Taking It to the Next Level:

1. Taking It to the Next Level: Preparing to Become an Athletics Administrator

2. What Does It Take To Be A Successful Athletics Administrator? • Knowledge & Understanding of Higher Education and Intercollegiate Athletics • Leadership & Management Skills • Social Skills • Ability to Work with Many Constituent Groups • Ability for Work/Life Balance

3. Knowledge & Understanding of Higher Education & Athletics • Very specialized career option • Important to learn about higher education • Recognize what Search Committees want • Coaches may have a longer road to hoe

4. Leadership & Management Skills What is Leadership? • Leading people toward common goal • Understanding people • Building loyalty & competence • Serving as role model • Being both leader and part of a team

5. Leadership & Management Skills What is Management?  • …the systematic handling of a multitude of responsibilities and tasks, done efficiently and expertly…  • …good management is reflected by efficient and expert handling… • …ineffective management leads to dysfunction, chaos, and ultimately negatively impacts one’s ability to lead.

6. How to Become a Leader & Manager • Observe Others—be a student of leaders’ and managers’ behaviors. • Read about both. • Think about what you admire in specific leaders and managers—try on different behaviors for size. • Sometimes comes easier to others—but you can learn to be a leader and manager!

7. Social Skills • Strong and effective communication skills • Aura of confidence and ability • Comfort level with greeting others first • Ability to think like a politician • Practice, practice, practice… • If introvert, still possible!

8. Ability to Work—Constituent Groups • Board of Trustees • Administration • Faculty • Staff • Departmental Staff—Coaches & Support Staff • Student-Athletes • Parents & Boosters • Alums

9. Constituent Groups • Starts with the interview • Understand each group’s needs. • Example—Administration needs a well-managed program that operates with integrity and provides an outstanding experience for each student-athlete • Develop program that addresses each group.

10. Ability for Work/Life Balance • Patterns… • Make yourself develop a life outside of work. • Intercollegiate athletics, in particular, lends itself to a certain type of life…working many, many hours. Guard yourself against this! • A better manager will, at the end of the day, have a personal life that is fulfilling.

11. "Taking it to the next level” preparing to become an athletics director Functions of Management “Skills to Succeed” Lynn Oberbillig Smith College

12. Functions of Management • Planning: Setting objectives & allocating resources to match. • Organizing: Coordination of activities and tasks to meet objectives. • Leading: Motivating and directing members of the organization. • Evaluating: Assessing organizational effectiveness and individual performance.

13. Planning Function “ A Vision without Action is just a dream Action without a Vision is just a passing of time But a Vision with Action can change the world.” SMART Goals S = Specific M = Measurable A = Attainable R = Relevant T = Trackable

14. Planning Function • Setting objectives and allocating resources. Budgeting Scheduling Compliance SAAC programming Fundraising Event Management Promotion Alumni relations

15. Organizing Function “Doing little things well is a step towards doing big things better.” • Detailed planning for specific activity/event • The bigger the event: • the more time ahead you must begin to plan • the more you must break down into segments • the greater the need for delegation • the greater the need for communication

16. Organizing Function • Coordination of activities and tasks to meet objectives. Step 1Break down the tasks into specific jobs Step 2 Assign tasks to right people Step 3 Staffing is the recruiting and training of workers. Job analysis Job descriptions Job specifications

17. Leading Function“Combined, Industriousness and Enthusiasm create an irreplaceable component of great leadership” John Wooden • Motivating and directing members of the organization * Psychology of Individual Motivation Needs of Individuals (Self determination theory): autonomy, stimulation & challenge, feel competent and worthy, acceptance & belonging * Skills of Group Leadership: Active listening, reflecting, clarifying, summarizing, facilitating, empathizing, interpreting, questioning, linking, confronting, supporting, blocking, diagnosing, evaluation, terminating * Conflict Resolution (20% of day) Either disagreements over interpretation of facts or on difference of feelings and values. 3 stages * Decision Making Examples of levels of D-M; level 1=you decide, level 2=make recommendation, I approve, level 3=I decide * CommunicationMeanings are not in words, meanings are in people * Team Building Examples to follow

18. Situational Leadership “Effective managers learn how to diagnose the situation and how to select the appropriate leadership style to match the skills and commitment of their associates.” Four Leadership Styles • Directing • Coaching • Supporting • Delegating “Different Strokes for Different Folks”

19. Matching Leadership Style to Development Level

20. John Wooden’s Pyramid of Success

21. Building Blocks of High Performing Teams

22. Evaluating Function Assessing organizational effectiveness and individual performance • Were the department goals for the year met? • Were college wide objectives accomplished? • Did you meet budget? • Individual Performance Appraisals: : coaching & teaching effectiveness : recruiting plans : quality of student experience : professional development : service…to college, to dept, to community, to profession

23. Lifelong Learning Mental Habits That Support Lifelong Learning • Risk Taking: Willingness to push oneself out of comfort zones • Humble self-reflection: Honest assessment of successes and failures, especially the latter • Solicitation of opinions: Aggressive collection of information and ideas from others • Careful listening: Propensity to listen to others • Openness to new ideas: Willingness to view life with an open mind “People can and want to develop.”

24. The Relationship of Lifelong Learning, Leadership Skills, and the Capacity to Succeed in the Future John Kotter 1995 • Competitive Drive • Level of standards • Desire to do well • Self-confidence in competitive situations • Personal History • Inborn Capabilities • Childhood Experiences • Job & Educational experiences • Lifelong Learning • Willingness to seek new challenges • Willingness to reflect honestly on successes and failures • Skills & Abilities • Knowledge • Leaderships skills • Other skills Competitive Capacity Capability of dealing with an increasingly competitive and fast-moving environment

25. “Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.” John F. Kennedy

26. Taking It to the Next Level Preparing to become a Director of Athletics By T.J. Shelton Washington University

27. SELF AWARNESS • Know your strengths and weaknesses • Job duties vs. Career goals

28. Taking Initiative: Seek Additional Opportunities • Meet with Director of Athletics • Develop Job Plan

29. Expand Your Network: • Finding a mentor • Building a relationship

30. Career Development • Personal Development Opportunities • Professional Development Opportunities

31. Quote • “It is better to be prepared and not offered, than offered and not prepared.” -unknown • Are you ready?