Leadership, Lisa Love style
July 14th, 2007, 9:37 am · Post a Comment · posted by Dan Zeiger
Arizona State University’s athletic director understands that most of her decisions will be watched closely. She knows that her moves will be analyzed and scrutinized. And she is aware that, in just two years, she has compiled a sizeable record to be judged by.
But know this about Lisa Love: She thrives on making the tough calls and being under a microscope. Those who work under her describe Love as someone who looks at a situation from every angle, considers all of the possibilities, and makes a decision without a hint of waver.
The Tribune spoke to many people associated with the ASU athletic department — including some that sign checks big enough to get their names on things around campus — and the consensus is that Love is deserving of high marks.
Lisa Love
“Going through as many athletic directors as I have, I can tell you that we are really lucky to have Lisa Love,” said women’s gymnastics coach John Spini, a veteran of 27 seasons. “She has a unique way of taking her time, not letting someone back her into a corner, and making a good decision.”
Said a prominent booster: “She’s the best athletic director we’ve had since Fred Miller.”
And when she talks about her time on the job — which she has enjoyed more than she ever imagined — the passion and excitement oozes out. You want a spirited seminar on the state of Sun Devil athletics? Just wind its leader up and let her talk.
“I believe in a grandness here, and the potential for that grandness,” Love said. “I believe that I’m working with a president that believes in that same potential magnitude of a university in one of the fastest-growing areas in the country. It’s a matter of the right personalities that create a tipping point that puts it over the top.
“The people here believe they can get it done. I come into this environment and think that if we get a few things going, nothing is more powerful than inertia.”
When he hired Love two years ago, ASU president Michael Crow made the athletic director’s post a university-level vice president position.
“I felt that there had been a creeping distance building between athletics the rest of the university over the years, based on what people were telling me and how I could see things working,” Crow said. “I wanted to cinch them a little closer together.
“Secondly, athletics is a very important part of a university’s identity. So, I thought the position merited the vice president’s title, so Lisa could draw on other assets of the university to help athletics to be successful. I wanted her to have the benefits of that.”
That arrangement resulted in Love sharing time at Crow’s advisors table with Craig Weatherup, then the CEO of the ASU Foundation. The two developed a dialogue about the athletics program, particularly men’s and women’s basketball.
And when Weatherup, a 1967 ASU graduate and former CEO of Pepsi Bottling Group, and his wife, Connie, wanted to make a large donation to the school, it went toward construction of an indoor basketball practice facility. The $5-million gift is the largest single donation in the history of ASU athletics.
“In Dr. Crow’s staff meetings, Lisa and I talked about the needs of the athletic program had, and how that fit into the general direction of ASU,” Craig Weatherup said. “Dr. Crow believes, and I do too, that athletics can be a megaphone, a big part of the branding of a university.
“We gave the gift for two reasons: to address the need that existed, and create an awareness that broadens the spectrum of those who contribute to athletics. Since (the donation), I’ve had a lot of people ask me why, and that’s what you want.”
While Love, a former volleyball coach, admits that she sometimes “pushes a little too hard,” she does not consider herself a micro-manager.
“I would hope that people sense that I am an empowering athletics director, one who gives lots of leeway or reign for people to do what they do well,” Love said. “I want people to feel ownership and a big part of this enterprise. I hope it’s said that I’m very collaborative, that the mission is clearly stated, and that I communicate effectively.
“I’m not an autocrat, and I would have trouble working for one. When you get to hire and work with talented people, let them soar. That sounds like coach speak, but that’s what I know after 20 years in it, what you do as a team. That’s more powerful than standing alone.”
