Author Archives: Matt Doherty

“A disciplined person is truly a free person.” – Dean Smith When Coach Smith said this to our team years ago it was confusing to me at first. Discipline seems restrictive, not freeing. Coach then explained that a truly disciplined person makes good decisions that lead to freedom. For example, someone that runs up theirContinue reading “Ingredients of a Good Leader: Discipline”

“A dream without a plan is just a wish.” – Katherine Paterson A leader can have competence, emotional intelligence and a great vision, but if they don’t have a strategic plan they will greatly limit their chances for success. Where do you begin? You begin with the end in mind. In basketball we planned toContinue reading “Ingredients of a Good Leader: Strategic”

Vision for a leader is critical because if you don’t know where you are going how do you expect people to follow you? To create a proper vision you need five things: Inclusion – Involve your senior staff in developing your vision. Having input leads to buy-in. Buy-in leads to commitment. Commitment leads to momentum.Continue reading “Ingredients of a Good Leader: Vision”

I lost my job as the head coach at North Carolina in 2003. It was an awful time in my life, but like any athlete or coach I wanted to learn from defeat and get better. I decided to go on a leadership journey. I took an executive class at The Wharton School in Philadelphia.Continue reading “Ingredients of a Good Leader: Emotional Intelligence”

Competence may be the most important ingredient of a leader. A leader may communicate well, may have good emotional intelligence and all the other key ingredients I noted in my previous blog, but if they are not competent nothing else matters. When I refer to competence I am referring to a leader’s knowledge of theContinue reading “Ingredients of a Good Leader: Competence”

When I think of the best leader I have been around I think of Dean Smith. He was my basketball coach at the University of North Carolina. I strived to be like him when I coached and often fell short. Nevertheless, I continue to try to lead like he led our teams in the earlyContinue reading “Ingredients of a Good Leader”

With LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers winning the NBA Championship I wanted to share with you what I believe is the “Mindset of a Champion”. One of my favorite leadership books is Jack: Straight from the Gut, by Jack Welch. He was the CEO of General Electric. He shared “The Four E’s” listed below.Continue reading “Mindset of a Champion – The Four E’s”

“With an ever-increasing number of career choices, 30 percent of the workforce will now change careers or jobs every twelve months.” — Career Change Statistics In today’s workplace, you need to be prepared to pivot into a new job or career. People get fired, positions get eliminated, and companies are bought out on a regularContinue reading “Pivoting”

Protocols keep your priorities in check. Legendary North Carolina Coach Dean Smith prioritized his time in this order:  1. Current players  2. Recruits 3. Former players If a former player was on the phone with Coach and a recruit called to talk with him, he would have to hang up and talk with the recruit.Continue reading “Protocols”

“Put a picture of your family on your desk. This will be a reminder that every decision you make should be in their best interest.” — John Black When I was a head coach, I felt the need to fire an assistant coach. It was the first time I was going to do this. ItContinue reading “Decisions”