The Latest

Fear Drives a lot of Bad Behavior and Decisions in Youth Sports

Most of us deeply underestimate the youth sports culture.  Youth sports has mostly stopped being simple.  Money has grown, the competition for spots on teams has intensified, social status has been inextricably woven together with athletic achievement, and parents are scared. Many see athletics as a way to keep kids on the straight and narrow […]

Youth Sports is a Past-time for Some, and a Business For Many

Parents often imagine sports the way they experienced them as players.  When I was a kid, the business was not as crazy as it is today…by a long shot (and I grew up in Southern Indiana where basketball came before church).  Local sports teams were often left alone, and no one younger than 8th/9th grade […]

Lack of Clear Goals Creates Opportunity for Bad Outcomes in Youth Sports

In the absence of a clear vision for success, there really is only one obvious metric remaining — winning.  Winning tends to fill the void all on it’s own.  Trust me, you don’t want that.  Many parents, kids, and coaches really (and I mean really) want to win.  They would never say it that way, and […]

See all posts

A Quick Note:

Thanks for visiting. A few notes about me and this site. First, I am a Technology Director for a financial services firm based in Wisconsin. Although I spend most of my time building great teams, my technical focus is software development, data, and architecture . Underpinning much of my writing here is a personal vision. Namely, I believe that people want to be part of something bigger than themselves. They want to contribute, get excited, feel cared for, be challenged, and to use their gifts. I want to give them that opportunity. I chose technology leadership and software as a career because it allows me to be expressive and artistic and solve problems with and for others (often at the same time)! This site is simply a way for me to express ideas and beliefs, share my perspectives, and generally share thoughts on my career as a technology professional, and as a husband and father.