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Investing In Relationships With North Alabama’s Dr. Josh Looney

Guest Dr. Josh Looney, North Alabama
26:05 min watch

Summary

North Alabama Director of Athletics Dr. Josh Looney joins ADU’s Tai M. Brown on the Connect stage at the 2024 NACDA Convention to dive into the concept of “investing in relationships” and the practical applications of relationship-building for departmental success. Looney: “Transparency, touchpoints, accessibility are all important pieces” [of the relationship-building process]. Looney dives into his three cultural pillars: in addition to operating with a “no jerks” mindset when hiring and developing a staff, Looney’s pillars include measuring and celebrating wins in the classroom, in the field of competition and in the community and operating as the “enemy of the status quo.”

Looney and Brown also discuss coming into the Big Chair during the final year of North Alabama’s transition to Division I, with Looney explaining his message to the department when he arrived: “It’s my job to catch up to you.”

The conversation is indexed below for efficient viewing (click the time stamp to jump to a specific question/topic).

  • - Talk to me about your doctorate program - I believe it was in Educational Leadership?
  • - How long ago was that in your career?
  • - You had three stops while you were earning this degree - so you were learning things that you could apply along the way. Is there a concept or a theory that you remember applying at one of those stops or now at North Alabama?
  • - So many people talk about relationships - cultivate relationships, invest in relationships. From your point of view, what does "invest in relationships really mean"?
  • - As the person leading the organization, you have to figure out how to create the environment where people value investing in relationships. Tell me about facilitating that within an organization.
  • - You get to North Alabama when it's in this process of becoming Division I - you have to keep the momentum going. Tell me about ushering in that process.
  • - In each one of your stops, you come in, evaluate who we are, then establish a culture. At a school like this, with so much prior success, how much of that culture-building did you implement in the beginning and what did you spread out over time?
  • - There's an underlying culture of humility in that approach.
  • - The Josh Looney effect - what would the people around you say is the impact you bring to the department?
  • - How has your decision-making process evolved over your various stops?
  • - What are those pillars? Could a graduate assistant rattle them off?
  • - If you're talking to a room of young professionals aspiring to become leaders, what would you emphasize?