The AthleticDirectorU Podcast

Florida Athletic Director Emeritus Jeremy Foley discusses his growth, from early in his leadership tenure, to care about investing in people. Foley recalls a conversation with a booster that caused him to reflect on his leadership style and realize he needed to change and how that inflection point in his career allowed him to grow as a leader.

1:13 - Early in your leadership tenure, you realized you needed to invest in people. Can you talk to about investing in people? 2:38 - How did you realize that your leadership style needed to change? 5:50 - In making that change, did you have a revelation about the errors of your previous approach? 6:24 - When did this alteration in your leadership approach occur? 7:03 - What were some of the steps you took after this introspection into your leadership style? 8:29 - How did that impact the overall culture of the athletic department? 9:04 - In your 25 years as the AD at Florida, did you lead by investing in people?

Georgia State Athletic Director Charlie Cobb joins the Higher Ed Athletics podcast to discuss the complete transformation of Turner Field into Georgia State's football stadium and plans for an athletics neighborhood in downtown Atlanta, the new naming rights deal and what that means for the university and athletic department amidst the pandemic, President Mark Becker's recently announced retirement and how Becker helped shape intercollegiate athletics at GSU, carrying over a blueprint of success from one institution to the next and how Cobb balances representing the entire Sun Belt conference as a member of the NCAA DI Council.

1:16 – As a part of the acquisition, purchase and repurposing of Turner Field, how did the idea unfold and what were the steps in getting this project approved? 6:03 – Walk us through the naming rights process for Georgia State Stadium and how will this help GSU coming out of the pandemic? 11:38 – With President Mark Becker announcing his retirement, what has it been like working with him and how has he impacted athletics during your tenure? 13:48 – What does it take to have a strong relationship between a college president and his or her athletic director? 16:37 – What was the key to the successes at Appalachian State when you were there and how can someone bring that similar blueprint from one institution to an entirely new university? 22:23 – As the Sun Belt's representative on the DI Council, is it challenging representing not only GSU at those meetings but also representing every school in the Sun Belt and how does one balance that responsibility?

On this Book Review from the RisingADs podcast, Columbia Athletic Director Peter Pilling and Rice Senior Associate Athletic Director & Chief Operating Officer Tanner Gardner discuss Trillion Dollar Coach: The Leadership Playbook of Silicon Valley's Bill Campbell. Pilling and Gardner discuss coaching in a business sense, building trust, the importance of soft skills and caring about those you serve.

1:00 – So Peter, you knew Bill Campbell, who was the former Head Football Coach at Columbia, tell us a bit about Bill Campbell. 6:14 – We often think of coaches of our respective sports programs, but this book discusses coaches in a business sense. What do you see it to mean as being a coach for your administration and coaches? 8:40 – How do you approach building trust among your team, both when taking over in a leadership role and in an ongoing basis? 12:54 – What are some examples of how you respond in a way that emanates an environment of psychological safety? 16:56 – How do you approach giving effective feedback to coaches and staff? 21:01 – Peter, in the book in discussing hard management tactics and the "It's the People" manifesto applied to student-athletes. How did that come about in your interactions with Bill? 26:47 – How do you think about running meetings and what is the importance of the final chapter of the book, which discusses the Power of Love? 32:59 – What is your favorite Bill Campbell story?

Self-Discovery and introspection is the discussion topic of this video featuring Mark Jackson, Director of Athletics at Villanova University. Jackson, talks about the questions people should ask themselves as they work on their self-awareness and personal and professional growth. He talks about the quiet time that is necessary for the self-discovery process to be successful and he gives his insight on Student-Athletes and introspection.

1:29 - What questions should people ask themselves when they are working through a self-discovery? 3:51 - As you grow in your self-awareness, how do you know when to evaluate the questions you ask yourself? 4:59 - Do the people close to you ever recommend that quiet time may be necessary? 7:12 - How much of internal thought on self-discovery is forward thinking and how much is about who the person is at the current moment? 9:35 - Have you seen Student-Athletes adapt the mentality of self-discovery? 11:37 - What do you ask yourself now that you've been in a leadership role for a few years?

Welcome to our first Book Review from the Rising ADs podcast! South Florida Athletic Director Michael Kelly and Washington State Deputy Athletic Director & Chief Operating Officer Bryan Blair discuss The Ride of a Lifetime from Disney Executive Chairman and former Chief Operating Officer Robert Iger. Kelly and Blair discuss the "Innovate Or Die" concept Iger drills on in the book, communicating and implementing change in your department, being innovative with the risk of failure, the decision-making process and much more. 2:07 - What led you to pick up this book? Innovate or Die and Chapter 126:52 - How do you think innovation and creativity helps to enhance your career today and what are some examples of innovations in your career? 12:26 - Are innovation or risk taking a part of your core values or the organization's core values? How do you articulate those? 13:39 - How do you communicate oncoming change? What does that timeline look like? Who do you involve with that decision-making to make sure you've got the right people on both sides? 19:09 - How do you encourage your team and department to be innovative, despite the inherent risk of failure? 24:45 - How are you and your team at Washington State continuing to look toward the ahead in strategic planning, while you're dealing with the daily challenges? Bold Decision-Making29:43 - What framework what process do you use when you've got a really hard decision you got to make?

Florida State Senior Associate AD/SWA Vanessa Fuchs and Northwestern Deputy AD/SWA Janna Blais discuss fit and culture's impact on the hiring process, finding a candidate who is bought into the department's culture, evaluating a hire, employee retention and much more. The duo also touch on how leadership changes or constants at Florida State and Northwestern, respectively, influence hiring and candidates. The conversation is moderated by Baylor Assistant AD for Character Formation Cori Pinkett.

1:20 - Why is culture important in hiring? 3:41 - When you have a candidate on campus, who do you make sure they meet to ensure the individual has a good sense of the culture? 5:59 - What is the impact on the culture of the changes going on at Florida State and does that impact how you view candidates to bring into the department? (Fuchs) 7:40 - How does Athletic Director Jim Phillips' leadership influence your perspective on hiring? (Blais) 10:18 - When going through the hiring process, how do you ensure you have the right person for the job? 16:20 - Is there a go-to question you use to gauge if the candidate will be a viable fit? 19:44 - How long does it take to know if a candidate was a good hire? 22:47 - What is one thing that needs to be done in the hiring process to help individuals have a successful hiring process? 26:07 - What are you doing to retain the great staff that you do hire?

Ali Fisher, Assistant AD for Creative Services for Missouri, joins Jay F. Hicks on the Sports Creatives Podcast. The pair discuss Fisher's career development, which includes being the first graphic designer employed by the Tigers and developing Mizzou's first brand guidelines document, leadership style, creating elements that fit Missouri's history and culture, the Mizzou creative culture and much more.

2:57 – When you are collaborating with a team or department, how do you go about communicating with the stakeholders? 3:58 – How are you measuring success and communicating objectives, with projects that have been successful for you and Mizzou? 10:04 – As a part of the strategic communications staff, how do you discuss managing and communicating deadlines and projects? 15:26 – What does your creative staff look like and how would you describe your leadership style? 18:09 – What do the brand guidelines look like for Mizzou? 19:53 – What is the creative culture at Mizzou? 24:28 – How do you maintain that blue collar culture and mentality? 26:32 – How do you go about managing the creative workload for you and your team? 29:12 – How do you promote career development for your staff and stay current with trends? 33:04 – What is it like being a female leader in the creative athletic space?

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Penn State Athletic Director Sandy Barbour sits down with AthleticDirectorU to discuss the purpose and "why" for leading and working in college athletics. Barbour also touches on helping people find their "why" and defining the organization's "why".

1:37 - What is the next step in the evolution of the "Know Your Why" leadership philosophy? 4:17 - Does a change in leadership impact a department's core values or purpose? Or should the purpose always remain the same? 8:08 - How do you help people to understand their purpose working in athletics or just being who they are? 12:19 - How do you define your organizational purpose in terms every member of the department can understand and execute? 15:33 - In your time in leadership, have you seen someone figure out their "why"?

Ohio University Athletic Director Julie Cromer joined the Higher Ed Athletics podcast for a wide-ranging conversation. Smith and Cromer start by going inside the head of an AD planning for sports in the fall and doing so within the framework of the overall institution's plan. She reflects on her first year in the AD Chair in Athens, OH and how the initial 100 day plan quickly shifted into leading through a pandemic. Cromer expands on how the experiences early in her career at the NCAA National Office working on major academic reform has helped shape her focus on evidence-based decision making as a leader at Indiana, Arkansas and now Ohio. Cromer ends the conversation with advice for aspiring athletic directors as they navigate the landscape of college athletics after COVID-19.

0:48 – What is the communication style and frequency like between athletic directors and the conference office like for the MAC during this whole COVID response? 3:43 – With the Big Ten switching to a conference-only football schedule, some MAC schools will lose a considerably important game financially. Ohio didn't have a Big Ten game scheduled this year anyways. Did that sort of give your budget balancing a sense of relief? 5:32 – What kind of approaches can athletic departments take right now to make budget cuts or reduce spending when things are so incredibly unpredictable? Are there multiple projections being run with varying scenarios? 8:57 – You're approaching your one year anniversary since being announced the AD at Ohio. Looking back on such a strange academic year, what was your initial plan coming into the job and did you then have to quickly change your approach in March? 15:42 – What did you learn from experiences at Indiana and Arkansas that were transferable to the AD job at Ohio University? 21:03 – You spent the first decade of your college athletics career at the NCAA in Academic and Membership Affairs working on major academic reform. What was that experience like working inside AMA during such a critical trajectory change in academic policy for the NCAA? 26:22 – How, if at all, has your Masters in Policy Analysis helped you in your career? 28:13 – What type of advice would you give someone that's an aspiring athletic director when it comes to a particular in-demand skill set or certain pathway in a post-COVID college athletics landscape? 34:18 – Who are some mentors that you credit with helping instill confidence and ability to get to this point in your career?

Georgia Senior Deputy Athletic Director Josh Brooks and Ball State Deputy Athletics Director Haven Fields sit down to discuss transitioning to the Deputy AD role overseeing external operations, from their backgrounds and beginnings in internal operations, communicating your department's unique value proposition, continuing to find new innovations, prospects or diamonds in the rough at established institutions and more.

1:36 - How was the transition from your upbringing in internal operations to overseeing external operations as Deputy AD? 4:09 - How did you get to know the various key players in the marketplace to make sure they understand the department's unique value proposition? (Fields) 6:50 - What was the transition back to Georgia like after your time as the AD at Millsaps? (Brooks) 8:05 - How are you pushing to be innovative and make a change at established institutions? 10:40 - Since your scope of responsibilities has expanded, how are you avoiding micromanaging, particularly in areas or tasks you formerly handled? 12:56 - How involved are you with other campus constituents in terms of finding success on campus and finding athletic success?