How to become an athletics director - Part 9 - Investing in yourself

There are many types of investments you can make - real estate, as well as stocks and bonds are common. But how about investing in something more sustainable and completely under your control – yourself? Not all personal profit is financial. Using some of your hard earned cash for something that yields dividends throughout your life is important, even if it requires meaningful financial sacrifices.

One of the leading excuses why people don’t go to conferences and meetings or advance their education is that their institution won’t pay for it. This approach can be revealing. You can and should invest in yourself.  If you aren't willing to, why not? And if you aren't willing to, what does this say to others about your commitment and belief in yourself? Compound interest is an amazing concept and it works not only in financial terms but in terms of investment in your skills, knowledge, and professional connections. If you aren't willing to invest financially and with your time outside of your job to advance your career, how hungry are you? Have you made any financial sacrifices recently?

Take this needed step to advance your education. Enroll in the Sports Management Institute. Register for a webinar. See a motivational speaker. Subscribe to the Sports Business Journal. Purchase a new book (preferably something outside of the sports biography genre) or borrow one from the library. Obviously it’s ideal if someone will pay for all of your costs or at least assist with your costs. But if they won’t, are you investing your own capital and building your brand, your base and your future?

How to become an athletics director - Part 8 - Your current AD as a mentor

Most people who are successful can look back on their careers and identify key people who served as mentors to them as they made their way in this profession.  Who you work for is just as important, if not more so, as where you work.  

Working for someone who has a track record of growing his/her staff from within and developing staff is a very attractive opportunity.  Do you consider your current boss a mentor and role model?  If not, then identifying someone who can serve in this capacity for you is important.  AD's who take promotion and staff development seriously and provide consistent and productive feedback are incredibly valuable.  Someone who is a demanding, principled and experienced can provide a lifetime worth of lessons and opportunity through their guidance and trust in your skills.  

A mentor of mine often used to say that "you take a job for the next job."  Said differently, you aren't likely to be in the job you currently have for life.  Knowing how your current position or a new opportunity you are considering positions you for the opportunity beyond this job is important and thoughtful planning in your career path.  Looking at those who have walked the path before you can provide clues about how a position you are considering might position you for the future.  Have any senior associate AD's gone on to bigger and better opportunities?  Do people within the department show progressive upward movement?  If you see some of these patterns, you could be entering a good situation.  Just as there are coaching trees, there are AD trees as well.  Working for a leader who has staff who move on to greater opportunities could be just the launching pad you need to contribute to your professional growth.  

I was invited to speak last year at the NACDA Convention in Orlando, Florida and present a talk entitled "Moving from the business office to the athletic director's chair." Since that talk a number of people have asked me for a copy of my comments and notes.  Since these requests keep coming, I have created a multi-part series that recaps and expands on the NACDA talk.  I am far from an expert, but I hope my experiences make this series valuable and thought provoking.  

How to become an athletic director - Part 7 - Geography and family

Becoming a director of athletics requires more than a resume, cover letter and references, the standard documents that were covered in Part 6 of the series.  It is important to sit down with your spouse or partner and have some candid conversations about their commitment to your profession.  Your spouse must be fully on board with you becoming an AD.  The position is much more than job, it is a lifestyle choice and this lifestyle can be enhanced or undermined by geography and family considerations.    

You and your spouse must be on board with the location of the school - the state and region are important, as is the setting - urban, suburban or rural.  Hate the cold and snow?  Upstate New York, Maine or Minnesota might not be good options.  If you are from a coast and you've never been to the mid-west, you’ll have to be prepared to explain to a search committee or President why you want to live there and how your family will adapt.  Every part of the country has its particular “feel”, norms and culture.  

If you are going to move away from a close knit family or grandparents, you have to know how their personal situations such as health, willingness to travel and a desire to have an in-person presence in your life and the lives of your children might impact your satisfaction in a particular area.  These are important conversations to have well before you submit your information for a position, not after you are under serious consideration. 

Many athletic director searches include significant interaction with your spouse, and what is learned during those interactions can be every bit as important as what you personally say during the formal interview.  Make sure s/he is on board and can handle the personal questions that will come during these interactions.  If your partner is not in favor of where you are interviewing, that information usually shines through and may impact your hire-ability. 

Finally, there will be many stretches where you are simply not available for your family.  If you have children, this can significantly impact your spouse who will bear the brunt of your absence.  For example, how will your wife feel being the only mom at cub scouts?  How will your son feel?  Are you comfortable missing your daughter's soccer game?  What type of support system do you have – or can you create – where you are considering moving?  Your children’s ages should be taken into consideration.  When children are small, it can be much easier to re-locate than when you have a daughter who is a junior in high school.  If your kids are old enough, you may want to involve them in the conversation and make it a family discussion.  Ultimately you may still have to move children who don’t want to be moved, but at least they will feel like they had a chance to weigh in and were heard. 

To be successful, your spouse or partner and family MUST be fully on board with the demands of you being an AD, and with it all that relocation brings.  

I was invited to speak last year at the NACDA Convention in Orlando, Florida and present a talk entitled "Moving from the business office to the athletic director's chair." Since that talk a number of people have asked me for a copy of my comments and notes.  Since these requests keep coming, I have created a multi-part series that recaps and expands on the NACDA talk.  I am far from an expert, but I hope my experiences make this series valuable and thought provoking.  

How to become an athletic director - Part 6 - Resume, cover letter and references

If you are going to become an athletic director, presenting yourself well on paper is crucial.  Having a well prepared resume and cover letter is crucial.  Having a list of meaningful references is also important.

Your resume should be updated and ready to submit at all times.  If it will take you longer than a few days to provide your resume to a prospective employer it isn't nearly close enough to fully prepared to be seriously considered.  Your resume should be proof-read multiple times by you and someone you trust who has strong editing skills.  It must be meticulously accurate.  Google and fact checking will be done before, during and after the hiring process.  You want to avoid any questions regarding the accuracy of the materials you create.  

Cover letters should be rewritten every time and proof read three times.  A common mistake is to send materials that have the name of the wrong school or refer to a position other than the one the person is seeking.  I've seen it happen many times in coaching and staff searches.  If you do this for an AD position you are dead in the water.

Your cover letter should not be a review of your resume.  The reader already knows this information, its on your resume!  Share your values, philosophy, and the vision that you have been developing  – anything but what is already stated in your resume.

If you are lucky, your materials will be read for 1-2 minutes and after that time likely go into one of three piles – yes, maybe and no.  You want to be in the yes pile, or the maybe pile at a minimum.  No one ever moves out of the no pile.  Your materials have to look great and contain impeccable grammar, spelling and punctuation.  Miss on these details and you can find yourself quickly in the “no” pile.

You need to have a significant list of at least ten references.  Your references should be aware of your search.  And you should know or have a very good idea what they will say about you if they are called.  Will they keep your search confidential?  It is also helpful to explain why someone is listed on your resume.  The people reading your resume don’t necessarily know why you chose someone unless you tell them.  “Celebrity” references can be helpful if you know them well, but if they really don’t know you, be careful.  They could hurt more than help.  Again, you need to have a clear picture what the person will say when called.

So if your materials aren't ready, its time to put them together.  It's your first chance to separate yourself from the competition.  

I was invited to speak last year at the NACDA Convention in Orlando, Florida and present a talk entitled "Moving from the business office to the athletic director's chair." Since that talk a number of people have asked me for a copy of my comments and notes.  Since these requests keep coming, I have created a multi-part series that recaps and expands on the NACDA talk.  I am far from an expert, but I hope my experiences make this series valuable and thought provoking.  

How to become an athletic director – Part 5 – How you go about your business

Now that you have answered some questions related to your knowledge, skills and experiences necessary to become an athletic director, it is also important to determine where you fit best in the athletic landscape.

The following three questions, and your answers, will go a long way towards defining your values and how you go about your business on a daily basis.  The ability to explain these personal answers will provide specific insights about your fit as an athletic director at various types of institutions.  

1)  What is your personal philosophy related to athletics?  The answer to this question starts to narrow the field of which jobs you should consider and for which jobs you will be viable.  Developing views on academics, competing for championships, resource allocation and rules compliance shows you have the critical thinking skills necessary to become an AD.  Do you view athletics as a business or educational enterprise?  Who and what will be your primary focus as an AD?  This should be easy for you to articulate.  If not, you have to start developing your views.  

2)  What are your personal core values and what are the core values of an athletic program under your leadership?  Do your values align with the values of the institution at which you are seeking to work? I have interviewed head coaching candidates and asked “What are your core values?”  Numerous times, the individual I was interviewing was unable to answer that question.  Stumbling over something this personal shows a significant lack of introspection and is a red flag.  It is important to know who you are since you will face many difficult decisions and your core beliefs will influence the toughest choices.  

3)  What experiences can you point to that inform why you would be a good fit at a particular school? There is more to being hired as an athletic director than winning the press conference, but being able to craft a plausible, logical, and passionate explanation for the public about how you were chosen is a good way to judge if you could fit and be hired at a particular institution.  You will hopefully sound like the person that was an obvious choice – either because the institution wants to continue on the path it has been on, or it wants a significant change in direction and you provide a contrast to previous leadership.

For example, if a school is winning conference titles on a regular basis and has high academic achievement, the institution may want someone who can continue that trend.  But if an institution is facing significant NCAA violations, a background in compliance may be considered a tremendous asset.

In nearly every case, an athletic department is a microcosm of the institution of which it is a part.  Alignment with the institution’s current values, or with values they are seeking to develop under new leadership, could save you heartache and difficulty both in a search and after you arrive on a campus. 

Just as teams take on the personality of their head coach, an athletic program will take on your personality.  Your ability to answer these three questions can help a search committee and president figure out if you are a fit for their institution.   If their institutional values and yours align, you’ll be that much more viable for the position.  Being able to articulate your values, philosophy and experiences, will create separators from other candidates that are crucial in the selection process. 

Next – Internal preparation

I was invited to speak last year at the NACDA Convention in Orlando, Florida and present a talk entitled "Moving from the business office to the athletic director's chair." Since that talk a number of people have asked me for a copy of my comments and notes.  Since these requests keep coming, I have created a multi-part series that recaps and expands on the NACDA talk.  I am far from an expert, but I hope my experiences make this series valuable and thought provoking.  

How to become an athletic director – Part 4 – A two minute quiz

As you prepare to become an athletic director, the next thing you should do is stop and grab a pen. 

Ok, now that you have it, answer three questions honestly: 

1. What knowledge do I have to become an athletic director?
2. What skills do I have to become an athletic director?
3. What experience do I have to become an athletic director?

Now that you have the answers to these three questions, you also have a plan.  

The answers to these three questions outline your skills and strengths, but more importantly point out the holes, gaps and weaknesses you need to address to become an AD.     

Perhaps you need more education.  Maybe more experience at a senior level.  Fundraising experience.  Coaching supervision.  Facility construction experience.  

Your personal list may be short or long, but everyone has holes.  Now that you know what your holes are, take a step, TODAY, to start filling one of them.  Write down the gaps, create a plan to close them, and most importantly, overcome inertia and start taking steps to achieve your goal.   

Next – Part 5 - How you go about your business

I was invited to speak last year at the NACDA Convention in Orlando, Florida and present a talk entitled "Moving from the business office to the athletic director's chair." Since that talk a number of people have asked me for a copy of my comments and notes.  Since these requests keep coming, I have created a multi-part series that recaps and expands on the NACDA talk.  I am far from an expert, but I hope my experiences make this series valuable and thought provoking.