Sport and the Growing Good

Steve Stricker is a great golfer – but also a smart, effective and well-regarded leader. He served as Captain of the United States Ryder Cup and President’s Cup teams. His success in those venue was no mistake – he was organized, prepared, and ready when leadership roles were presented. We enjoyed a conversation about leadership, paying specific attention to Steve’s captaincies. 1.        Growing...

Muffet McGraw is the head coach of the Notre Dame women’s basketball team. Her teams have won two national championships and competed in nine final fours. Coach McGraw was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and is widely recognized as one of the all-time great college basketball coaches. In this episode of SGG, we discussed: 1.  Going into a bubble on gamedays. 2.  Being grateful a...

Making wise decisions is at the heart of leadership. Coaches are faced with a constant barrage of decisions to be made, from the small ones of little consequence to the foundational decisions that shape our futures. Consider just a small sample of the many decisions we must make: Should I be a coach? Which job should I take? Who can I trust? What system should I run? Which players should I select?...

Dennis Scanlon is a Distinguished Professor of Health Policy and Administration and a Faculty Athletics Representative (FAR) at Penn State University. In addition to his renowned career as a researcher and teacher, he’s served in a critical leadership capacity at conference and campus levels as the Big Ten leads the way in a new era of college athletics. 1.        Dennis’ experience as a student-a...

Omar Brown is the Senior Vice President of Community and Impact at the Big Ten Conference. He has a rich history of leadership with and beyond the conference. In his current role, Omar leads the way with student-athlete experiences and with community engagement. 1.        Two big parts of Omar’s job: 1) Student-athlete experience. 2) Community work. 2.        Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. Tw...

Katie Ahrens Smith is the Vice President of Policy and Compliance at the Big Ten Conference. She’s got a rich history of campus level leadership and offers a unique perspective on different leadership roles and on the interaction between institutions and the conference office.  1.        Why Katie entered athletic administration. 2.        What is the Senior Woman Administrator in an athletic depa...

A key charge for coaches is bringing their teams together to form a collective identity. Team identity formation is a complex process that can shape the group’s journey in profound ways. In this session, Coach Jackson offers some insights on team identity formation. 1.        What is worth noting early in an NBA season. 2.        Setting the tone for a new season: Speaking with the team about pres...

A.J. Edds is the Vice President of Football Administration at the Big Ten Conference. He plays a central role in guiding the sport throughout the year – including communicating with internal conference colleagues as well as coaches and administrators at each institution. 1. Coaches who AJ admired over the years. Rick Wimmer (at Greenwood High School). Kirk Ferentz (at Iowa). 2. “We exist to serve...

Becky Pany is the Senior Vice President of Sport Administration at the Big Ten Conference. She works closely with campus and conference partners to ensure that the conference offers a fair and robust sports experience.  1.        Back injury that allowed Becky to serve as a student coach and ultimately an internship and role in the athletic department at IU. 2.        Being a utility player. Learn...

Laura Anderson is the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer at the Big Ten Conference. She draws from a rich diversity of professional and personal experiences to lead the conference through a period of rapid change. 1.        Leaders who Laura has learned from. Empathy and concern for the team. Trust. 2.        Her professional background. Accounting. “How to go into a place and learn everything...

Kerry Kenny has worked at the Big Ten Conference for 17 years, holding multiple positions leading up to his current role as chief operating officer. In this role, he collaborates with the commissioner and many others in leading the conference through a rapid period of change. 1.        Lessons learned playing basketball for Lafayette University. “I showed up every day.”  2.        Attributes that...

1.        Mentors who were influential for Anil. 2.        Early experiences in name, image and likeness. 3.        Experiences as General Counsel at the University of Oklahoma. 4.        “Always be curious.” 5.        Responsibility of the General Counsel and Chief Legal Officer. 6.        Working with diverse constituents on a daily basis. 7.        What he looks for: People who get things done....

Fred Krauss carries out a range of leadership roles as Director of Policy for the Big Ten Conference. He shared insights about how he collaborates with diverse partners in his everyday work.  1.        A Master’s thesis on Monday Night Football. 2.        Studying sports gamblers in Las Vegas on route to a Ph. D. 3.        Going to Law School at night. 4.        Sports Management program at UMass....

Tony Petitti leads the Big Ten Conference during a period of significant change in college athletics. We addressed a range of questions including: What are his daily routines? Who does he collaborate with? What is unmanaged change and how does Tony engage it? 1.        Self-awareness in making the transition into his area of leadership. “The most important change” in Tony’s career. 2.        The v...

Coaches and leaders are charged with getting their teams to buy-in to the systems they’ll run together. How can coaches garner buy-in? 1. Reviewing metacognition. Ways to get there — reflection, feedback, mindfulness meditation, prayer. 2. Having unattached NBA coach give feedback and analysis of his team throughout the season. 3. Having a mentor or two who gave coach advice. 4. The importance of...

Coach Jackson and I were joined by Coach Sara Rohde, the multi-time state coach of the year and leader of three-time defending state champion Green Bay Notre Dame girls basketball program. 1.     Sara’s background in education, coaching, and playing. 2.     Sara’s system – rooted in man-to-man defense and motion offense. Fast-paced. 3.     Work ethic, preparation. Strength and conditioning. 4.    ...

1.     Why it’s important for coaches to take time to commemorate noteworthy holidays and occurrences. 2.     Coach Pat Rice embracing systematic innovation in his football program. 3.     Choice architecture—Behavioral economics and Coach Kelly Sheffield. 4.     Developing a culture of experimentation. 5.     Intellectual humility. 6.     Finding the sweet spot between rigidity and constant chang...

1.     The seven pillars of Adams’ work. 2.     The high value of the players. 3.     The team’s 3-member security team. 4.     Interactions and security training with players. 5.     Game-day routines for Adam and his team. 6.     Arena and event security. 7.     How do you know what to communicate with whom? 8.     Arena operations center. Unified command. Everyone’s in the same place. Anywhere...

1.     What characteristics in a leader facilitate voices being heard? Listening. Having a vision, seeing things that other people don’t see. “Look at not what a team is, but what they can become.” 2.     Creating a safe environment where different perspectives will be respected and valued. 3.     What’s made Joe better? Having children. “Give them a foundation and then let them learn.” 4.     Obs...

1.     What did he look for in putting together his staff when he was head coach in Portland? Complementarity. “A little bit of everything.” 2.     Enjoying time with his staff in Portland. “The best part of my days were the coaches meetings. We enjoyed talking basketball and having a good time…The staff had a good blend of work ethic and sense of humor and knowledge and camaraderie. And I think t...

1.     De-personalizing the feedback. Disassociating the person from the action when providing feedback. 2.     Players can be offended and defensive when receiving feedback. The system is the overriding key. “This doesn’t fit into what  we  do as a group.” 3.     “It goes beyond words.” Players physical responses matter. 4.     When providing feedback, you’ve got to be at the point of the action....

1.     How do you Put together your staff? Three “Cs”:  Character.  Values into action. Integrity. Doing the right thing.  Competence.  “You’ve got to know your stuff. That’s where you get credibility with the players.” We have to be great teachers now.  Creativity . Keep players engaged. (and courage). 2.     Competence. Finding specialists, those with expertise in specific areas. Offense, defens...

1.     Building data systems and models that inform decision-making. 2.     Working with the GM, head coach, five analysts (draft, evals, tracking data, coaching support). 3.     Tools of practice: R, Sequel, Python. 4.     “As a group it’s important that the message we have is the same across the board. As a group we meet and discuss what are the pillars about what we want to measure, what we wan...

1.     Daily and weekly routines with his staff. 2.     Each player’s support team. Weekly reports. 3.     “The number one thing with them is trust. That you know what you are doing and that you’re preparing them…There’s different layers of trust.” 4.     Troy’s discussions of readiness with coaches and staff members. 5.     Discussing player health and HIPPA. 6.    Troy’s innovation: wearable tec...

1. How do young players’ paths differ in places like Serbia compared to the typical AAU player in the U.S.? 2. How do players work through their national teams and how do find or know where to look for these players? 3. How do players get into professional academies like Real Madrid? What implications does it have for these young players? 4. Overuse injuries in these players who are playing 4-5 ba...