WEBVTT
00:00:20.640 --> 00:00:22.239
I don't think I think everyone around it.
00:00:31.359 --> 00:00:34.240
If you ready win the right way, you're in the right place.
00:00:34.880 --> 00:00:35.759
Now let's get wrong.
00:00:46.560 --> 00:00:51.039
Have you ever looked up in the sky and watched a flock of geese flying in the V formation?
00:00:52.399 --> 00:00:53.600
Here's what's remarkable.
00:00:53.759 --> 00:00:55.920
The bird at the point has the hardest job.
00:00:56.640 --> 00:00:59.119
It breaks the wind for everyone else behind it.
00:00:59.280 --> 00:01:03.439
And when it gets tired, it doesn't hang on out of pride or defend its title.
00:01:03.679 --> 00:01:04.959
It drifts back.
00:01:05.120 --> 00:01:07.439
And another bird moves forward.
00:01:07.760 --> 00:01:12.239
Nobody calls a meeting, nobody sends a memo about transitioning leadership.
00:01:12.560 --> 00:01:15.120
Every bird in that formation knows how to lead.
00:01:15.359 --> 00:01:19.760
And that's why the whole flock gets further than any one bird ever could.
00:01:20.319 --> 00:01:22.719
So here's the question I want you to carry today.
00:01:23.599 --> 00:01:32.079
When you leave a meeting or finish a conversation with someone on your team, is that person more capable of leading than before they met with you?
00:01:32.719 --> 00:01:38.560
Not just more informed, not just more productive, more capable of leading.
00:01:39.439 --> 00:01:44.480
Because one of the truest measures of leadership isn't what happens when you walk into a room.
00:01:44.719 --> 00:01:47.040
It's what happens after you walk out.
00:01:47.920 --> 00:01:53.280
John Maxwell sums up this idea: grow a leader, grow the organization.
00:01:53.840 --> 00:02:02.480
Our job isn't just to get results through people, it's to develop people who get extraordinary results and then do the same for others.
00:02:03.040 --> 00:02:08.319
Paul Gustison takes that one step further in what he calls a team of leaders.
00:02:08.879 --> 00:02:15.120
Picture the traditional model one leader at the top, and everyone else is waiting for instructions.
00:02:15.520 --> 00:02:18.800
A team of leaders looks more like the flying V.
00:02:19.199 --> 00:02:21.360
Every member is developed a lead.
00:02:21.599 --> 00:02:27.680
Each one takes real ownership, and leadership moves wherever the expertise and the moment call for it.
00:02:28.159 --> 00:02:29.439
So now a little test.
00:02:29.759 --> 00:02:34.560
If your organization only works when you're in the room, you've built a good operation.
00:02:34.800 --> 00:02:36.879
But that's not leadership capacity.
00:02:37.280 --> 00:02:41.360
And if everything falls apart when you take a vacation, congratulations.
00:02:41.599 --> 00:02:45.360
You've made yourself indispensable and probably ruined your vacation.
00:02:45.599 --> 00:02:47.680
A team of leaders is the cure.
00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:51.520
Competitive kindness is how you build a team of leaders.
00:02:51.759 --> 00:02:56.560
It comes down to three ways study it, back it, raise it.
00:02:57.199 --> 00:02:58.719
First, study it.
00:02:59.280 --> 00:03:02.000
We recognize potential before it's obvious.
00:03:02.400 --> 00:03:03.840
Anyone can back the star.
00:03:04.080 --> 00:03:10.240
Leaders see the spark in the person who hasn't yet seen it in themselves and say so out loud.
00:03:11.199 --> 00:03:12.560
Second, back it.
00:03:13.039 --> 00:03:15.759
We give real opportunity with real support.
00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:17.840
Not good luck, figure it out.
00:03:18.159 --> 00:03:22.719
More like, here's the stage, and I'm standing right behind you to help you.
00:03:23.199 --> 00:03:24.960
Stretch assignments are wonderful.
00:03:25.199 --> 00:03:29.439
Stretch assignments with no safety net are just addressed with a nicer title.
00:03:30.400 --> 00:03:32.159
Third, raise it.
00:03:32.800 --> 00:03:35.759
We keep the standard high and care higher.
00:03:36.080 --> 00:03:38.879
Kindness doesn't mean lowering expectations.
00:03:39.520 --> 00:03:45.599
Telling someone the truth clearly and with respect is one of the most caring things you can do.
00:03:45.919 --> 00:03:49.439
Staying silent to avoid an awkward moment isn't kindness.
00:03:49.759 --> 00:03:52.639
It's niceness, and it's just uncomfortable.
00:03:52.960 --> 00:04:05.039
When everyone is developed to lead, you strengthen the whole institution and everyone it serves, the student, the member, the customer, the community, all of them are better off.
00:04:05.520 --> 00:04:07.439
So here's your challenge this week.
00:04:07.840 --> 00:04:10.240
Pick one person on your team, just one.
00:04:10.960 --> 00:04:17.199
Ask, what's one thing I can do to help them be more capable of leading by Friday?
00:04:17.360 --> 00:04:20.240
Maybe it's handing them a microphone in the next meeting.
00:04:20.480 --> 00:04:23.040
Maybe it's asking, what would you do?
00:04:23.439 --> 00:04:27.519
And then, this is the hard part, actually letting them answer.
00:04:28.720 --> 00:04:35.199
See it, back it, raise it, small acts, bring big ripple effects.
00:04:36.079 --> 00:04:44.240
Because the best leaders don't leave a legacy of followers, they leave a flock that knows how to fly and build a team of leaders.
00:04:49.439 --> 00:05:01.920
Today's guest is Mike Buddy, the ninth director of intercollegiate athletics at Texas Christian University, bringing a unique combination of championship experience, strategic leadership, and a commitment to developing people.
00:05:02.639 --> 00:05:11.439
A 1993 Wake Forest graduate, Mike was a Major League Baseball pitcher for the New York Yankees Organization and Milwaukee Brewers.
00:05:11.600 --> 00:05:16.240
And he was a part of the Yankees' 1998 World Series Championship team.
00:05:16.480 --> 00:05:26.560
He spent over a decade in intercollegiate athletics administration at Wake Forest before serving as Director of Athletics at Furman University and at Army West Point.
00:05:26.800 --> 00:05:36.720
At Army, he led historic competitive success, including program record 12-win football season and a$170 million stadium preservation project.
00:05:37.040 --> 00:05:48.720
Since arriving at TCU in January of 2025, his leadership has helped advance championship aspirations while reinforcing the university's commitment to educating ethical leaders.
00:05:53.279 --> 00:05:55.920
Welcome to the competitive kindness podcast, Mike.
00:05:56.160 --> 00:05:56.720
Thank you, Rob.
00:05:57.120 --> 00:05:58.480
Great to be on, great to hear your voice.
00:05:58.720 --> 00:06:02.160
Likewise, everyone has a story and we would love to hear yours.
00:06:02.399 --> 00:06:06.800
What are one or two moments in your life that have shaped who you are and how you lead?
00:06:07.199 --> 00:06:10.079
Who man, it's hard to boil it down just to two.
00:06:10.240 --> 00:06:15.920
I think the first part would be my background as a professional baseball player and a pitcher, to be specific.
00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:20.240
And when you're a professional pitcher, it's a pretty humbling experience, right?
00:06:20.399 --> 00:06:26.959
You get instant feedback from the opposing hitters, and it teaches you great things like resilience and humility.
00:06:27.120 --> 00:06:40.639
And I think a lot of that experience shaped how I lead now outside of the actual physical sports realm, but in and around it, you need to understand how to be resilient, how to recover from adversity just because we face so much of it.
00:06:40.800 --> 00:06:49.120
I would certainly point to sadly giving up a lot of home runs as a pitcher and just learning how to get back out there the next day and continue to give it your best and fight.
00:06:49.360 --> 00:06:52.399
And other life lessons being around college athletics.
00:06:52.480 --> 00:07:06.800
I had a great mentor in my time at Wake Forest, where I spent a decade learning from Ron Wellman, who was just one of the men of integrity and character who fight like hell to try to win, but always understands that there's a bigger picture.
00:07:06.959 --> 00:07:10.240
And so being around him, I remember specific uh events.
00:07:10.399 --> 00:07:16.560
He had a habit of taking a long walk on days that he knew he had to terminate an employee or a coach.
00:07:16.879 --> 00:07:22.639
And I was blessed enough at some point to be invited with him on some of those walks just to keep him level set and focused.
00:07:22.720 --> 00:07:25.839
And he always focused on the humanity of those decisions.
00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:27.439
And I learned so much from that.
00:07:27.600 --> 00:07:31.839
Obviously, in my role, I've had to do that multiple times, and they're never easy.
00:07:32.000 --> 00:07:48.399
But I think the great lessons that I learned about being a leader is you have to make the decisions that are going to most positively impact the department and the institution that you work for, but to always maintain a level of humanity and doing things the right way and treating people the right way.
00:07:48.879 --> 00:07:59.120
And when you're not in the official capacity of a director of athletics, who is Mike Buddy and how does that person show up when you're coaching, mentoring, or challenging your team?
00:07:59.600 --> 00:08:01.279
Well, I view myself as a teammate.
00:08:01.360 --> 00:08:13.120
I've been an AD now over 10 years, and I think anybody that worked with me at my time at Furman or Army or now at TCU, I've never described any of them as working for me or being my employees.
00:08:13.279 --> 00:08:23.199
I've always said we are all employed by the 400, 500, or 1,000 student athletes that have given us this blessing of a career and a calling, really.
00:08:23.279 --> 00:08:29.120
And so I've always viewed it that we need to work together as senior staff or staff to support our bosses.
00:08:29.199 --> 00:08:30.879
And our bosses are the student athletes.
00:08:30.959 --> 00:08:43.840
And I think that served us really well in normal times, and I think it also still serves us well in the current landscape, which is considerably different than what it was before we could do revenue sharing and paying our student athletes.
00:08:43.919 --> 00:08:52.159
And so that helps us keep the main thing the main thing, whether we're paying them, whether we're trying to help them find NIL deals or not.
00:08:52.320 --> 00:08:56.159
Our job is still to serve them in the best possible capacity.
00:08:56.240 --> 00:09:02.799
And so I think the people that work with me along the way would all agree that it's not about me and it's not about staff.
00:09:02.879 --> 00:09:05.679
It's about the student athletes and creating phenomenal memories.
00:09:06.159 --> 00:09:12.879
One thing I've always admired about you is you care deeply about your people and still demand extraordinary level performance.
00:09:13.200 --> 00:09:17.600
How do you hold someone accountable and invest in their development at the same time?
00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:20.879
Well, I think you hold them accountable by being a really good communicator.
00:09:21.039 --> 00:09:28.320
If you try to hold somebody accountable and they weren't even sure that what you were asking was part of their roles or responsibilities, then that's really a failure.
00:09:28.559 --> 00:09:29.600
Coaches are the best example.
00:09:29.679 --> 00:09:33.679
You can't just call a coach in after a bad season and say, hey, we're going in a new direction.
00:09:33.919 --> 00:09:45.360
Hopefully, along the way, you've communicated really well two years before then, and a year before then, and months before then, to say, hey, there's three or four things that we need to address, we need to improve upon, we need to fix it.
00:09:45.600 --> 00:09:46.960
How can I help you fix it?
00:09:47.039 --> 00:09:52.879
And then at the end of the day, ultimately, if it's not there, you have to hold them accountable and you have to do what's best for the institution.
00:09:53.039 --> 00:09:59.840
That's the same in any walk of life, whether it's college athletics or being a high school teacher, there's always got to be accountability.
00:09:59.919 --> 00:10:02.000
So that's where I focus my time and energy.
00:10:02.320 --> 00:10:08.879
You've experienced leadership and culture with the New York Yankees, Army West Point, Furman, now TCU.
00:10:09.039 --> 00:10:12.960
What have you learned about a culture that makes people better and wins?
00:10:13.440 --> 00:10:14.720
Well, there's a lot of things.
00:10:14.879 --> 00:10:18.320
At top of mind, and I've had this conversation with a few coaches here.
00:10:18.480 --> 00:10:22.000
I grew up when a three-sport family, baseball, football, wrestling.
00:10:22.080 --> 00:10:25.440
I had coaches who coached me really hard, and I responded to that really well.
00:10:25.600 --> 00:10:35.919
But one of the things that I have had to have conversations with coaches, especially that coach you tough, is you have to understand that these kids need to know that you care about them.
00:10:36.159 --> 00:10:45.360
And so if you want to hold people accountable, if I'm going to hold my staff accountable, like I can ride them and burn the midnight oil a lot more easily if they know that I care about them.
00:10:45.519 --> 00:10:50.080
If they know that I know their husband's name, their kids' names, if I want what's best for them.
00:10:50.240 --> 00:11:08.320
And in terms of professional development, sometimes what's best for them is let's expose you to one more aspect of college athletics, whether that's NIL or fundraising or compliance, so that you'll be in a position to pursue your dream, which probably isn't to be a deputy AD, a TCU.
00:11:08.399 --> 00:11:10.000
Maybe it's to be an athletic director.
00:11:10.080 --> 00:11:32.399
And so coupling all those things, giving them clear guidance of hey, you've got to taper your message, you've got to taper how you do what you do to be most effective and to still keep the student athlete at the center of your focal point, and then put yourself in a position to pursue your dream, whether that's an assistant coach who who'd like to become a head coach or a senior staffer who's ready to become an athletic director.
00:11:32.960 --> 00:11:37.919
You've emphasized athletics as a collective effort with everyone's contribution mattering.
00:11:38.159 --> 00:11:48.159
How do you make sure that every student athlete, staff member, and maybe even those who rarely get the spotlight feel valued in this process of maintaining championship standards?
00:11:48.720 --> 00:11:50.799
Hopefully the messaging is delivered.
00:11:50.960 --> 00:12:03.679
The reason that I have an executive team of 17 people is so that every message that we deliver in those meetings, those 17 people need to disperse that information throughout their entire unit.
00:12:03.759 --> 00:12:07.679
And for sport administrators, that includes the coaches and assistant coaches.
00:12:08.000 --> 00:12:17.919
And then the opposite of that is those assistant coaches, coaches, and staff members should be providing input through their supervisors to bring to us at executive staff.
00:12:18.080 --> 00:12:27.279
And so there's that two-way roots that are going down under the ground, and then roots and branches that are coming up out of the ground to make sure that there's connectivity.
00:12:27.440 --> 00:12:33.759
The student athletes oftentimes don't get the messaging, but they certainly can see the time and the energy and the effort.
00:12:33.919 --> 00:12:52.480
And most of the time, in my experience, especially with non-revenue sports, coming to practice, being visible, coming to the year, the year kickoff meetings with compliance and key campus members, having the athletic director come to that is always a really good idea just to have a little bit of FaceTime so they know who you are.
00:12:52.720 --> 00:13:01.919
I played baseball in college for three years at Wake Force University, and the athletic director while I was there was actually a former baseball player, and I never met him.
00:13:02.159 --> 00:13:10.879
And I just thought that that was really strange that as a current student athlete, I wouldn't have met the athletic director over my three years there because I knew he came to games.
00:13:11.039 --> 00:13:21.919
And so that's always in the back of my mind, too, that whether you're the backup women's soccer goalkeeper or the starting point guard, they should have a familiarity, even if it's not sitting in my office having a conversation.
00:13:22.000 --> 00:13:32.159
They should certainly recognize me when I'm in the room and feel that I'm approachable, whether it's just to catch up briefly or if they have a concern, I want to make sure that they understand that I'm there for them.
00:13:32.639 --> 00:13:37.360
Some of the greatest legacies are measured by leaders who help build other leaders.
00:13:37.679 --> 00:13:41.600
How do you intentionally help coaches, administrators, and emerging leaders?
00:13:41.759 --> 00:13:44.559
And what's it look like when you've empowered somebody?
00:13:45.039 --> 00:13:56.159
Specifically to athletic directors, I am of the firm belief that we should be unseen and unheard, other than we've had to have a voice at the national level to try to fix the current issues that we have.
00:13:56.399 --> 00:14:03.120
Where some of the voices in our industry, like Danny White and Nina King and some others, it's really valuable to have a voice.
00:14:03.279 --> 00:14:07.120
But on our campus, I feel like athletic directors are a good insurance policy.
00:14:07.279 --> 00:14:11.279
We're there to support you, we're there to give you confidence and make you feel safe.
00:14:11.440 --> 00:14:15.600
But unless there's a really big problem, you really shouldn't have to deal with us.
00:14:15.679 --> 00:14:21.919
And that's how I feel like if you're doing your job, you're not seen or heard, which seems kind of strange.
00:14:22.080 --> 00:14:23.679
And that's just my philosophy.
00:14:23.759 --> 00:14:29.600
I know there are others who want to be out front with a strong social media presence and a lot of photo ops and all those kind of things.
00:14:29.759 --> 00:14:31.360
And there's certainly value in that as well.
00:14:31.519 --> 00:14:36.879
It just doesn't come naturally to me, and that's not it's not how I learned when I was up and coming.
00:14:37.120 --> 00:14:46.639
And I will say, one of the most valuable lessons I had came from my time at West Point when I had just gotten through COVID and was still learning the ins and outs of the military life.
00:14:46.720 --> 00:14:52.720
And I got to know Marty Dempsey, who is the chairman of the Joint Chief Staff and a legendary four-star general.
00:14:52.879 --> 00:15:01.600
And I asked him about how does he empower people, and he said, uh, the three D's, because everything in the Army has an initial and some sort of abbreviation.
00:15:01.759 --> 00:15:03.279
But I said, What are the three D's?
00:15:03.360 --> 00:15:06.240
And he said, decide, delegate, and disappear.
00:15:06.399 --> 00:15:09.279
So as a leader, you have to make the decision.
00:15:09.440 --> 00:15:20.080
And so for me, the decision might be, hey, we're gonna distribute$21 million of Rev share and then delegate it to someone whom I trust and that will get the job done and then disappear.
00:15:20.240 --> 00:15:28.480
So truly I say, Hey, tell me how you think we should disperse this money, delegate it to person A, B, or C, and then just disappear.
00:15:28.559 --> 00:15:30.720
I'm there if you need me, but I'm not gonna be hands-on.
00:15:30.879 --> 00:15:36.960
And because nine times out of ten, they will come back to me with a better plan than what I would have come up with.
00:15:37.200 --> 00:15:41.600
And of course, you still hold the final decision-making authority, but I love the thought.
00:15:41.679 --> 00:15:47.120
I make a decision of what I want the end result to be, and then delegate it and disappear, stay out of the way.
00:15:47.759 --> 00:15:52.639
Mike, college athletics is an environment where nearly everything feels urgent.
00:15:52.879 --> 00:15:57.120
For you, what are some non-negotiable habits you have to keep on your calendar?
00:15:57.519 --> 00:16:01.360
Well, personally, I try to make sure that my work-life balance is okay.
00:16:01.519 --> 00:16:07.360
I block out a lot of middays if I don't have a lunch scheduled or a lunch necessary to schedule.
00:16:07.440 --> 00:16:12.799
If it can be a morning meeting, I'll do that so that I can exercise a little bit, decompress in the middle of the day.
00:16:13.039 --> 00:16:19.279
A little tougher now that I'm in Texas, where that can be a challenge in July and August from the temperature standpoint.
00:16:19.440 --> 00:16:23.600
I feel like I'm at my best when I am rested and physically fit.
00:16:23.840 --> 00:16:26.159
So that's something from a personal level.
00:16:26.399 --> 00:16:48.240
And then from professionally, one of the greatest things you can do is quickly identify what are those things at your institution that only the athletic director can do, and then focus my time and energy on those things because A, that helps me be where I am most needed, and B, it helps my senior staff fill in and handle some really important things.
00:16:48.559 --> 00:16:53.679
As the AD, I can't send my deputy to meet with our top three, four, or five donors.
00:16:53.840 --> 00:16:55.919
That's got to be me or one of our coaches.
00:16:56.159 --> 00:17:04.799
I can't send a deputy to report to the trustees and have closed sessions to talk about the mission and the focus of our next 12 to 18 months.
00:17:04.960 --> 00:17:11.920
So those things that really only the AD can do become the urgent necessities that I focus on.
00:17:12.240 --> 00:17:25.200
And then, as you said, everything's important, but what's critical versus what's important and being able to identify the important things that I can delegate to people whom I trust, and then me just focus on those things that are urgent.
00:17:25.920 --> 00:17:33.279
The pressure to win, generate revenue for NIL RevShare are consuming college athletics right now.
00:17:33.519 --> 00:17:40.559
How do we ensure that our pursuit of competitive success never diminishes the transformational value of higher education?
00:17:41.119 --> 00:17:43.200
Well, I don't think we as an industry can.
00:17:43.359 --> 00:17:45.279
I think that toothpaste is out of the tube.
00:17:45.440 --> 00:17:50.559
Now, I've been able to balance those two, and I've always worked at pretty much small private institutions.
00:17:50.799 --> 00:17:54.640
West Point is technically public, but certainly functions like a private.
00:17:55.119 --> 00:17:58.480
I've never been at an institution that offers online classes.
00:17:58.559 --> 00:18:07.920
And so that's kind of in line with my personal values and my belief as a former student athlete who truly only got my opportunities because I received a scholarship.
00:18:08.079 --> 00:18:11.200
I keep that first and foremost in my mind.
00:18:11.440 --> 00:18:19.440
But there are certainly institutions out there who act as institutionally as if they only exist to help support their athletics programs.
00:18:19.519 --> 00:18:21.680
And I just think that's completely backwards.
00:18:22.000 --> 00:18:30.720
Hopefully, as you know, whether it's congressional help or if we try to fix this ourselves, nobody's talking about APR and graduation rates.
00:18:30.880 --> 00:18:35.200
We know for a fact that the transfer portal has been an unmitigated disaster.
00:18:35.440 --> 00:18:50.559
Absolutely one or two percent of the student athletes have profited from it financially, but hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of young people are gonna walk away without a degree because they transferred four times in four years and you lose credits every time you transfer.
00:18:50.720 --> 00:19:02.960
And yet they will have some dollars in their bank account, but I fear that they're gonna wake up when they're 35 without a college degree, without a network of friends that they shared suffering through with four years of competition.
00:19:03.119 --> 00:19:05.119
I just don't think that's good for them in the long run.
00:19:05.279 --> 00:19:16.400
So hopefully we get back to something, I guess we would call it a new normal, where scholarship, education, and graduation become much more of the talking points again.
00:19:17.200 --> 00:19:20.960
Universities are full of talented people with competing priorities.
00:19:21.200 --> 00:19:27.279
How do you align academics, athletics, faculty, staff, donors, and students around a shared mission?
00:19:27.839 --> 00:19:28.960
Well, that's a challenge.
00:19:29.119 --> 00:19:36.720
As I tell the the 16 coaches here at TCU, every dollar I give to one of you is a dollar that the other 15 of you don't get.
00:19:37.039 --> 00:19:42.000
There's a great saying which is the team that you're on is more important than the team that you lead.
00:19:42.160 --> 00:19:43.599
And that holds true everywhere.
00:19:43.759 --> 00:19:49.279
I mean, the team that I lead are those 16 head coaches, and they're really important, and I want them all to have success.
00:19:49.440 --> 00:19:52.240
But the team that I'm on is called the Chancellor's Cabinet.
00:19:52.400 --> 00:20:02.480
And if the Chancellor at TCU decides tomorrow that we're not going to invest at the certain level or whatever it may be, then that becomes much more that's not negotiable for me.
00:20:02.640 --> 00:20:05.599
If that's the mandate, then that's the team that I'm going to be on.
00:20:05.759 --> 00:20:23.759
And I'm really fortunate to be on a team led by a chancellor who clearly understands the value of athletics, so much so that athletics is identified as one of the four key pillars to our strategic plan called Lead On, where between now and 2035, we want to grow enrollment.
00:20:23.839 --> 00:20:28.400
And the key driver to successful enrollment increase is success in athletics.
00:20:28.480 --> 00:20:44.720
And so you could argue that the TCU Chancellor is my biggest donor, a great partner with communicating to faculty and staff and trustees that most successful way to get us to achieve our goals is to allow our revenue sports to flourish and put us on the map.
00:20:44.799 --> 00:20:47.839
And the historical success of TCU has really helped.
00:20:48.000 --> 00:20:55.759
A lot of times, schools will make a run and you hear about how money applications increased and the profile of the institution was raised.
00:20:55.839 --> 00:21:02.799
And a lot of times you'll have leadership at a school that says, Well, that may not just be, you know, maybe that wasn't because of the the run to the Elite Eight.
00:21:02.880 --> 00:21:07.119
Maybe that was because our new business school was built, or you know, they might take some convincing.
00:21:07.200 --> 00:21:09.759
And that's not been the case at TCU, which has been wonderful.
00:21:10.079 --> 00:21:22.960
They went to the Rose Bowl and beat Wisconsin and saw what that did for applications and national notoriety and certainly media attention and the value of unpaid media that that can bring to you.
00:21:23.039 --> 00:21:34.799
And then the run to the CFP championship game in 2022 re-revitalized the realization that athletics can get us where we want to go and be additive to the mission of the institution.
00:21:34.960 --> 00:21:36.799
And that's been very refreshing.
00:21:37.440 --> 00:21:47.359
When you look beyond the wins and championships, what do you hope that student athletes, coaches, and staff who pass through your programs will say about how you shape the people they became?
00:21:47.920 --> 00:21:55.680
At the core, I hope that they felt that I treated them fairly and I treated them as a human, as a person, not as a rebounding machine or a tackling machine.
00:21:55.839 --> 00:21:59.519
I think in this new iteration of college athletics, it's become a little bit more.
00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:02.559
Transactional and that that's so easily done.
00:22:02.720 --> 00:22:07.920
Our women's basketball program has been very successful in recruiting graduate transfers out of the portal.
00:22:08.000 --> 00:22:12.559
And that can be scary when you're basically purchasing somebody to come compete for you for one year.
00:22:12.640 --> 00:22:19.599
But Mark Campbell, who leads that effort, has been just phenomenal at embracing them for who they are and making the sport fun again.
00:22:19.759 --> 00:22:22.160
And as a result, winning a lot of games.
00:22:22.319 --> 00:22:27.839
But I think that those stellar athletes like Haley Van Lith and Olivia Miles would say that they came to TCU.
00:22:27.920 --> 00:22:38.720
And while they didn't spend the majority of their college eligibility at TCU, I think they feel connected to this institution because we treated them as young people and we want them to be successful.
00:22:38.799 --> 00:22:41.839
So I hope they feel that they were treated fairly and respected.
00:22:41.920 --> 00:22:45.440
And then really at the end of the day, I hope that they find a passion.
00:22:45.680 --> 00:22:52.319
I think when most kids, it's certainly at the power four level, when they come to college, they're hoping for the opportunity to play professionally.
00:22:52.480 --> 00:22:55.680
And a lot of them get that opportunity, but even more of them don't.
00:22:55.839 --> 00:23:10.240
And so it's really incumbent on us as leaders and the adults in the room to make sure that they get their degree so that whatever they become passionate about, there's very few roadblocks to getting in a position to follow their passion and live a meaningful professional life.
00:23:10.640 --> 00:23:16.640
Mike, we're gonna shift gears here to our listeners' favorite segments called the Fast and Friendly Five.
00:23:16.880 --> 00:23:20.960
So I'm gonna ask you five quick questions, gut answers, no long pauses.
00:23:21.119 --> 00:23:21.839
You ready?
00:23:22.240 --> 00:23:22.880
Oh boy.
00:23:22.960 --> 00:23:24.000
Yep, I'll hit me.
00:23:24.160 --> 00:23:24.559
All right.
00:23:24.720 --> 00:23:29.519
Number one, your go-to hype music, artist, or song when you need a boost.
00:23:30.480 --> 00:23:31.759
Oh simple.
00:23:32.000 --> 00:23:38.880
Weeping Angel, a band from the Hudson Valley, heavy, heavy metal, fronted by my son as the lead guitarist.
00:23:39.119 --> 00:23:39.759
Love it.
00:23:40.000 --> 00:23:43.519
Number two, your go-to movie when you need inspiration.
00:23:43.920 --> 00:23:45.839
Oh, Shawshank Redemption.
00:23:46.160 --> 00:23:50.079
Number three, one or two books that have shaped who you are.
00:23:50.559 --> 00:23:57.119
Um No Time for Spectators by Marty Dempsey and A Blink by Malcolm Gladwell.
00:23:57.359 --> 00:24:01.759
All right, number four, the best leadership advice you've received.
00:24:02.319 --> 00:24:04.960
Um everybody has an opinion.
00:24:05.200 --> 00:24:07.759
Ignore them and follow your instincts.
00:24:08.160 --> 00:24:12.160
All right, number five, a leader or coach who shaped you and why?
00:24:13.680 --> 00:24:20.880
Um I would say my father, who was my coach and obviously my leader, uh, shaped me from the young age.
00:24:20.960 --> 00:24:28.480
I I think if uh like any athlete, if you are built on solid foundation, it makes the rest of your days easier.
00:24:28.640 --> 00:24:35.200
And so I think at a young age, I was taught that education matters, that discipline and attention to detail was important.
00:24:35.279 --> 00:24:39.279
And that was from my original coach, my dad, and my mom for that matter.
00:24:39.599 --> 00:24:40.880
Mike, congratulations.
00:24:41.039 --> 00:24:44.960
Not only have you survived, but you've thrived through the fast and friendly five.
00:24:46.400 --> 00:24:47.440
That's fun, Rob.
00:24:47.599 --> 00:24:48.400
I like that little piece.
00:24:48.480 --> 00:24:50.400
I see why it's your listener's favorite.
00:24:50.720 --> 00:24:58.400
All right, we're coming too close here, but before we do, would you offer our listeners some advice on how to lead the right way?
00:24:59.039 --> 00:25:00.160
Yeah, I you know what?
00:25:00.240 --> 00:25:02.480
I for me it comes down to simplification.
00:25:02.559 --> 00:25:06.880
And this is something I've learned through years of leading athletics departments.
00:25:07.039 --> 00:25:08.400
It is so complex.
00:25:08.559 --> 00:25:14.400
There are so many constituencies, there's donors, there's trustees, there's coaches, there's alums.
00:25:14.720 --> 00:25:17.519
It can get so convoluted if you allow it to be.
00:25:17.599 --> 00:25:26.559
And as cheesy as it sounds, understanding your three core values and only taking jobs that align with those core values are helpful.
00:25:26.640 --> 00:25:32.720
But then at the end of the day, if you understand the mission of your department, it makes those decisions really easy.
00:25:32.880 --> 00:25:47.759
So if you have a North Star that you can point back to that, hey, you our job is to educate and train and inspire young people and put them in a position to live meaningful lives, you can think back and just think if I make decision A, is it most aligned with that?
00:25:47.920 --> 00:25:50.400
Or is decision B most aligned with that?
00:25:50.640 --> 00:26:04.880
Because if you're staying true to published missions or values, or whether they're institutional values or your own, people can argue with the outcome and the decision that you made, but they shouldn't be able to argue with the process and the logic behind it.
00:26:05.039 --> 00:26:10.160
And so a lot of times that can simplify leadership decisions and certainly tough decisions.
00:26:10.559 --> 00:26:11.119
Incredible.
00:26:11.279 --> 00:26:18.240
Mike, thank you so much for taking the time to be on the Competitive Kindness Podcast and for sharing all these incredible insights.
00:26:18.559 --> 00:26:19.440
Yeah, absolutely.
00:26:19.759 --> 00:26:21.039
Great to reconnect with you, Rob.
00:26:21.200 --> 00:26:22.720
Happy that you're doing this.
00:26:25.359 --> 00:26:26.720
Thanks for tuning in.
00:26:27.039 --> 00:26:32.720
If today's episode got you fired up, please check out the book Competitive Kindness Winning the Right Way.
00:26:33.359 --> 00:26:34.480
Available on Amazon.
00:26:35.519 --> 00:26:40.240
Join the competitive kindness movement by sharing with your friends, family, and colleagues.
00:26:50.720 --> 00:26:51.119
Remember,
00:00:20.640 --> 00:00:22.239
I don't think I think everyone around it.
00:00:31.359 --> 00:00:34.240
If you ready win the right way, you're in the right place.
00:00:34.880 --> 00:00:35.759
Now let's get wrong.
00:00:46.560 --> 00:00:51.039
Have you ever looked up in the sky and watched a flock of geese flying in the V formation?
00:00:52.399 --> 00:00:53.600
Here's what's remarkable.
00:00:53.759 --> 00:00:55.920
The bird at the point has the hardest job.
00:00:56.640 --> 00:00:59.119
It breaks the wind for everyone else behind it.
00:00:59.280 --> 00:01:03.439
And when it gets tired, it doesn't hang on out of pride or defend its title.
00:01:03.679 --> 00:01:04.959
It drifts back.
00:01:05.120 --> 00:01:07.439
And another bird moves forward.
00:01:07.760 --> 00:01:12.239
Nobody calls a meeting, nobody sends a memo about transitioning leadership.
00:01:12.560 --> 00:01:15.120
Every bird in that formation knows how to lead.
00:01:15.359 --> 00:01:19.760
And that's why the whole flock gets further than any one bird ever could.
00:01:20.319 --> 00:01:22.719
So here's the question I want you to carry today.
00:01:23.599 --> 00:01:32.079
When you leave a meeting or finish a conversation with someone on your team, is that person more capable of leading than before they met with you?
00:01:32.719 --> 00:01:38.560
Not just more informed, not just more productive, more capable of leading.
00:01:39.439 --> 00:01:44.480
Because one of the truest measures of leadership isn't what happens when you walk into a room.
00:01:44.719 --> 00:01:47.040
It's what happens after you walk out.
00:01:47.920 --> 00:01:53.280
John Maxwell sums up this idea: grow a leader, grow the organization.
00:01:53.840 --> 00:02:02.480
Our job isn't just to get results through people, it's to develop people who get extraordinary results and then do the same for others.
00:02:03.040 --> 00:02:08.319
Paul Gustison takes that one step further in what he calls a team of leaders.
00:02:08.879 --> 00:02:15.120
Picture the traditional model one leader at the top, and everyone else is waiting for instructions.
00:02:15.520 --> 00:02:18.800
A team of leaders looks more like the flying V.
00:02:19.199 --> 00:02:21.360
Every member is developed a lead.
00:02:21.599 --> 00:02:27.680
Each one takes real ownership, and leadership moves wherever the expertise and the moment call for it.
00:02:28.159 --> 00:02:29.439
So now a little test.
00:02:29.759 --> 00:02:34.560
If your organization only works when you're in the room, you've built a good operation.
00:02:34.800 --> 00:02:36.879
But that's not leadership capacity.
00:02:37.280 --> 00:02:41.360
And if everything falls apart when you take a vacation, congratulations.
00:02:41.599 --> 00:02:45.360
You've made yourself indispensable and probably ruined your vacation.
00:02:45.599 --> 00:02:47.680
A team of leaders is the cure.
00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:51.520
Competitive kindness is how you build a team of leaders.
00:02:51.759 --> 00:02:56.560
It comes down to three ways study it, back it, raise it.
00:02:57.199 --> 00:02:58.719
First, study it.
00:02:59.280 --> 00:03:02.000
We recognize potential before it's obvious.
00:03:02.400 --> 00:03:03.840
Anyone can back the star.
00:03:04.080 --> 00:03:10.240
Leaders see the spark in the person who hasn't yet seen it in themselves and say so out loud.
00:03:11.199 --> 00:03:12.560
Second, back it.
00:03:13.039 --> 00:03:15.759
We give real opportunity with real support.
00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:17.840
Not good luck, figure it out.
00:03:18.159 --> 00:03:22.719
More like, here's the stage, and I'm standing right behind you to help you.
00:03:23.199 --> 00:03:24.960
Stretch assignments are wonderful.
00:03:25.199 --> 00:03:29.439
Stretch assignments with no safety net are just addressed with a nicer title.
00:03:30.400 --> 00:03:32.159
Third, raise it.
00:03:32.800 --> 00:03:35.759
We keep the standard high and care higher.
00:03:36.080 --> 00:03:38.879
Kindness doesn't mean lowering expectations.
00:03:39.520 --> 00:03:45.599
Telling someone the truth clearly and with respect is one of the most caring things you can do.
00:03:45.919 --> 00:03:49.439
Staying silent to avoid an awkward moment isn't kindness.
00:03:49.759 --> 00:03:52.639
It's niceness, and it's just uncomfortable.
00:03:52.960 --> 00:04:05.039
When everyone is developed to lead, you strengthen the whole institution and everyone it serves, the student, the member, the customer, the community, all of them are better off.
00:04:05.520 --> 00:04:07.439
So here's your challenge this week.
00:04:07.840 --> 00:04:10.240
Pick one person on your team, just one.
00:04:10.960 --> 00:04:17.199
Ask, what's one thing I can do to help them be more capable of leading by Friday?
00:04:17.360 --> 00:04:20.240
Maybe it's handing them a microphone in the next meeting.
00:04:20.480 --> 00:04:23.040
Maybe it's asking, what would you do?
00:04:23.439 --> 00:04:27.519
And then, this is the hard part, actually letting them answer.
00:04:28.720 --> 00:04:35.199
See it, back it, raise it, small acts, bring big ripple effects.
00:04:36.079 --> 00:04:44.240
Because the best leaders don't leave a legacy of followers, they leave a flock that knows how to fly and build a team of leaders.
00:04:49.439 --> 00:05:01.920
Today's guest is Mike Buddy, the ninth director of intercollegiate athletics at Texas Christian University, bringing a unique combination of championship experience, strategic leadership, and a commitment to developing people.
00:05:02.639 --> 00:05:11.439
A 1993 Wake Forest graduate, Mike was a Major League Baseball pitcher for the New York Yankees Organization and Milwaukee Brewers.
00:05:11.600 --> 00:05:16.240
And he was a part of the Yankees' 1998 World Series Championship team.
00:05:16.480 --> 00:05:26.560
He spent over a decade in intercollegiate athletics administration at Wake Forest before serving as Director of Athletics at Furman University and at Army West Point.
00:05:26.800 --> 00:05:36.720
At Army, he led historic competitive success, including program record 12-win football season and a$170 million stadium preservation project.
00:05:37.040 --> 00:05:48.720
Since arriving at TCU in January of 2025, his leadership has helped advance championship aspirations while reinforcing the university's commitment to educating ethical leaders.
00:05:53.279 --> 00:05:55.920
Welcome to the competitive kindness podcast, Mike.
00:05:56.160 --> 00:05:56.720
Thank you, Rob.
00:05:57.120 --> 00:05:58.480
Great to be on, great to hear your voice.
00:05:58.720 --> 00:06:02.160
Likewise, everyone has a story and we would love to hear yours.
00:06:02.399 --> 00:06:06.800
What are one or two moments in your life that have shaped who you are and how you lead?
00:06:07.199 --> 00:06:10.079
Who man, it's hard to boil it down just to two.
00:06:10.240 --> 00:06:15.920
I think the first part would be my background as a professional baseball player and a pitcher, to be specific.
00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:20.240
And when you're a professional pitcher, it's a pretty humbling experience, right?
00:06:20.399 --> 00:06:26.959
You get instant feedback from the opposing hitters, and it teaches you great things like resilience and humility.
00:06:27.120 --> 00:06:40.639
And I think a lot of that experience shaped how I lead now outside of the actual physical sports realm, but in and around it, you need to understand how to be resilient, how to recover from adversity just because we face so much of it.
00:06:40.800 --> 00:06:49.120
I would certainly point to sadly giving up a lot of home runs as a pitcher and just learning how to get back out there the next day and continue to give it your best and fight.
00:06:49.360 --> 00:06:52.399
And other life lessons being around college athletics.
00:06:52.480 --> 00:07:06.800
I had a great mentor in my time at Wake Forest, where I spent a decade learning from Ron Wellman, who was just one of the men of integrity and character who fight like hell to try to win, but always understands that there's a bigger picture.
00:07:06.959 --> 00:07:10.240
And so being around him, I remember specific uh events.
00:07:10.399 --> 00:07:16.560
He had a habit of taking a long walk on days that he knew he had to terminate an employee or a coach.
00:07:16.879 --> 00:07:22.639
And I was blessed enough at some point to be invited with him on some of those walks just to keep him level set and focused.
00:07:22.720 --> 00:07:25.839
And he always focused on the humanity of those decisions.
00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:27.439
And I learned so much from that.
00:07:27.600 --> 00:07:31.839
Obviously, in my role, I've had to do that multiple times, and they're never easy.
00:07:32.000 --> 00:07:48.399
But I think the great lessons that I learned about being a leader is you have to make the decisions that are going to most positively impact the department and the institution that you work for, but to always maintain a level of humanity and doing things the right way and treating people the right way.
00:07:48.879 --> 00:07:59.120
And when you're not in the official capacity of a director of athletics, who is Mike Buddy and how does that person show up when you're coaching, mentoring, or challenging your team?
00:07:59.600 --> 00:08:01.279
Well, I view myself as a teammate.
00:08:01.360 --> 00:08:13.120
I've been an AD now over 10 years, and I think anybody that worked with me at my time at Furman or Army or now at TCU, I've never described any of them as working for me or being my employees.
00:08:13.279 --> 00:08:23.199
I've always said we are all employed by the 400, 500, or 1,000 student athletes that have given us this blessing of a career and a calling, really.
00:08:23.279 --> 00:08:29.120
And so I've always viewed it that we need to work together as senior staff or staff to support our bosses.
00:08:29.199 --> 00:08:30.879
And our bosses are the student athletes.
00:08:30.959 --> 00:08:43.840
And I think that served us really well in normal times, and I think it also still serves us well in the current landscape, which is considerably different than what it was before we could do revenue sharing and paying our student athletes.
00:08:43.919 --> 00:08:52.159
And so that helps us keep the main thing the main thing, whether we're paying them, whether we're trying to help them find NIL deals or not.
00:08:52.320 --> 00:08:56.159
Our job is still to serve them in the best possible capacity.
00:08:56.240 --> 00:09:02.799
And so I think the people that work with me along the way would all agree that it's not about me and it's not about staff.
00:09:02.879 --> 00:09:05.679
It's about the student athletes and creating phenomenal memories.
00:09:06.159 --> 00:09:12.879
One thing I've always admired about you is you care deeply about your people and still demand extraordinary level performance.
00:09:13.200 --> 00:09:17.600
How do you hold someone accountable and invest in their development at the same time?
00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:20.879
Well, I think you hold them accountable by being a really good communicator.
00:09:21.039 --> 00:09:28.320
If you try to hold somebody accountable and they weren't even sure that what you were asking was part of their roles or responsibilities, then that's really a failure.
00:09:28.559 --> 00:09:29.600
Coaches are the best example.
00:09:29.679 --> 00:09:33.679
You can't just call a coach in after a bad season and say, hey, we're going in a new direction.
00:09:33.919 --> 00:09:45.360
Hopefully, along the way, you've communicated really well two years before then, and a year before then, and months before then, to say, hey, there's three or four things that we need to address, we need to improve upon, we need to fix it.
00:09:45.600 --> 00:09:46.960
How can I help you fix it?
00:09:47.039 --> 00:09:52.879
And then at the end of the day, ultimately, if it's not there, you have to hold them accountable and you have to do what's best for the institution.
00:09:53.039 --> 00:09:59.840
That's the same in any walk of life, whether it's college athletics or being a high school teacher, there's always got to be accountability.
00:09:59.919 --> 00:10:02.000
So that's where I focus my time and energy.
00:10:02.320 --> 00:10:08.879
You've experienced leadership and culture with the New York Yankees, Army West Point, Furman, now TCU.
00:10:09.039 --> 00:10:12.960
What have you learned about a culture that makes people better and wins?
00:10:13.440 --> 00:10:14.720
Well, there's a lot of things.
00:10:14.879 --> 00:10:18.320
At top of mind, and I've had this conversation with a few coaches here.
00:10:18.480 --> 00:10:22.000
I grew up when a three-sport family, baseball, football, wrestling.
00:10:22.080 --> 00:10:25.440
I had coaches who coached me really hard, and I responded to that really well.
00:10:25.600 --> 00:10:35.919
But one of the things that I have had to have conversations with coaches, especially that coach you tough, is you have to understand that these kids need to know that you care about them.
00:10:36.159 --> 00:10:45.360
And so if you want to hold people accountable, if I'm going to hold my staff accountable, like I can ride them and burn the midnight oil a lot more easily if they know that I care about them.
00:10:45.519 --> 00:10:50.080
If they know that I know their husband's name, their kids' names, if I want what's best for them.
00:10:50.240 --> 00:11:08.320
And in terms of professional development, sometimes what's best for them is let's expose you to one more aspect of college athletics, whether that's NIL or fundraising or compliance, so that you'll be in a position to pursue your dream, which probably isn't to be a deputy AD, a TCU.
00:11:08.399 --> 00:11:10.000
Maybe it's to be an athletic director.
00:11:10.080 --> 00:11:32.399
And so coupling all those things, giving them clear guidance of hey, you've got to taper your message, you've got to taper how you do what you do to be most effective and to still keep the student athlete at the center of your focal point, and then put yourself in a position to pursue your dream, whether that's an assistant coach who who'd like to become a head coach or a senior staffer who's ready to become an athletic director.
00:11:32.960 --> 00:11:37.919
You've emphasized athletics as a collective effort with everyone's contribution mattering.
00:11:38.159 --> 00:11:48.159
How do you make sure that every student athlete, staff member, and maybe even those who rarely get the spotlight feel valued in this process of maintaining championship standards?
00:11:48.720 --> 00:11:50.799
Hopefully the messaging is delivered.
00:11:50.960 --> 00:12:03.679
The reason that I have an executive team of 17 people is so that every message that we deliver in those meetings, those 17 people need to disperse that information throughout their entire unit.
00:12:03.759 --> 00:12:07.679
And for sport administrators, that includes the coaches and assistant coaches.
00:12:08.000 --> 00:12:17.919
And then the opposite of that is those assistant coaches, coaches, and staff members should be providing input through their supervisors to bring to us at executive staff.
00:12:18.080 --> 00:12:27.279
And so there's that two-way roots that are going down under the ground, and then roots and branches that are coming up out of the ground to make sure that there's connectivity.
00:12:27.440 --> 00:12:33.759
The student athletes oftentimes don't get the messaging, but they certainly can see the time and the energy and the effort.
00:12:33.919 --> 00:12:52.480
And most of the time, in my experience, especially with non-revenue sports, coming to practice, being visible, coming to the year, the year kickoff meetings with compliance and key campus members, having the athletic director come to that is always a really good idea just to have a little bit of FaceTime so they know who you are.
00:12:52.720 --> 00:13:01.919
I played baseball in college for three years at Wake Force University, and the athletic director while I was there was actually a former baseball player, and I never met him.
00:13:02.159 --> 00:13:10.879
And I just thought that that was really strange that as a current student athlete, I wouldn't have met the athletic director over my three years there because I knew he came to games.
00:13:11.039 --> 00:13:21.919
And so that's always in the back of my mind, too, that whether you're the backup women's soccer goalkeeper or the starting point guard, they should have a familiarity, even if it's not sitting in my office having a conversation.
00:13:22.000 --> 00:13:32.159
They should certainly recognize me when I'm in the room and feel that I'm approachable, whether it's just to catch up briefly or if they have a concern, I want to make sure that they understand that I'm there for them.
00:13:32.639 --> 00:13:37.360
Some of the greatest legacies are measured by leaders who help build other leaders.
00:13:37.679 --> 00:13:41.600
How do you intentionally help coaches, administrators, and emerging leaders?
00:13:41.759 --> 00:13:44.559
And what's it look like when you've empowered somebody?
00:13:45.039 --> 00:13:56.159
Specifically to athletic directors, I am of the firm belief that we should be unseen and unheard, other than we've had to have a voice at the national level to try to fix the current issues that we have.
00:13:56.399 --> 00:14:03.120
Where some of the voices in our industry, like Danny White and Nina King and some others, it's really valuable to have a voice.
00:14:03.279 --> 00:14:07.120
But on our campus, I feel like athletic directors are a good insurance policy.
00:14:07.279 --> 00:14:11.279
We're there to support you, we're there to give you confidence and make you feel safe.
00:14:11.440 --> 00:14:15.600
But unless there's a really big problem, you really shouldn't have to deal with us.
00:14:15.679 --> 00:14:21.919
And that's how I feel like if you're doing your job, you're not seen or heard, which seems kind of strange.
00:14:22.080 --> 00:14:23.679
And that's just my philosophy.
00:14:23.759 --> 00:14:29.600
I know there are others who want to be out front with a strong social media presence and a lot of photo ops and all those kind of things.
00:14:29.759 --> 00:14:31.360
And there's certainly value in that as well.
00:14:31.519 --> 00:14:36.879
It just doesn't come naturally to me, and that's not it's not how I learned when I was up and coming.
00:14:37.120 --> 00:14:46.639
And I will say, one of the most valuable lessons I had came from my time at West Point when I had just gotten through COVID and was still learning the ins and outs of the military life.
00:14:46.720 --> 00:14:52.720
And I got to know Marty Dempsey, who is the chairman of the Joint Chief Staff and a legendary four-star general.
00:14:52.879 --> 00:15:01.600
And I asked him about how does he empower people, and he said, uh, the three D's, because everything in the Army has an initial and some sort of abbreviation.
00:15:01.759 --> 00:15:03.279
But I said, What are the three D's?
00:15:03.360 --> 00:15:06.240
And he said, decide, delegate, and disappear.
00:15:06.399 --> 00:15:09.279
So as a leader, you have to make the decision.
00:15:09.440 --> 00:15:20.080
And so for me, the decision might be, hey, we're gonna distribute$21 million of Rev share and then delegate it to someone whom I trust and that will get the job done and then disappear.
00:15:20.240 --> 00:15:28.480
So truly I say, Hey, tell me how you think we should disperse this money, delegate it to person A, B, or C, and then just disappear.
00:15:28.559 --> 00:15:30.720
I'm there if you need me, but I'm not gonna be hands-on.
00:15:30.879 --> 00:15:36.960
And because nine times out of ten, they will come back to me with a better plan than what I would have come up with.
00:15:37.200 --> 00:15:41.600
And of course, you still hold the final decision-making authority, but I love the thought.
00:15:41.679 --> 00:15:47.120
I make a decision of what I want the end result to be, and then delegate it and disappear, stay out of the way.
00:15:47.759 --> 00:15:52.639
Mike, college athletics is an environment where nearly everything feels urgent.
00:15:52.879 --> 00:15:57.120
For you, what are some non-negotiable habits you have to keep on your calendar?
00:15:57.519 --> 00:16:01.360
Well, personally, I try to make sure that my work-life balance is okay.
00:16:01.519 --> 00:16:07.360
I block out a lot of middays if I don't have a lunch scheduled or a lunch necessary to schedule.
00:16:07.440 --> 00:16:12.799
If it can be a morning meeting, I'll do that so that I can exercise a little bit, decompress in the middle of the day.
00:16:13.039 --> 00:16:19.279
A little tougher now that I'm in Texas, where that can be a challenge in July and August from the temperature standpoint.
00:16:19.440 --> 00:16:23.600
I feel like I'm at my best when I am rested and physically fit.
00:16:23.840 --> 00:16:26.159
So that's something from a personal level.
00:16:26.399 --> 00:16:48.240
And then from professionally, one of the greatest things you can do is quickly identify what are those things at your institution that only the athletic director can do, and then focus my time and energy on those things because A, that helps me be where I am most needed, and B, it helps my senior staff fill in and handle some really important things.
00:16:48.559 --> 00:16:53.679
As the AD, I can't send my deputy to meet with our top three, four, or five donors.
00:16:53.840 --> 00:16:55.919
That's got to be me or one of our coaches.
00:16:56.159 --> 00:17:04.799
I can't send a deputy to report to the trustees and have closed sessions to talk about the mission and the focus of our next 12 to 18 months.
00:17:04.960 --> 00:17:11.920
So those things that really only the AD can do become the urgent necessities that I focus on.
00:17:12.240 --> 00:17:25.200
And then, as you said, everything's important, but what's critical versus what's important and being able to identify the important things that I can delegate to people whom I trust, and then me just focus on those things that are urgent.
00:17:25.920 --> 00:17:33.279
The pressure to win, generate revenue for NIL RevShare are consuming college athletics right now.
00:17:33.519 --> 00:17:40.559
How do we ensure that our pursuit of competitive success never diminishes the transformational value of higher education?
00:17:41.119 --> 00:17:43.200
Well, I don't think we as an industry can.
00:17:43.359 --> 00:17:45.279
I think that toothpaste is out of the tube.
00:17:45.440 --> 00:17:50.559
Now, I've been able to balance those two, and I've always worked at pretty much small private institutions.
00:17:50.799 --> 00:17:54.640
West Point is technically public, but certainly functions like a private.
00:17:55.119 --> 00:17:58.480
I've never been at an institution that offers online classes.
00:17:58.559 --> 00:18:07.920
And so that's kind of in line with my personal values and my belief as a former student athlete who truly only got my opportunities because I received a scholarship.
00:18:08.079 --> 00:18:11.200
I keep that first and foremost in my mind.
00:18:11.440 --> 00:18:19.440
But there are certainly institutions out there who act as institutionally as if they only exist to help support their athletics programs.
00:18:19.519 --> 00:18:21.680
And I just think that's completely backwards.
00:18:22.000 --> 00:18:30.720
Hopefully, as you know, whether it's congressional help or if we try to fix this ourselves, nobody's talking about APR and graduation rates.
00:18:30.880 --> 00:18:35.200
We know for a fact that the transfer portal has been an unmitigated disaster.
00:18:35.440 --> 00:18:50.559
Absolutely one or two percent of the student athletes have profited from it financially, but hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of young people are gonna walk away without a degree because they transferred four times in four years and you lose credits every time you transfer.
00:18:50.720 --> 00:19:02.960
And yet they will have some dollars in their bank account, but I fear that they're gonna wake up when they're 35 without a college degree, without a network of friends that they shared suffering through with four years of competition.
00:19:03.119 --> 00:19:05.119
I just don't think that's good for them in the long run.
00:19:05.279 --> 00:19:16.400
So hopefully we get back to something, I guess we would call it a new normal, where scholarship, education, and graduation become much more of the talking points again.
00:19:17.200 --> 00:19:20.960
Universities are full of talented people with competing priorities.
00:19:21.200 --> 00:19:27.279
How do you align academics, athletics, faculty, staff, donors, and students around a shared mission?
00:19:27.839 --> 00:19:28.960
Well, that's a challenge.
00:19:29.119 --> 00:19:36.720
As I tell the the 16 coaches here at TCU, every dollar I give to one of you is a dollar that the other 15 of you don't get.
00:19:37.039 --> 00:19:42.000
There's a great saying which is the team that you're on is more important than the team that you lead.
00:19:42.160 --> 00:19:43.599
And that holds true everywhere.
00:19:43.759 --> 00:19:49.279
I mean, the team that I lead are those 16 head coaches, and they're really important, and I want them all to have success.
00:19:49.440 --> 00:19:52.240
But the team that I'm on is called the Chancellor's Cabinet.
00:19:52.400 --> 00:20:02.480
And if the Chancellor at TCU decides tomorrow that we're not going to invest at the certain level or whatever it may be, then that becomes much more that's not negotiable for me.
00:20:02.640 --> 00:20:05.599
If that's the mandate, then that's the team that I'm going to be on.
00:20:05.759 --> 00:20:23.759
And I'm really fortunate to be on a team led by a chancellor who clearly understands the value of athletics, so much so that athletics is identified as one of the four key pillars to our strategic plan called Lead On, where between now and 2035, we want to grow enrollment.
00:20:23.839 --> 00:20:28.400
And the key driver to successful enrollment increase is success in athletics.
00:20:28.480 --> 00:20:44.720
And so you could argue that the TCU Chancellor is my biggest donor, a great partner with communicating to faculty and staff and trustees that most successful way to get us to achieve our goals is to allow our revenue sports to flourish and put us on the map.
00:20:44.799 --> 00:20:47.839
And the historical success of TCU has really helped.
00:20:48.000 --> 00:20:55.759
A lot of times, schools will make a run and you hear about how money applications increased and the profile of the institution was raised.
00:20:55.839 --> 00:21:02.799
And a lot of times you'll have leadership at a school that says, Well, that may not just be, you know, maybe that wasn't because of the the run to the Elite Eight.
00:21:02.880 --> 00:21:07.119
Maybe that was because our new business school was built, or you know, they might take some convincing.
00:21:07.200 --> 00:21:09.759
And that's not been the case at TCU, which has been wonderful.
00:21:10.079 --> 00:21:22.960
They went to the Rose Bowl and beat Wisconsin and saw what that did for applications and national notoriety and certainly media attention and the value of unpaid media that that can bring to you.
00:21:23.039 --> 00:21:34.799
And then the run to the CFP championship game in 2022 re-revitalized the realization that athletics can get us where we want to go and be additive to the mission of the institution.
00:21:34.960 --> 00:21:36.799
And that's been very refreshing.
00:21:37.440 --> 00:21:47.359
When you look beyond the wins and championships, what do you hope that student athletes, coaches, and staff who pass through your programs will say about how you shape the people they became?
00:21:47.920 --> 00:21:55.680
At the core, I hope that they felt that I treated them fairly and I treated them as a human, as a person, not as a rebounding machine or a tackling machine.
00:21:55.839 --> 00:21:59.519
I think in this new iteration of college athletics, it's become a little bit more.
00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:02.559
Transactional and that that's so easily done.
00:22:02.720 --> 00:22:07.920
Our women's basketball program has been very successful in recruiting graduate transfers out of the portal.
00:22:08.000 --> 00:22:12.559
And that can be scary when you're basically purchasing somebody to come compete for you for one year.
00:22:12.640 --> 00:22:19.599
But Mark Campbell, who leads that effort, has been just phenomenal at embracing them for who they are and making the sport fun again.
00:22:19.759 --> 00:22:22.160
And as a result, winning a lot of games.
00:22:22.319 --> 00:22:27.839
But I think that those stellar athletes like Haley Van Lith and Olivia Miles would say that they came to TCU.
00:22:27.920 --> 00:22:38.720
And while they didn't spend the majority of their college eligibility at TCU, I think they feel connected to this institution because we treated them as young people and we want them to be successful.
00:22:38.799 --> 00:22:41.839
So I hope they feel that they were treated fairly and respected.
00:22:41.920 --> 00:22:45.440
And then really at the end of the day, I hope that they find a passion.
00:22:45.680 --> 00:22:52.319
I think when most kids, it's certainly at the power four level, when they come to college, they're hoping for the opportunity to play professionally.
00:22:52.480 --> 00:22:55.680
And a lot of them get that opportunity, but even more of them don't.
00:22:55.839 --> 00:23:10.240
And so it's really incumbent on us as leaders and the adults in the room to make sure that they get their degree so that whatever they become passionate about, there's very few roadblocks to getting in a position to follow their passion and live a meaningful professional life.
00:23:10.640 --> 00:23:16.640
Mike, we're gonna shift gears here to our listeners' favorite segments called the Fast and Friendly Five.
00:23:16.880 --> 00:23:20.960
So I'm gonna ask you five quick questions, gut answers, no long pauses.
00:23:21.119 --> 00:23:21.839
You ready?
00:23:22.240 --> 00:23:22.880
Oh boy.
00:23:22.960 --> 00:23:24.000
Yep, I'll hit me.
00:23:24.160 --> 00:23:24.559
All right.
00:23:24.720 --> 00:23:29.519
Number one, your go-to hype music, artist, or song when you need a boost.
00:23:30.480 --> 00:23:31.759
Oh simple.
00:23:32.000 --> 00:23:38.880
Weeping Angel, a band from the Hudson Valley, heavy, heavy metal, fronted by my son as the lead guitarist.
00:23:39.119 --> 00:23:39.759
Love it.
00:23:40.000 --> 00:23:43.519
Number two, your go-to movie when you need inspiration.
00:23:43.920 --> 00:23:45.839
Oh, Shawshank Redemption.
00:23:46.160 --> 00:23:50.079
Number three, one or two books that have shaped who you are.
00:23:50.559 --> 00:23:57.119
Um No Time for Spectators by Marty Dempsey and A Blink by Malcolm Gladwell.
00:23:57.359 --> 00:24:01.759
All right, number four, the best leadership advice you've received.
00:24:02.319 --> 00:24:04.960
Um everybody has an opinion.
00:24:05.200 --> 00:24:07.759
Ignore them and follow your instincts.
00:24:08.160 --> 00:24:12.160
All right, number five, a leader or coach who shaped you and why?
00:24:13.680 --> 00:24:20.880
Um I would say my father, who was my coach and obviously my leader, uh, shaped me from the young age.
00:24:20.960 --> 00:24:28.480
I I think if uh like any athlete, if you are built on solid foundation, it makes the rest of your days easier.
00:24:28.640 --> 00:24:35.200
And so I think at a young age, I was taught that education matters, that discipline and attention to detail was important.
00:24:35.279 --> 00:24:39.279
And that was from my original coach, my dad, and my mom for that matter.
00:24:39.599 --> 00:24:40.880
Mike, congratulations.
00:24:41.039 --> 00:24:44.960
Not only have you survived, but you've thrived through the fast and friendly five.
00:24:46.400 --> 00:24:47.440
That's fun, Rob.
00:24:47.599 --> 00:24:48.400
I like that little piece.
00:24:48.480 --> 00:24:50.400
I see why it's your listener's favorite.
00:24:50.720 --> 00:24:58.400
All right, we're coming too close here, but before we do, would you offer our listeners some advice on how to lead the right way?
00:24:59.039 --> 00:25:00.160
Yeah, I you know what?
00:25:00.240 --> 00:25:02.480
I for me it comes down to simplification.
00:25:02.559 --> 00:25:06.880
And this is something I've learned through years of leading athletics departments.
00:25:07.039 --> 00:25:08.400
It is so complex.
00:25:08.559 --> 00:25:14.400
There are so many constituencies, there's donors, there's trustees, there's coaches, there's alums.
00:25:14.720 --> 00:25:17.519
It can get so convoluted if you allow it to be.
00:25:17.599 --> 00:25:26.559
And as cheesy as it sounds, understanding your three core values and only taking jobs that align with those core values are helpful.
00:25:26.640 --> 00:25:32.720
But then at the end of the day, if you understand the mission of your department, it makes those decisions really easy.
00:25:32.880 --> 00:25:47.759
So if you have a North Star that you can point back to that, hey, you our job is to educate and train and inspire young people and put them in a position to live meaningful lives, you can think back and just think if I make decision A, is it most aligned with that?
00:25:47.920 --> 00:25:50.400
Or is decision B most aligned with that?
00:25:50.640 --> 00:26:04.880
Because if you're staying true to published missions or values, or whether they're institutional values or your own, people can argue with the outcome and the decision that you made, but they shouldn't be able to argue with the process and the logic behind it.
00:26:05.039 --> 00:26:10.160
And so a lot of times that can simplify leadership decisions and certainly tough decisions.
00:26:10.559 --> 00:26:11.119
Incredible.
00:26:11.279 --> 00:26:18.240
Mike, thank you so much for taking the time to be on the Competitive Kindness Podcast and for sharing all these incredible insights.
00:26:18.559 --> 00:26:19.440
Yeah, absolutely.
00:26:19.759 --> 00:26:21.039
Great to reconnect with you, Rob.
00:26:21.200 --> 00:26:22.720
Happy that you're doing this.
00:26:25.359 --> 00:26:26.720
Thanks for tuning in.
00:26:27.039 --> 00:26:32.720
If today's episode got you fired up, please check out the book Competitive Kindness Winning the Right Way.
00:26:33.359 --> 00:26:34.480
Available on Amazon.
00:26:35.519 --> 00:26:40.240
Join the competitive kindness movement by sharing with your friends, family, and colleagues.
00:26:50.720 --> 00:26:51.119
Remember,
