As an Athletic Director, I believe three of the most important traits of effective leadership are: 1. Be where your feet are planted and be present in the moment. Leadership requires being fully present. Whether you are celebrating a championship, supporting a coach through a difficult moment, or simply walking through the halls, people need to know you are engaged, accessible, and invested in what is happening right now. 2. Empower others to lead and make decisions. Great leaders do not feel the need to have every answer or make every decision. My responsibility is to surround myself with great people, give them ownership, trust their expertise, and create an environment where they feel empowered to lead. When you empower others, you build a stronger organization and develop leaders throughout your program. 3. Be a servant to those you lead. Leadership is not about being the person at the top. It is about serving the people you are responsible for leading. My job is to remove obstacles, provide support, create opportunities, and help coaches, athletes, and staff become the best versions of themselves. When you serve your people well, they know you genuinely care about them and their success. Ultimately, leadership is about presence, trust, and service. Be present. Empower people. Serve others. When you do those three things consistently, you create a culture where people feel valued, trusted, and motivated to lead.

COACH: How you do ANYTHING is how you do EVERYTHING - Set up the cones with intention - Answer the emails with care - Write the notes to check in on your athletes - Obsess over the details of today's practice A great coach does the little things and big things with the same level of excellence

A 10-year-old girl with leukemia had one final wish: to “marry” her childhood best friend. Her family, teachers and medical staff organized a symbolic backyard ceremony in less than 48 hours, with nearly 100 guests attending. She passed away peacefully 12 days later. 🥹❤️‍🩹

Your athlete has a terrible race. Before you change the training, ask one question: What changed? Fitness? Fatigue? Fueling? Sleep? Stress? One of my best runners raced poorly yesterday. A week earlier she'd run the best race of her life. The training hadn't stopped working. She just hadn't eaten. A bad performance tells you something happened. It doesn't tell you what. Diagnose first.