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January 2012, Leadership
The Leadership Challenge for Athletic Directors
Rarely have athletic directors faced such a complex and challenging set of economic pressures, conference uncertainties and media exposure. Regardless of their divisional level, they are under growing pressure to demonstrate outstanding performance not only in terms of classroom and competitive excellence, but also in their marketing and fundraising successes. NCAA rules compliance and institutional governance are important objectives as well.
Having served as a Division I athletic director for 16 years at Long Beach State, Temple University and Northeastern University, I am keenly aware of the unique leadership and management challenges faced by athletic directors. I am also aware of the lack of educational training programs and professional workshops to provide athletic directors with the leadership and management skills necessary to succeed in these challenging positions.
When I took my current academic position running the sport management program at Drexel University, I decided to learn more about leadership with the hope that I could provide athletic directors with a better understanding of this essential skill as it is applied to the unique world of college athletics. During my four years of teaching, researching and writing at Drexel I have come to appreciate that leadership can be taught, it can be an acquired skill. While that is encouraging, it also means that these skills require exercise and practice; but, first it requires an understanding of what leadership is and what it is not.
The best book that I have read on leadership is The Leadership Challenge, which is authored by Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner. I believe it has tremendous relevance for athletic directors who generally serve in such public positions within a complex political, business and regulatory environment. The authors developed The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership, which resulted from an intensive research project to determine the leadership competencies that are essential to getting extraordinary things done in organizations. To conduct the research, the authors collected thousands of "Personal Best" stories – the experiences people recalled when asked to think of a peak leadership experience.
Despite differences in people's individual stories, their Personal Best Leadership Experiences revealed similar patterns of behavior. The study found that when leaders are at their personal best, they demonstrate the following five qualities.
The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership:
Model the Way: Leaders model the way for their constituents. To successfully illustrate the performance expected of others, a leader must first have guiding principles to follow. A leader must clarify values. A person must walk the talk, which is setting the example by going first. It’s about the power of spending time with someone, of working side by side with colleagues, of telling stories that make values come alive, of being highly visible during times of uncertainty, and of asking questions to get people to think about values and priorities.
Inspire a Shared Vision: Leaders passionately believe that they can make a difference. They envision the future, creating an ideal and unique image of what the organization can become. Through their magnetism and quiet persuasion, leaders enlist others in their dreams. They breathe life into their visions and get people to see exciting possibilities for the future.
Challenge the Process: Leaders search for opportunities to change the status quo. They look for innovative ways to improve the organization. In doing so, they experiment and take risks. And because leaders know that risk taking involves mistakes and failures, they accept the inevitable disappointments as learning opportunities. No process is set in stone. All leaders should look for ways to innovate, grow, and improve.
Enable Others to Act: Leaders foster collaboration and build spirited teams. They actively involve others. Leaders understand that mutual respect is what sustains extraordinary efforts; they strive to create an atmosphere of trust and human dignity. They strengthen others, making each person feel capable and powerful. Leaders empower others by giving them responsibility.
Encourage Heart: Accomplishing extraordinary things in organizations is hard work. To keep hope and determination alive, leaders recognize contributions that individuals make. In every winning team, the members need to share in the rewards of their efforts, so leaders celebrate accomplishments. They make people feel like heroes. Recognizing contributions is a way leaders show they are grateful for their constituents’ assistance.
Over the next several months I will be writing in detail about The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership with the intention of helping athletic directors improve their leadership skills. While these articles will draw upon the academic work on this topic, they will be tailored to the world of an athletic director based on my experiences over the years. The combination of academic theory and practical experience should make each issue relevant, realistic and helpful for administrators at all levels of athletics.
Dave O'Brien J.D. has been a college sports executive and educator for over 25 years. He served as a Division I athletic director at Long Beach State University, Temple University and Northeastern University for 16 years (1991-2007).
O'Brien is currently the Director of the Sports Management Program at Drexel University where he also teaches at the undergraduate, graduate and law school levels. In addition to his academic position, O'Brien is the managing partner of the O'Brien Sports Group which provides a wide range of consulting services to the college sports industry, including NCAA rules compliance, risk management audits, business support services, executive recruitment, training workshops and more. He is also an editor of College Sports Business News.
O'Brien is active nationally in sports law matters as co-author of a monthly column on college sports law issues published in College Athletics and the Law and as a consultant on sports topics including pay equity, retaliation, harassment, Title IX, and coaching contracts.
Prior to becoming an athletic administrator, O'Brien served in a variety of roles in higher education, which included assistant to the president for legal and legislative affairs at Montclair State University and the assistant vice president for administration and finance at Long Beach State. He also served on the legislative staff of the New Jersey Senate and practiced law in New Jersey.
O'Brien is a graduate of Moravian College and Seton Hall Law School, and has also attained certification from the Sports Management Institute as part of its inaugural class. He can be reached at dobrien@collegesportsbusinessnews.com