight-year old son just started his Little League season and I offered to help coach. We also recently welcomed a female Chesapeake puppy to our family. Both of these situations have offered great reminders of three effective leadership principles: 1. Create the vision. Clarity of purpose is essential. Your vision of success must be […]
Five Keys for Focus and Action
We all get busy, in fact overwhelmed, at times with multi-faceted jobs and increasing workloads and expectations. It’s easy to fall into a state of paralysis if you don’t have an effective way to manage all of your projects and tasks. Plus, when are you supposed to work on the big picture items in your […]