When you really think about it. sports, including college sports, is BUSINESS. Therefore, thinking of a coach as a business leader is certainly viable. As a native Philadelphian, I have been a Villanova basketball fan for years, even though I never attended the school. As a consistently winning team, I have always rooted for them, and especially admired their head coach, Jay Wright.
For those of you don’t follow Villanova, Jay recently announced that he’s retiring from coaching. He’s going out while on top, and his decision has been one that he was secretly pondering for quite some time. In a city that can always find a negative when it comes to sports, there’s not one person I know, or columnist, who has stated anything other than positives about how Jay coached his team.
As former players have stated, he taught them more than sports. He helped so many of them develop as competitive athletes, but more importantly, taught them how to be good men off the court. He built a successful coaching staff and while he recently admitted that he was not 100 percent into the game this past season, his assistants were. He credits them for taking the team to the Final Four in March Madness this season.
Like a successful business leader, his wins far outnumbered his losses (642-282 record as a head coach, including 520-197, 72.5 percent wins, at Villanova), and like a businessperson with a good succession plan, he is stepping away on his own terms as a winner.
Take the time to learn more about Jay and consider adapting some of his philosophies to your own business style. It could score you some potential big wins!
Best of luck Jay and thank you for inspiring so many!!
Stephen
Recent Comments