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This can be a particular episode of The CEO Collection for me as a result of we took a visit to Notre Dame Stadium the place I performed soccer as a walk-on alongside my brother through the undefeated season of 2012. We went to my outdated stomping grounds to sit down down with head coach Marcus Freeman to speak about management and the way, in some ways, he’s the CEO of their unimaginable program.
Beneath are some highlights of that dialog, which have been edited for size and readability. Watch the complete video above.
The coach as CEO
“A CEO is in command of an enormous firm, and my firm occurs to be Notre Dame soccer. On the finish of the day, you are accountable for each determination that impacts the folks in this system and the outcomes which are on the sector. So you do not make each determination, however you are accountable for each determination. That is necessary to be sure to perceive. All through my teaching profession, the best satisfaction got here from seeing the gamers you had been concerned with have success.”
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The celebration video that went viral after he was employed as head coach
“It was a blur. However I keep in mind strolling out of that door and seeing the crew going loopy — all I wished to do was hug them. It wasn’t a few speech. It was an opportunity to have a good time and be together with your guys, proper? I inform them on a regular basis: I am a teammate. I is perhaps the captain, however I am a teammate. I perceive the stuff you’re going via. I am on this struggle with you. And I feel they respect that and so they perceive that. Strolling out that door is a second I am going to always remember and one I am going to cherish ceaselessly.”
The which means of his mantra “Select Laborious”
“It began a few years in the past once I was within the Notre Dame weight room and was understanding as our gamers had been being pushed arduous. And I keep in mind considering you could select to undergo the motions or you may select to go as arduous as you may. And that is once I got here up with this considered ‘Select Laborious.’ We put up an indication you see once you stroll into this constructing that claims ‘Select Laborious.’ As a result of once you stroll into Notre Dame soccer, you have to have that mindset. We’ll select arduous right now in apply, select arduous right now in conferences, select arduous right now within the weight room. And for the gamers, you are going to be challenged within the classroom, proper? You are going to be at school with among the most clever folks on this world. And it is troublesome, however finally you’ve got chosen to come back right here so select arduous, settle for it, and know that the rewards from selecting arduous each single day cannot be discovered anyplace else.”
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Drawback-solving philosophy
“When a crew is not profitable, lots of people say, belief the method. My mantra is: repair the method. I spend a variety of time evaluating every part we had been doing. Why aren’t we taking part in higher? What are we doing schematically? Is there one thing our gamers do not perceive? Losses occur and it is part of life. However they damage. As a pacesetter, you do not need to have too many. Repair it with urgency.”
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Retaining gamers within the age of the switch portal
“Look, in case you’re the CEO of an organization, you bought to pay your workers, proper? Now if they will go elsewhere and make much more cash, it doesn’t matter what kind of firm you are working, they’ll most likely go away. So we’ve got to guarantee that our gamers can maximize the alternatives of title, picture and likeness. That is necessary, however what else retains them at Notre Dame? What else attracts them right here? And you have to imagine it is your tradition. You have to imagine it is the way in which they’re handled. Do they get pleasure from being a part of your program? That is so necessary. And that is a message for myself and our different coaches. Let’s guarantee that as arduous as we push them, as demanding as we’re, we’re not demeaning. We would like them to get pleasure from being part of this crew and all the alternatives that the College of Notre Dame supplies.”
Take a look at extra profiles of modern and impactful leaders by visiting The CEO Collection archives.
