University of San Diego Associate Vice President and Executive Director of Athletics Kimya Massey joins ADU’s Steph Garcia Cichosz at the 2024 NACDA Convention to offer insight into his journey to the Big Chair as a first-time AD. Massey, who experienced his first ever AD interview process during the search for San Diego’s next leader, emphasized the importance of maintaining high standards for oneself and being self-critical throughout one’s career trajectory: “As you morph and evolve, are you doing that in a way that’s going to be impactful in your unit or your group or your leadership group… being able to know yourself and be self reflective is extremely important.”
In addition to acknowledging and addressing one’s strengths and weaknesses, Massey also points out the need to be a leader who elevates the “impact” their actions and decisions make on the student-athlete experience, drawing on his career experience in student-athlete services and internal units as a compass for decision-making even as his role shifts into an externally-facing position. Massey and Garcia Cichosz also discuss how to pick out the ever-important introductory press conference suit, how to balance a career transition as a new parent, and how to quickly assess “fit” when pursuing a new opportunity.
The conversation is indexed below for efficient viewing (click the time stamp to jump to a specific question/topic).
