{"id":428,"date":"2010-12-27T13:15:00","date_gmt":"2010-12-27T21:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=428"},"modified":"2010-12-27T13:15:00","modified_gmt":"2010-12-27T21:15:00","slug":"usatf-ceo-search-what-do-they-want-to-accomplish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=428","title":{"rendered":"USATF CEO Search \u2013 What Do They Want to Accomplish?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A couple of weeks ago USATF posted the <a href=\"http:\/\/usatf.org\/news\/view.aspx?duid=USATF_2010_12_14_11_44_22\" target=\"_blank\">job description<\/a> for the incoming CEO. At least it\u2019s the job description that they are using in their search to fill the position.<\/p>\n<p>While it\u2019s nice to know that the organization is looking for someone that is:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A passionate leader<\/li>\n<li>Innovative marketing and sales professional<\/li>\n<li>Supporter of athletics and volunteers, and a <\/li>\n<li>Skilled team builder<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>As I read the document I\u2019m more interested in exactly what they want this person to do \u2013 as I\u2019m sure whomever is hired is going to want to know as well. And I\u2019m not referring to the generic items referenced in the job description:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Strategy<\/li>\n<li>Communication<\/li>\n<li>Revenue<\/li>\n<li>Performance<\/li>\n<li>Development<\/li>\n<li>Innovation<\/li>\n<li>Culture, and <\/li>\n<li>Resources<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I would like to know what the organization REALLY wants to see happen with track and field in the United States. What is it that USATF wants to accomplish here in the US? After all, that would be a question that I would ask if I were sitting on the other side of the table from the interview panel \u2013 in what direction does my prospective employer want to see the sport go? <\/p>\n<p>Everything in the job description sounds just grand. We\u2019re going to \u201cimprove\u201d our communication and marketing; interact better with the IAAF and USOC; and \u201ccreate new ways of creating events and buzz\u201d! But what does all of that mean? <\/p>\n<p>I was hoping that the key to understanding just that would lie in the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.usatf.org\/about\/committees\/BoardOfDirectors\/strategicPlan.asp\" target=\"_blank\">2009 Strategic Plan<\/a> \u2013 because the job description states that \u201cThe CEO is the spokesperson and will lead all aspects of USATF with integrity and in accordance with the USATF 2009 Strategic Plan, and Board policies while giving appropriate consideration to the rules and policies of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF &#8211; the world governing body), and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC).\u201d So I\u2019m thinking that the Strategic Plan lays out the path that USATF intends to follow \u2013 and the path down which the next CEO will lead. <\/p>\n<p>But I discovered that it too is very generic. Now in some ways this is a good thing. It means the CEO will have tremendous latitude in how he\/she interprets the Strategic Plan. In turn it means greater flexibility in implementing one\u2019s interpretation of the plan. On the other hand, there\u2019s an old saying: \u201cif you fail to plan you plan to fail\u201d. And I\u2019m wondering if the lack of any specificity within the Strategic Plan, and by association the job description for the CEO, may be indicative of why the sport has been on what seems to be a mission of failure for well over a decade now. <\/p>\n<p>Now I could be completely wrong \u2013 there could be a \u201cplan\u201d out there that has been discussed and codified detailing exactly what this organization wants to see accomplished. But without anything remotely resembling \u201ctransparency\u201d in anything that USATF seems to do, how would I or anyone else outside of the organization know. Quite honestly, the way some things happen within the organization, I wonder if those inside the organization are privy to such information either.<\/p>\n<p>For example, just what do we expect from our international teams? Do we have goals for number of medalists, finalists, semi finalists? Do we have goals for improvement in the number of individuals that make it through the rounds? How does the organization feel about our current status in the field events? What are our plans for athlete development? Do we want to develop more training centers \u2013 even perhaps regional training centers? How about the development of a permanent national coaching staff that would actually be working together year round and not just put together for Worlds or the Olympics.&nbsp; <\/p>\n<p>How does the organization feel about itself and it\u2019s performance? Does it feel it\u2019s properly structured. Is there balance between the purely \u201camateur\u201d and the \u201celite\u201d athletes? Financially do we have what we need to accomplish our \u201cgoals\u201d and if not what do we need in order to succeed? <\/p>\n<p>If I were sitting on the other side of the interview table these are some questions that I would have of the organization. Questions I would hope have answers that have previously been researched and thought out. Because while I am excited to see that USATF (and I\u2019m assuming the search firm) have put together a nice looking job description, the real issue on the table is what are we looking to accomplish! Because if there is no real answer to that question aside from the \u201c2009 Strategic Plan\u201d, then I see no improvement in the sport here in the US regardless of who the eventual CEO may be. <\/p>\n<p>So that is the information I would like to see put out there \u2013 not just a generic job description. Tell us, and more specifically the candidates whomever they may be, just what it is this sport wants to accomplish in the US. Specific numbers. Target dates. Where and what do we want to be in two years (London), five years , 10 years? Tell them what you really want them to do. Then we will do a better job of filling the position. More importantly that person will know from day one what the REAL expectations are. After all, if you fail to plan you plan to fail. Or to paraphrase another old saying: proper prior planning prevents &lt;lousy&gt; performance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A couple of weeks ago USATF posted the job description for the incoming CEO. At least it\u2019s the job description that they are using in their search to fill the position. While it\u2019s nice to know that the organization is looking for someone that is: A passionate leader Innovative marketing and sales professional Supporter of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa3DCY-6U","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=428"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}