March 13. That's when it began. The spring sports teams at my school were half way through their seasons. We had no idea that they walked off the fields, tracks, and courts that day for the last time. That's when athletic directors around the country began to think about how to lead coaches and student-athletes that could not practice or play games. In a country where more than 8 million students are led by hundreds of thousands of coaches in schools, it is safe to say that educational based athletics is a common thread of our society. And that thread had been pulled right out of the seems.
Pastor, lawyer, leadership expert, and best-selling author, Carey Neuhoff says that crisis is an accelerator. It forces change on people and it does it fast. I would agree and add that in a very disorienting way the pandemic also slowed things down to a bizarre halt. We knew that we had to adapt and quickly, but we had time to think about it because we could not get together to take action, but the days disappeared so quickly spending time anticipating how we should or even could act during a pandemic. The spring and summer blurred together and the pressure of an impending school year returned. Statistics on the pandemic were easy to understand. They were also hard to understand. Sources of information were assigned to political parties and conspiracy theories filled up social media threads.
Yet, it felt like we all knew this was going to eventually end. Science would catch up to the virus, society would figure out how to suppress it, and life would return. Return to normal? That is yet to be seen. I wrote about how bad optimistic leadership can be during a crisis here. As athletic directors and coaches have found out what we have returned to (for those of us that have been allowed to return) is frustratingly complex. I explained it this way in one of my department meetings. 'What we are about to do (engage in pandemic athletics) will be like threading a needle while juggling chainsaws'. That analogy has proved more accurate than I would have like since August. It is now the week of Thanksgiving. I, with my coaches and department staff, have endured pandemic athletics (and some other bizarre 2020 twists) for almost a whole semester. *Author's note on March 13, 2021: a full 365 days now!
Here are the lessons that I have learned as an athletic director during 'pandemic athletics'.
Lead yourself well with a daily routine - Pandemic athletics have been very disorienting. I have found myself lost in a myriad of details. I have felt 'a day late and dollar short' on way too many things. It is that same feeling that I think most athletic directors have in their first year. You are thinking about things you have never had to think about. Abandoning methods and processes that have always worked that no longer do. However, I refuse to be so disoriented and at times discouraged that I stop leading myself daily. I get up at the same time. I workout at the same time. I read the Bible at the same time. I drink my morning coffee at the same time. I keep making daily progress on my professional development goals. I advocate for the mantra of 'never miss' the important things in your life. You should never become so disoriented and discouraged that you stop leading yourself. That is how you can increase the chances you can lead everyone else through the crisis.
Focus on your mission (click the link to read out mission)- I rarely hold a meeting, write up a document, or post to our athletic department website without inserting our mission. In each of the Zoom meetings I have held, I've pointed to our mission on purpose so that we could stay focused when the inevitable chaos of crisis came crashing on us like waves in the ocean. Our mission is why we decide to keep going even when this doesn't look or function like anything we've ever seen. There are some methods that I have just had to let die. They might be gone temporarily. They might be gone forever. I don't even know, but I do know that our mission matters. Mission-mindedness allows you to be open to new methods. Method-mindedness blocks your ability to make mission during crisis.
Stay close to your people (click the link to read about proximity)- Crisis pulls people apart or together. The leader has a big impact on which of those realities becomes true. I have felt it beginning to pull apart. The solution? Pick up the phone. Get out of the office. Hunt your people down for no reason than to tell them you want to know how they are doing. Be ready. Some of the conversations will be very challenging. Frustration will boil over. Tears will flow. I have stated often that I want to be the type of leader that people want around when it is all going wrong. Friends - it's been going wrong for 9 months now. Have you been around your people? Could you say you have stayed close to them?
Look for themes in the information - We live in the information age. We can access any information we want from the small cellular devices in our pockets. With the advent of MOOCs (massively open online courses), you can even take courses from brilliant organizations for free. I took two courses on pandemic-related topics immediately. I spoke to anyone that had any interaction with educational-based athletics I could. I jumped on Zoom calls. So. Many. Zoom. Calls! I began to identify themes in the information that I could synthesize into why would do what we would do and how we would do it in our department.
Make decisions that match your community - The COVID-19 pandemic has hit everyone but it has hit everyone differently. Just like people are experience different symptoms so communities are responding differently to the crisis. I had to listen to the leaders that I answer to, the coaches that I lead, the families that I serve. I have observed leaders around the country that have not asked questions and have not listened and they have become tone deaf to what is in the best interest of their community. I have found that the ability to make decisions during a crisis that meets the need of your community is largely dependent on your ability to ask and listen. If you are doing a great job listening, you will have something to say and make decisions that match your community. Remember, leadership starts with you, but it is not about you. Make decisions during crisis that match your community.
Execute, review, and adjust your plan - Crisis is an accelerator. There is a leadership model that is popular in the engineering world called 'agile leadership'. One of its core tenants is small plans with small timelines and brief meetings to debrief. All of this leads larger goals. If you execute the plan well, you review it, make any adjustments, and keep moving forward. The idea is to create fast feedback loops that keep you on track. This is exactly what athletics should look like in a pandemic. Make a plan. Execute it rigidly. Transparently communicate what is working and what is not. Unashamedly adjust what is not working. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
Why in the world would I recommend that school leaders, athletic administrators, and coaches push forward into 'threading a needle while juggling chainsaws'? Is it really worth it?
Ask the parents that I saw hug their child after the child achieved long-awaited success. Ask the players that sobbed with their coach at the conclusion of an amazing season. Ask my son who comes home daily with thoughts about character and life that only his coach could pass along to him. Ask the hundreds of teen agers that wake up each morning with thoughts of purpose and planning about the day ahead because it's game day.
I'll keep trying to thread the needled. I'll keep trying to juggle the chainsaws. I'll try and inspire my coaches and staff to do the same.
These are the things that I have learned leading during the most challenging professional experience of my career. And it is all worth it.
‘Bite Down and Don’t Let Go’ is a collection of writings on being intentional about life in a way that produces great persistence. Read about it more here.
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