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FBI Tips

July 14, 2014

In a June 9, 2014 National Public Radio story about the first nine months of James B. Comey’s 10-year term as FBI director, two leadership tips emerged that may apply to all types of organizations.

The first is that since the 9/11 tragedy, the FBI has had to change from an agency created to catch bank robbers to an agency that prevents crime before it occurs.

While all comparisons pale next to 9/11, many organizations have had some kind of crisis that demonstrates dramatically that the organization must change fundamentally in order to serve its overarching purpose in a changing world.

It requires an entirely different mindset, perhaps, an entirely reordered set of priorities.

The second point raised in the interview, and very likely the key to accomplishing the first, is that the FBI is now focused on the biggest steps, not just the easiest ones. This is what Director Comey sees is necessary for the FBI to become the agency our nation needs in today’s world.

The required response to a defining-moment crisis cannot be cosmetic change, but must be almost genetic change. Hard change – a focus on deep, systemic issues, not superficial matters.

It requires an entirely different level of commitment than existed before.

Starting Five

December 6, 2016

The Task Force on Multi-Sport Participation which the Michigan High School Athletic Association appointed early in 2016 has identified its top five projects. They all encourage the MHSAA and its member schools to get in the game earlier.

The Task Force wants the MHSAA to:

  1. Partner with groups which are promoting diverse physical activity for youth, like the NFL’s “Play 60” and the United Dairy Industry of Michigan’s “Fuel Up” programs.

  2. Meet with groups which could influence more and better physical education in schools that would encourage more sport sampling by youth and increased literacy in basic athletic skills and movements.

  3. Prepare tools for administrators to use when interviewing coaches, conducting preseason meetings for coaches and encouraging coaches to “walk the talk” of promoting balanced, multi-sport participation by members of their school teams.

  4. Prepare for junior high/middle school and elementary school parents a “What Parents Should Know” guidebook with units created by medical personnel, high school and college athletes and coaches, educators and sports scientists.

  5. Prepare for junior high/middle school and elementary school parents a “Reality Check” video describing the costs of sports specialization and the facts about sports as a path to college tuition assistance.

Those who love and lead school sports cannot wait until kids (and their parents) reach high school before we start talking with them regarding the values of school-sponsored sports, the benefits of multi-sport participation, and the meaning of success in educational athletics.