Key Learnings from David Brandon

“Dave Brandon is a guy who deals with the world directly as it is- and does so with gusto”

-Tom Walsh, Detroit Free Press,

“Brandon makes waves as UofM sports boss; will new president be booster?”

Mr. Brandon had an extremely positive impact on our audience at CEO/Leaders Connect this past Friday. While I was impressed by his enthusiasm, I was even more impressed by his rigor. He is relentless about measuring: the culture, finances, progress toward goals, and the performance of himself and his staff.

I learned this this first hand 10 years ago when I first met David at a Denison Culture Survey Conference. As a senior Denison Consultant, I was impressed by his insistence on measuring culture wherever he is a leader. When he became Athletic Director at the University of Michigan he used the survey with his staff. Through it, he found a gaping hole in the culture of the Michigan athletic department: the employees did not feel like a team. As his first priority to fix this, he called upon the famous words of Bo Schembechler “Its all about the team, the team, the team”. The necessity of being a team is so important to him, that he included this quote as one of the guiding principles of their one page strategic plan.

Here are a few other key leadership lessons I learned from Mr. Brandon’s talk:

• First and foremost, demand integrity at all costs and at all levels
• Keep a keen eye on finances
• While tradition is important, change is also necessary.
• Be clear about what you are going to do, and stick to your vision and goals
• Change is inevitable, so be the driver of the change rather than the recipient.
• Talent plus culture wins every time
• Build the brand in every way

Whether we agree or not, Mr. Brandon is clear about his desire “to make UofM a mecca for college athletics.” He consistently emphasizes this to his staff and to the public. You might ask yourself, how clear are you on communicating your vision of success?