Marriage Reflections
October 18, 2013
Recently, and for the first time, I drew parallels between marriage and the hiring of staff. It occurred when a gray-haired, ponytailed officiant in the Phoenix foothills exhorted the wedding couple to be “the mirror of their partner’s best values.”
We want our newest staff person to be everything we need and want, immediately filling every hole and completing our wish list. Frankly, that’s impossible.
But, the one thing I am sure we must have and can have is a person who mirrors the MHSAA’s best values – an individual who reflects the core values of school-sponsored, student-centered sports and of the MHSAA on its best days as it serves and supports educational athletics.
And just as it’s not lethally late for a husband in his fifth decade of marriage to work harder to reflect his wife’s best values, neither is it too tardy for veterans of the MHSAA staff to focus on our reflection of the best values of school sports and the organization that has served educational athletics for ten decades.
Leadership Impressions- #2 (Plugging Holes)
June 12, 2018
Almost every issue that affects youth is an issue that parents, politicians or the public is asking schools – and especially school sports – to solve.
Already consumed with efforts to promote participant health and safety in terms of heads, heat and hearts, our association is asked also to concentrate on mental health issues.
Having already addressed risks of tobacco, alcohol and performance-enhancing drugs, our association is asked also to campaign against opioid addiction.
State high school associations do not have the luxury to hire as many experienced people as they need to focus expertly on every topic that associations are asked to address.
The effect of this “person-power” shortage is to force the association’s executive director to be a utility player – an employee who can operate competently at many different positions, bringing time and prestige to the cause du jour.
Even the most forward thinking leader must be prepared to roll up sleeves and plug these holes in the team’s roster. This requires, again, that other staff be trusted to administer their assigned tasks without commanding the leader’s ongoing attention.