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Leadership Tips from the Winningest Coach in the Big East Conference
More than 90 business leaders from diverse industries such as manufacturing, energy, health care, technology, professional services, financial services, and banking, were treated to breakfast and insights on leadership from the winningest coach in the history of the Big East Conference, Pitt Head Men's Basketball Coach Jamie Dixon.
The breakfast, hosted by the Pitt Business Center for Executive Education, served to launch the center's newest portfolio of offerings and its partnership with Sales InnovationSM.
Dixon, who is in his 11th year at Pitt-his seventh year as head coach, knows the formula for leading a winning team, the theme of the October 7 breakfast. In addition to being the winningest coach in Big East history, in 2009, Dixon set an all-time NCAA Division I record for most wins after six seasons as a head coach. He guided Pitt to its first-ever NCAA Regional Final and Elite Eight appearance and the school's first-ever No. 1 national ranking. Dixon was named the 2009 Naismith National Coach of the Year.
Dixon's winning leadership philosophy involves several key elements, including playing to one's strengths, respecting others, and valuing and developing the people under one's charge. In building a reputation of success on or off the court, Dixon explained, the value of honesty cannot be absent. Honesty is crucial in developing bonds of trust between a coach and his players as well as between a manager and his or her direct reports and between an organization and its customers or clients.
The business leaders in attendance appreciated Dixon's candor and found great value in his insights on giving credit and taking blame and dealing with defeat. Even the winningest coaches have to deal with losses. According to Dixon, it's important to move on after defeat and to learn something from failure that can be applied to secure the next win. A good leader has to be prepared to shoulder the blame when things go badly, but according to the coach, it's imperative to give credit when it's due. Dixon underscored the value of positive reinforcement, saying that his experience has proved that praise is a better motivator than criticism.
Anne Nemer, assistant dean and director of the Center for Executive Education, said, "The business community acknowledged Coach Dixon's place as a leader in Pittsburgh and in the world of collegiate sports, not only as a winning coach but as someone who creates value through perseverance, commitment to excellence and a real sense of fair play - sound advise for anyone leading a team, on or off the court."
Kathy Apanowitch, executive vice president of business development for Sales Innovation, said, "What Dixon has accomplished with his team over the past seasons is truly a testament to his leadership. As leaders, we all need inspiration from time to time, and Coach Dixon touched everyone in the room in some way with his insights into leading a winning team."
