Journal 21, Week 7

I am a better leader than I was 18 months ago because...

Two major reasons:

1) I believe that I can impact people's lives more today than a year and a half ago
2) I am studying and discussing leadership more often by taking this class

I took the job of coaching high school athletics because I enjoyed sports and wanted to be involved in sports. After 2 full seasons, I have realized that there is very little difference between coaching & managing in the business world. There are goals, there is scheduling, there is performace reviews, there is hassles, there is fun. However, now I am doing something that I truly love to do - teach.

Teaching a sport to a young mind is unlike any experience that I have ever been through. Kids have so much innocense on their side that it is just a more pure existence working with them rather than adults. My kids do certainly test me at times, but I am keenly aware of their interests and we discuss goals. I do a lot of goal conversations early in the season intentionally to get the kids to talk about what they are expecting from the season. The goals usually start with things like "beat Fort Mill" and "win the region" but the more they talk it out, it usually evolves down to "work hard" "get better" and "have fun"

I currently don't know if having an EMBA from Winthrop is going to be of any benefit to me as a line on my resume. What I do know is that I will forever be benefitted from taking the courses that have challenged me to think hard. I will also benefit from the people in my classes and being around such a great group of highly intelligent people from a wide variety of backgrounds.