Susan Walvius--Using Coaching Techniques To Build a Company

In 1990 trying to build a women’s basketball with limited resources, poor facilities and no tradition, I hired a 25 year old with only 3 years assistant coaching experience to tackle the daunting task of building a foundation for VCU Women’s Basketball. That hire turned out to be very significant and five years later VCU was playing in their first post-season tournament and had notched over 20 wins while competing in the very tough Metro Conference. Why did I entrust that challenge to someone so young and inexperienced? I saw all the elements of a great leader and problem solver in Susan Walvius. Others noticed quickly also and after resurrecting VCU women’s basketball, Coach Walvius moved on to West Virginia and South Carolina where she re-energized both programs and positioned them to become significant programs on the national level. To highlight her coaching acumen, in the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons, Walvius was recognized as a finalist for Naismith National Coach of the Year.

In analyzing the elements of Coach Walvius’ leadership style that were key to the success of her teams, three important characteristics were very evident.:

1. A true problem solver---Susan always was focused on how to deal with the challenges that were readily apparent and never let the things that she could not control interfere with the task at hand. In recruiting rather than settle for less talented players than the traditional winners could recruit, she found new pools of talent. Susan recruited very talented players from the then Soviet Union and worked through all the operational issues of visas, government (Soviet control) and language. Susan recruited the first Soviet (Russian) player to play at a NCAA program and Anna Pavlikhina opened the VCU recruiting to other Russian, Swedish and Irish players who Coach Walvius blended in beautifully with American athletes. Great leaders do things, they do not just talk about doing things.
2. Always focused on the bottom line result---Coach Walvius was amazing in her ability to adjust and understand that the end result was the critical outcome. She would continually evaluate and put individuals in positions to be successful which led to major wins both on and off the court. Unlike some leaders, she never worried about her own ego but concentrated on her team’s performance and how to improve both the individual and team.
3. She was a great learner----Susan was always looking for better and more productive ways to do things. She never had the attitude that she had all the answers. That characteristic allowed her to grow and become better everyday as a leader and coach. Some leaders think they have it all figured out and therefore create an atmosphere of “status quo”.

Using her leadership and coaching skills, Susan has taken on an exciting new challenge as co-founder and CEO of an exciting new company named Sheex. With co-founder former UT Vol superstar Michelle Marciniak, the two have launched this new endeavor that uses materials similar to those in athletic wear to manufacture sheets and bedding that provide all the same benefits of the new high tech athletic gear. Coach (CEO) Walvius understands how to lead and how to win. This is a great example of a leader actually implementing an idea and concept rather just talking about it. GREAT LEADERS DO, BAD LEADERS TALK ABOUT DOING. I will bet that everyone will be familiar with Sheex in five years. Check out sheex.com, you will be impressed.

First Annual Doc's Leadership Award For Achievement

This is time of year when everyone starts to give out awards.  So I thought I would create my own award for the coach who over the years has demonstrated not only significant leadership traits but also achieved the three results that are most critical in evaluating the quality of leadership.  Over the years and there are many of those years (today is my 66^th birthday), I have witnessed hundreds maybe thousands of coaches as a player, coach, administrator and have realized that about 99% of those coaches do a tremendous amount of good (unfortunately the media focuses on the tiny group who abuse the coach-athlete relationship).  This award is not one that is given indiscriminately or without a great deal of thought.  Personally, I have been amazingly fortunate to have worked with great, dedicated and successful coaches.  However one stands out from all the rest when looking through a leadership filter.  The first recipient of DOC'S LEADERSHIP AWARD FOR ACHIEVEMENT goes to  VCU'S tennis coach Paul Kostin.

The three criteria for my leadership award and hopefully the result that every leader tries to achieve are:

1.     Great results----being a great leader means getting a bottom line that meets and surpasses expectations for the group.

2.     Followers success---followers are positively impacted and have their lives positively affected by the influence of the leader.

3.     Organization prospers---great leaders not only succeed in their area but also become crucial contributors to other efforts and the larger mission of the bigger organization.

When I evaluated all the coaches I have had contact with, while there were many great ones, Coach Kostin’s name always came to the top of the list.  Looking at the criteria:

1.     Results---Kostin took over a VCU tennis program with a 3-18 record the previous year and no women’s program and built a program that has a record of 646 wins and 188 losses playing the best teams in the country.  Wins against North Carolina, Duke, SMU, Ohio State, Michigan, UVA became the norm.   He has amassed 18 conference championships and 27 postseason appearances while mentoring numerous All-Americans and 3 individual National Champions.  Highlighted by his national runner-up finish in 2000, Kostin’s players and teams have had unbelievable runs in the NCAA tournament.

2.     Followers---Kostin’s players have had amazing successes after their tennis careers.  Everything from mentoring the number 1 male model in world and television and movie star (Boris Kodjoe) to corporate executives to successful coaches, Kostin’s former players demonstrate that the lessons learned from Coach K translate well into their post-tennis lives.

3.     Organization---Kostin has become the old wise sage of VCU Athletics and has become a mentor for many of the young staff.  Clearly Kostin has become an important figure and a key contributor to many of the Universities’ major efforts while keeping a solid perspective on his own program and maintaining a unique humility.

Many great leadership lessons can be learned by studying the recipient of the first annual Doc’s Leadership Award for Achievement, just ask his current and former players.