LESSONS LEARNED: MANAGING CHANGE by Matt Doherty

“Managing Change: Taking Over an organization, Building Culture, Hiring Staff, Getting Buy-In”

INTERVIEW PROCESS

You are interviewing them as they interview you.

What are their expectations and are they reasonable?

• Evaluate what you are walking into:
  Who was there before?
 Why is there change?
 Did that person have success and move on or did that person get fired?
What is the organization going to do to help you have the success the previous person didn’t achieve
• Budgets
• Know what your competition has
• Access to talent
• Housing, facilities and dining services
-Salaries

*Where are the “land mines”?
Disgruntled employee?
 Outdated policies?
 Weak infrastructure?
  What was the culture?
 Does it need to change or be built upon? Personnel in the organization?

• compliance
• academic support
• trainers
• strength and conditioning – bring your own?
• Public vs private institution – there are positives and negatives to both


Key people can make or break you:

• Secretaries
• Administrators
• Admissions
• Media
• Facility staff
• Academic advisors

* Get to know them and treat them with respect!

CONTRACT

• Need an experienced agent/lawyer to dot the I’s and cross the T’s
• Sign a contract planning on getting fired in 4 years
• Buyouts
- Maintain some perks if terminated ie phone, insurance
, 401k.
• Bonuses
-Cars for you and staff
• Cell phone
• Put in writing the items you feel you absolutely need to control to be successful: 1. Schedule 2. Who you hire 3. Who you can recruit

Who are your main competitors?
 What type of personnel do you need to beat them? Staff and players.
– How do you need to play to beat them?

STAFF

• Hire one key staff member asap
• You should have a list of candidates before you ever get a job
• You need a thinking partner as you make critical decisions early in your tenure
• Hire a former staff member that knows the landscape of the institution?
• Don’t rush finishing out your staff: “Easy to hire, hard to fire”
• Hire people that are loyal to you

“Can teach someone how to defend the pick and roll, but you can’t teach them to love you” – Larry Brown


• Surround yourself w/people you trust
• Hire people you know or someone that comes highly recommended by people you know well
- What are you good at? Where do you need help?
• Budgets
- Operations
- Recruiting
• X’s and O’s 
- Define roles
- Job descriptions
-
• Secretaries- Is there a good one there or do you need to hire one?
• Give personnel a chance upon your arrival
- May have a diamond in the rough
  
• Four E’s Jack Welch looks for in personnel:


Energy, Energize others,
 Execute – Ability to get things done,  Edge – not afraid.

Surround these “Four E’s” with Passion:

– Low maintenance 
- Low ego – Self starters – Team players

PRESS CONFERENCE

• Have key people there
- Family
- Mentors
- Staff
• Honor the past
- Recognize key former employees and successes
• State your Core Values and Mission statement
• Sell your vision for the organization
• Pour the foundation of the culture you want to establish
-
• Be careful about committing to too many details ie style of play, where you are going to recruit as circumstances may force you to change how you do things and you don’t want to be painted into a corner.

* Meet w/the personnel you inherited, collectively and then individually
: Physically sit down with the group,  if possible, as it is less intimidating
. Share your core values and missions statement
. Share your vision. Meet individually with players and staff
: Who are the leaders of the team?

* May be surprised
, Ask probing questions:
 What did you like about the past? What would you change?
 What do you need to be successful?

Gym time, strength and conditioning, diet
.

DON’T PRE-JUDGE!

May have a key person that was underutilized
. Spend time w/secretaries and people that touch your team

FIRST 90 DAYS ARE KEY! 

• First impressions last a long time
• Universities are ripe with politics
• Create good will around the institution
• Thank you notes
- Remember names
- “Touch” people
• Walk the facilities
• Have the person that hired you remove any employee that you know you don’t want to keep before you take over the job.  You don’t want to be the bad guy.

Priorities
:

1. Current players  2. Recruits  
3. Former players

MENTOR/EXECUTIVE COACH

• Find someone that you trust that is not connected with the school
• Who can you talk to about your biggest fears without worrying that it could be used against you?
• It is lonely at the top and you need someone that you can be “real” with and they can be “real” with you.

MANAGE UP

• Communicate with your bosses
• No surprises
- Manage his/her expectations
• Educate them
• Continuous list of needs
• Meet with your boss with a list of 5-10 items knowing you may only get the 2-3 things you really need

EDITOR’S NOTE: Matt Doherty currently serves as the Associate Commissioner for Men’s Basketball for the Atlantic 10 Conference. He followed up a stellar playing career as a North Carolina Tar Heel with a rise up the collegiate coaching ranks which landed him Head coaching jobs at Notre Dame and North Carolina. Matt also led  Florida Atlantic and SMU as head coach. He has since had experience as a TV Analyst and as a Scout for the Indiana Pacers. 

Twitter: @DohertyMatt