My Words: The path to fulfillment, impact

I never thought being a college basketball coach was my true calling, but I’m grateful for all the times that I listened to that voice.

The time I spent as an assistant at Penn State, Kentucky and Wisconsin in the 1990s brought an incredible amount of value to my life. I became a better communicator and problem solver. I gained insight into how to read a room. I emerged with a greater appreciation for tenacity, consistency and timing.

I heard that voice in 1996 and it changed my life in dramatic ways. After graduating from Virginia in 1989 and playing professionally overseas, I had my sights set on a career in higher education administration. But an unexpected phone call from Jane Albright, the UW women’s coach at the time, not only kept me in coaching for what turned out to be one final go-round in college athletics, it brought me to Madison.

When I think about Black History Month, it’s not lost on me that I’m the only African-American woman in the governor’s cabinet. It’s not lost on me all the challenges that I had being confirmed for the position as the only African-American woman. I know that there are challenges that I faced that other people don’t face and they’re not of my doing. There are other things, other perceptions, that I deal with just walking in the world in this body.

I’m reminded of something Martin Luther King Jr. said: “Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable. Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.”

I know I’m a role model. Those involved in state government are people who aspire to leadership and this is a month where that is actually acknowledged in a way that’s OK. I think celebrating Black History Month provides us with an opportunity to shine a bright light, to make visible those accomplishments that often get overlooked.

I always felt that sports are what I do, not what I am. As a coach, it’s who you are and I felt there was so much more to me. I felt then that higher education was my calling.

We stayed in Madison because there were some strong job prospects and I’d made some good contacts. My husband’s job was going well. We felt like we should stay and see what’s next.

When I was an associate dean at the UW School of Education, then-state superintendent Evers was one of our alums. I was doing our marketing and communication and alumni relations work and got to know him that way. He had an opening on his staff and contacted me and talked with me about an appointed role. There was a lot of back and forth and me thinking it through. I thought, “Maybe I’m not a higher educational professional. Maybe I’m an education professional.” I decided it was a wonderful opportunity.

My leadership style and ability to oversee a government agency can be traced directly to my time as a student-athlete, as well as a coach. My drive, discipline, focus and collaborative approach – the way I talk about the work and bring employees along – I treat it like it’s a team. We help one another, so it’s very collegial in that respect. I would say that comes from coaching.

I’m constantly looking at, do I have the right skill set and the right people in place? Does my team have adequate diversity? When one area is down, how do we pick that person up? How do we move resources? How do we change the play? What is the new strategy? Is that strategy working and how do we get to wins?

Yes, I see this as a win-loss thing. It’s hard, grind-it-out work. I’ve had some success in some areas that were big lifts, but other big lifts await. So I keep looking down the bench. Some days the bench is really thin. I think we need a bigger roster, but we’re hanging in there.

What I appreciate about it is people know I’m on the team, too. I’m the leader. I’m the coach. There’ve been many days where I’ve worn a uniform.

One of the biggest challenges in athletics is addressing team morale. It’s no different here. That’s been hard in this case. I continue to be the cheerleader and I continue to be in the game with them. I try to think of new strategies, new plays, new ways to win. My job is to continually support them, raise them up and try and think about what we haven’t tried.

How do we make the best uses of the resources that we have? What solution are you not seeing because you are too close to the work? Who else should you be talking to? Who can help? How can you help differently? It’s a constant process.

All this translates to being a coach or a student-athlete because the game is never over. Every day is gameday. Because of the variety and the diversity of the work, you have to use different players and you have to think about how to problem solve because there’s always another strategy you can try.

There’s no quitting. There’s no give-up. There’s no throwing in the towel. Your job is to figure it out, so you keep showing up. What I’ve learned is that sometimes you do lose, but you have to go down swinging.

I’ve also learned you have to take the time to celebrate the wins. If not, you can’t stay encouraged yourself. You have to maintain your own self-care. That’s why I still work out five days a week and eat right. That’s why I’m immensely proud of finishing my Ph.D. in educational leadership and policy analysis. It took me five years – one class at a time – and came amid three job changes, but I got it done.

For all the challenges we’ve faced – almost all existed before I arrived – I think we have a winning record. My outlook has always been, “Make a place better than it was when you arrived.”

I look back on my time as a player at Virginia and as a coach at Kentucky, Penn State and UW and think about how much has changed for student-athletes. It’s tougher for sure. There are more things competing for their time, energy and focus. They’re spread thin. There’s so much noise.

My message to them is to decide what the noise means to you. What is it that you want and how can sport get you there?

You’re only in this a short time. Make the most of the opportunity.

Did you enjoy reading this? Read more My Words stories from the Badgers here.