Wanting to work for what you know you want
I am joined by Associate Athletic Director at Tulane University, Monica Lebron who serves in a Chief Operating Officer role within the department, overseeing football and women’s basketball. A former collegiate softball player, Monica has moved through the ranks at various athletic departments to get to where she is today as she hones in on the ultimate role of athletic director one day. The great thing about her story is how she has always had the willingness to do the work as she views it as the enjoyable part of the process and is in no way a sacrifice. I see Monica as a woman changing the world thanks to her ability to always be influencing those she works with towards a team environment, and because of her efforts to advise those she oversees that still have their careers ahead of them. There will many, many people in the years to come that have Monica to thank for key insight they gained when first starting their journey.
Time
We first hear from Monica when she introduces herself and her role today there at Tulane in detail including some recent responsibilities she has inherited (4:43). She then tells us about the sport that she played, along with how her work experience in college highlighted to her what she would want to do for a career (7:41). Some of the professional approaches Monica believes in include making yourself available to provide advice on school, careers, and life to those you are responsible for (12:17), while recognizing those individuals might not that have the confidence to initiate communication; the role teams can play in the success of an institution in how you can feel supported during difficult times and have people championing your success (22:00); the importance of having role models and how they can sometimes come from close to home (30:15). Monica leaves us with her final thoughts on the keys to being successful (34:32) while Steve does the same following her in relation to his takeaways from the interview (36:00).