Personal Strategic Professional Plan

1. Executive Summary

The achievement of professional goals depends on a number of factors. Some are
individual factors, others are organizational, while others are industry-wide factors. For
professional goals to be realistic, they need to take into consideration all these factors. In this
assessment of my professional goals as summarized in my mission and vision statements, I
have examined individual-level factors that might influence my ability to achieve those goals
through reviewing my Strength finder, which explains my core strengths based on my
personality, and SWOT analysis. In addition to further helping understand my strengths,
SWOT analysis also helps in identifying weaknesses that may hinder the quest to achieve my
goals. It also allows for examination of opportunities and threats in the external environment
that may respectively aid or hinder the achievement of my professional goals. Apart from
individual factors, organizational factors also influence the ability to achieve my goals. The
organizational factors examined are leadership styles of those I am and will be working under
and the organizational culture. Even though I have very little influence over these factors,
they have the potential of either making my professional goals a reality or preventing me
from achieving them. As shown in the paper, the leadership style of the people that I work
under suites my personality and the organizational culture of my employer fits my values.
Therefore, both of these factors are likely to facilitate the achievement of my professional
goals. Aside from organization-level factors, industry-wide factors can also affect the ability
to achieve my goals. At the industry level, management of amateur basketball is largely
dominated by white males. This factor might impede the achievement of my professional
goals. However, efforts to address the dominance of one group at the expense of other
groups, especially women and minority groups might work in my favor. Having examined all

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these factors, I have developed highly detailed and specific plan for achieving my
professional goals, including timelines for the achievement of the various goals.

2. Mission and Vision
    What is your Mission or purpose in life?

To be a successful basketball coach and administrator through a combination of hard
work, continuous learning, and mentorship from successful coaches and sports
administrators.

 What is your Vision for yourself in the next three, five and ten years?

I see myself becoming a successful basketball administrator and coach who will
effectively guide young men and women into successful adults both on and off the basketball
court.

 What are your Core Values?

Hard work, perseverance, team work, positive attitude, and honesty. They are the values
that have guided me up to this point and will guide me into the future.

3. Internal Environmental Analysis Section
    Who are the primary stakeholders in your life?

Currently, my primary stakeholders are my parents, siblings, co-workers, professors, and
fellow students. I come from culture where there is a lot of pressure to be successful in order
to make parents proud. Therefore, I really strive to be the best in whatever I do in order to
make my parents proud. I am also glad to have the kind of parents that I have because they
are always willing to offer me all types of support. Their material, emotional, and financial

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support and my desire to make them proud of me keep me working hard towards my goals. I
would also like to make my siblings proud as they have always been there for me any time
that I needed them. Together with my parents, they are the anchor of my life.

My other major primary stakeholders are my professors and fellow students. Since
starting my studies, I have developed an extremely close relationships with my professors.
They have taught and offered me advice that will certainly serve me in good stead in my
future career. I work very hard because I do not want to betray the trust and hope that they
have put in me. As for my fellow students, they have been key in helping me excel in my
studies and enjoy what I learn. The group work and discussions that I have had with them
have always been enlightening and insightful. I am always hopeful that we shall all finish our
studies successfully and become great professionals in future.

More importantly, my co-workers at Heat Elite Club who have mentored and provided
me with an opportunity to apply what I have learnt both formally and informally over many
years. They look up to me to effectively discharge my duties and help the club to be
successful. My failure is their failure and my success is their success.

 Who are potential new primary stakeholders that you might envision being
involved in your life within the next 5 years?

Within the next five years, I envision my primary stakeholders being my spouse, child or
children, and my colleagues at work. I intend to marry my girlfriend in the next two to three
years. Once married, we hope to have a child as soon as possible. Thus, my wife and child (or
children, if we get more) are going to be my primary stakeholders in the next five years.
Their needs will certainly have an impact on my career. For instance, to provide for their
material needs, I will have to get a job that provides me with enough pay to comfortably take

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care of them. Additionally, I may need to spend more time with them. Thus, I may be
attracted to employments that have a flexible work schedule or take work-life balance
seriously in order to have enough time for my family.

My other primary stakeholders will be my work colleagues. Their values, skills,
knowledge, and work ethic will have a major impact on my ability to succeed in my career.
As a person who works best in team settings, my success or failure will largely depend on my
colleagues. I am hopeful that I will get colleagues who are as passionate and driven as I am
and who share my values of hard work and honesty.

 Describe and explain the main strengths you identify with through
StrengthsFinder 2.0.

Deliberative

As a deliberative person, I approach decision-making with a lot of seriousness. Before
making any decision, I make sure that I have all the necessary facts and information about the
issue that I am deciding on. I examine the information carefully and analyze different courses
of action, the risks involved in each course and, then make a decision. I rarely make a
decision lightly or before I have all the details that I need to decide. Naturally, because
gathering all facts about a given issue and carefully examining the risks involved in each
potential course of action or decision take time, I often take a lot of time before making a
decision. However, once I have made up my mind, I rarely change it unless I come across
new information about the issue that I have decided on that significantly changes my
assessment of benefits and risks of different courses of action.

Strategic

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I have a talent for quickly identifying the core problem in any issue and then
generating multiple ideas or potential solutions to the problem. I can then quickly establish
the pros and cons of each potential solution and idea and choose the idea that I deem to be the
best in a given situation. There are many ways in which I am able to identify potential
solutions. One of them is through noting patterns and trends by examining facts about a given
issue. By noting such patterns and trends, I can easily identify potential solutions to a
problem. I also generate ideas through my natural creativity. I often view problems from
different dimensions with each dimension presenting a unique solution to the problem. In this
way, I am able to generate solutions and ideas that other people may not be able to imagine.

Relator

As a relator, I am very approachable person. I am nice, open, friendly, and easy to talk
to. My colleagues find it easy to approach me and share their personal and work-related
problems. It probably also helps that I am good listener as I am able to quickly understand
their worries, concerns, and thoughts from their verbal and non-verbal cues. Apart from being
approachable, I also a good explainer. I can simplify even the most complicated issues or
concepts or problems. Due to these strengths, I am an excellent team-player. I am able to
effectively work with other people to achieve the goals of a given task. Additionally, I am
able to maintain warm personal and professional relations with almost everyone that I interact
with.

Command

I am a decisive individual. I do not shy away from situations where I have to make
decisions. When making decisions, I carefully consider the pros and cons of every possible
decision and then settle on the most appropriate one. In order to establish the pros and cons of

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different potential courses of action, I usually gather as much facts as possible about the
situation or issue that I want to decide on. Thus, I consider myself to be an informed
decision-maker. By basing my decision-making on facts, I am not only able to convince
others, such as colleagues, of the soundness of my decision but also effectively defend the
decision. Granted, I try to have as much information and facts as possible about a given issue
or situation before making a decision and make a decision with the least risks. Sometimes I
go for courses of actions that have potentially big risks but also provide opportunities for
great achievement. In this way, I could be described as a calculated risk-taker.

 Based on your knowledge gained through StrengthsFinder 2.0, and the other
articles we have read, what type of leader are you and how do you plan to lead?

The leadership style that best suits my temperament and strengths is authoritative
leadership. An authoritative leader comes up with the vision and inspires followers to achieve
the vision. They set goals, create ways of achieving the goals, assign tasks to different people,
and then guides the people performing the tasks so that the set goals can be achieved. My
strengths are command, strategic, deliberative, and relator. As a strategic and deliberative
person, I am very good with decision-making and generating innovative and workable ideas.
As a command person, I am not uncomfortable with exercising authority. I can take charge of
any situation regardless of how difficult it is. I can then quickly come up with the right course
of action and convince everyone to follow it because it is usually based on facts and logic. As
a relator, I am good at teaching, training, and guiding people as I can easily simplify even the
most complex concepts. Thus, authoritative leadership style suites me because of my ability
to generate great ideas, to explain the ideas to my juniors, and to guide them in effectively
implementing the idea.

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 Conduct an analysis of which Organizational Leadership style you most believe
in and would thrive the best under (e.g., Charismatic, Transactional,
Transformational Leadership).
The organizational leadership style that I believe in and which I am likely to thrive under
is transformational leadership. Under this style, leaders create an organizational culture that
values and supports innovation and change in order to give the organization competitive
advantage. This type of leadership fits my personal strengths. I am a deliberative and strategic
person. I am able to examine problems from multiple dimensions and recognize different
patterns and trends when examining data or facts about any given issue. Due to these skills, I
am often to come up with ideas or solutions that are highly innovative but practical with all
the potential risks assessed and addressed. With these strengths, I believe that I am likely to
thrive when working in an organization that has a culture of promoting and supporting
innovative ideas of employees with regards to processes, services, and goods that the
organization produces. For these reasons, I believe that an organization led by a
transformational leader would be the most appropriate for me.

4. Individual SWOT Analysis
    What are your STRENGTHS?

My strengths include extensive coaching experience for my age, great basketball skills,
coaching certifications, and excellent sporting networks that I have developed over time. At a
relatively young age, I have already had five years of coaching experience. I have been a
student assistant coach, head of junior varsity boys basketball coach, and head basketball
coach for different teams. The experience that I have gathered through coaching in the
various positions that I have held has given me valuable knowledge, skills, and confidence to
effectively discharge my duties as a coach in any organization.

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In addition to my coaching experience, I also have significant experience as a basketball
player. Having been a guard for the Regis men’s basketball team, I know the athletic skill
required to make a top basketball player and have extensive knowledge of the rules and
fundamentals of the game. Additionally, being a player makes it easy for me to inspire and
mentor players that I coach since I can relate to their experiences in a manner that coaches
who never played the game can.

My other strength is the extensive professional networks that I have developed over the
course of my playing and coaching career in New York and Massachusetts. At any given
time, I can tap into these networks to help me deal with any professional issue. I also hold
licenses and certifications that allow me to coach many basketball amateur teams in the
United States. The licenses include license coach from USA Basketball and Athletic Coach
from Amateur Athletic Union of the United States.

 What are your WEAKNESSES?

My major weakness is lack of international experience. With basketball increasingly
becoming global, players and coaches need to be ready to work in any country. Additionally,
as the US basketball has become attractive to foreign players, it helps to have some
international experience in order to effectively coach players from different nationalities.
Another weakness is that I currently do not belong to any professional coaching body. This
might hinder my career progress as I may miss out on valuable networking opportunities.

 What are your professional OPPORTUNTIES?

Globalization has enabled basketball to become a truly global sport. As a result, there are
numerous opportunities for coaching basketball across the world. In particular, American
coaches are highly sought after as the United States is considered a basketball powerhouse.

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Additionally, calls for diversity in basketball management are likely to create great
opportunities for people of color, such as myself.

 What are your perceived professional THREATS?

There are many basketball fans and players who are training to become coaches. With
many coaches being trained, competition for coaching sports is going to significantly increase
in future. To beat the anticipated competition, it is important that I develop the knowledge,
skills, and experience that will make me a highly sought-after coach.

5. External Environmental Analysis
    Conduct an analysis and assessment of overall organizational cultures in which
   you presently operate

I currently serve as a coach and director of operations at Heat Elite Basketball Club in
New York. Heat Elite Basketball Club is a non-profit organization that seeks to recruit and
nurture basketball players who can play at the elite level of the sport. As a coach and director
of operations, my roles include recruiting players into the club, creating relationships with
college coaches and scouts in order to help the organization with recruitment, and handling
communications between the athletes at the club and their parents.

The organizational culture of Heat Elite Basketball Club is characterized by diversity,
character building, continuous improvement, team-work, and pursuit of excellence. The
organization’s commitment to diversity can be seen in its recruitment of both staff and
players. At the top of the organization, different races are represented. For instance, I am an
African American male working comfortably white males in running various aspects of the
organization. There is also diversity in intake of players. Apart from the players coming from

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different races, they are also drawn from different genders. For instance, the organization has
a program that is dedicated to recruiting and developing skills of talented basketball females.
Their facilities and coaching are just as good as those of the boys.

Apart from commitment to diversity, the organization’s culture is also characterized by its
commitment to wholesome excellence of the players. The organization does not just seek to
make its alumni successful basketballers. It also seeks to make them successful men and
women even after they stop playing basketball. To this end, the organization considers
imparting life skills to players at the club just as important as imparting basketball skills to
them. The organization believes that important life skills, such as honesty, hard work, pursuit
of excellence, and dedication to duty will go a long way in helping the players to become
successful both on and off the basketball court.

The organization also fosters a strong competitive spirit. With the goal of preparing
young men and women to pay at elite basketball level through developing their athletic
ability and basketball skills, the organization runs one of the best programs of its kind in New
York. Entrance to the organization’s program is highly competitive with only the most
talented and committed young men and women managing to get admitted to the program.
Once admitted, the competitive spirit does not wane as they are put in five teams where they
constantly compete against each other. The goal is not just to develop basketball skills but
also to develop a winning and competitive mentality that will help the players to effectively
complete at the elite basketball level as professionals.

 Create a Cultural Web Paradigm including: a) Stories, Symbols, Rituals and
routines, Power Structures, Control Systems, Organizational Structures that
speak to your life at the present

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Organizational culture plays a major role in the success or failure of organizations. While
its importance is clear, its components are not always clear. Various approaches have been
developed to help with understanding organizational culture. One of them is cultural web
paradigm. It has six related elements that help in the examination of different aspects of an
organization’s work environment. The six elements are stories, symbols, power structure,
control systems, rituals and routines, and organizational structure. An examination of Heat
Elite Basketball Club using Cultural Web Paradigm.

Stories

Heat Elite has developed a reputation for excellence and discipline. Its current
members and alumni have been known to record excellent performances. Young players who
join the club are often told of players who went from the club and made a big name for
themselves playing in various basketball levels. They are also told of the success that the
club’s teams have had over the years in various competitions both at state and national level.
Thus, right from the time young men and women get admitted to the club, they met with
stories of individual and team success. Such stories prepare them mentally as they make them
know the high expectations placed on them.

Apart from the stories of basketball successes, a common story that new players are
often told is how the founder of the club and head coach, Nicholas Tsikitas, humbly started
the club in 2013 with the goal of helping the youths of Nassau County in New York through
basketball and then grew the club to become one of the best-known organizations in the
country for preparing young men and women to become top basketball players in the country.
The story is certainly inspiring and prepares new club entrants to aspire to not just excel in
basketball but also to aspire to make a difference in the lives of other people in the
communities that they come from.

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Routines and rituals

One thing that one meets any time they visit the club is seeing young men and women
either playing or performing some physical activity in the club’s grounds. In pursuit of
excellence, the young men and women who get admitted often leave nothing to chance. They
are always trying to perfect their skills and improve their physical fitness. Another striking
thing that one is likely to encounter is a mixture of races and genders playing and practicing
together. There is extreme high level of intolerance of racism and sexism at the club.
Everyone is treated equally regardless of their sex or race.

Symbols

The club’s dress-code is fairly informal. Even the founder of the club sometimes puts
on sportswear rather than formal office wear. The informal image plays well with the club’s
focus of promoting teamwork. Everyone, including the founder is treated as part of the club’s
team. The informality also makes the club’s leadership to be easily approachable by the
young men and women who join the club and often need advice on various issues in their
personal and professional lives.

Organizational Structure

The organizational structure at Heat Elite is fairly informal. The founders of the
organization, Nicholas Tsikitas and his wife are still actively involved in the organization.
The wife does not hold a formal position in the organization but Nicholas Tsikitas doubles up
as the head coach of the club. There is really no hierarchy in the organization. The
organization’s structure could best be described as flat. It has a very short chain of command
with few management layers. One consequence of this organizational structure is that

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everyone can easily access whoever they want to see and talk to, including the founder and
head coach.

Control Systems

The club has rather tight control systems. The finances are especially controlled. For
instance, one of my roles is to make sure that the budget for travel and expenses does not
exceed $65,000. Part of the reason for the tight control of finances is that the club depends on
donations from well-wishers to support its program. Therefore, it important to reduce any
wastage.

Another aspect of an organization’s control system is reward and punishment system.
Players who record excellent performance are often rewarded by having their achievements
recorded on the club’s website. As for those who underperform, there is really no punishment
that they are usually subjected rather. Instead of punishment, they are usually put in a
program where their weaknesses can be addressed in a wholesome way by the coach.

Power Structures

Real power in the organization is exercised by the organization’s founder, Nicholas
Tsikitas. As the founder, he is the carrier of the organization’s vision. Even though she does
not hold an official position in the club, the founder’s wife also exercises significant
influence on the club’s decision-making. Additionally, even though the extent of their
influence is not clear, the club’s major donors certainly have some influence on the running
of the organization as the organization is heavily dependent on donations from wealthy
individuals to fund most of its activities.

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 Conduct an analysis and assessment of any organization conflicts that you are or
have been involved with and how you resolved them.
I have been involved in a number of organizational conflicts throughout my career. The
one that stands out for me involved a parent of one of the players and a staff member. The
player was not practicing hard enough, often got angry quickly, and had poor relations with
some of the other players. Unimpressed by his performance in practices and attitude, I
decided not to play him in a local tournament.

After one of the games, the mother of the said player confronted me. She wanted to know
why I was not giving her son adequate playing time and yet he was, in her view, super
talented. I was in a hurry at the time but I respectfully explained to her that who to play and
who not to play was purely at the coach’s discretion and depended on factors, such a player’s
fitness, attitude, and the plan for a particular match. I then told explained to her that I was in a
hurry but I would give her a detailed explanation of our team selection policy and criteria in
an email I would send the following day.

She was certainly not impressed by my explanation as she lost her temper and started
making wild allegations against me using very abusive language. Among the hurtful
allegations she made was that my treatment of her son was motivated by a combination of
jealousy and racism. I was particularly offended when one of my colleagues at the club, an
administrative staff who had come to watch our game, made remarks about she also believing
that the player in question was super talented and deserved more playing time. I found her
remarks offensive because they represented an unacceptable interference in my work and
seemed to insinuate that the parent’s wild allegations against me were indeed true.

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Seeing how angry the parent was and how angry I was also becoming, I excused myself
and left. Upon further reflection on the issue, I knew that I could resolve the problem through
effective communication. Therefore, the day following the incident, I wrote two emails: one
to the parent of the student player and another one to the administrative staff. To the parent, I
reminded her about the goals and rules for the team, my coaching philosophy as well as
players’ code of conduct. I also reminded her that it was wrong to confront me in the manner
that she did. I presented to her various ways she could use to communicate her displeasure of
anything to the coach. Lastly, I invited her to a face-to-face meeting at the club. To the
administrative assistant, I expressed my displeasure at her remarks noting that they
constituted an unacceptable interference in my work and fueled parent-coach conflict. I also
requested for a face-to-face meeting with her.

I met the administrative assistant the same day I sent her the email. She was truly
apologetic about her behavior the previous day. She explained that she was a cousin to the
dissatisfied parent and that she was wrong to let her filial relationship with the parent come in
the way of her professionalism. Having settled the issue with the administrative staff, I met
the player’s mother the following day and held a similar discussion with her. After reviewing
my coaching philosophy, explaining to her in detail why her son was not getting a lot of
playing time, and reminding her about appropriate coach-parent communication, she accepted
her mistake and apologized as well.

Before she left, I called her son and discussed his practice and attitude problems with the
mother. The discussion also went well as the son promised to work harder and improve his
relationship with other players. I was very glad at how the conflict had been resolved. The
resolution strengthened my belief in the power of effective communication to resolve
organizational conflicts.

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6. Industry & Competitive Analysis Section
    What segment or segments of the sport industry do you expect to intern and/or
   work in?

I currently work in amateur basketball and I would like it to remain that way. I have
always considered teaching to be my calling. At amateur level there is a lot that the young
men and women need to learn. I believe I will get the most fulfillment teaching, training, and
preparing them for professional basketball career or other careers that they might to choose to
pursue later in life.

Additionally, I have always felt that most young players in amateur basketball struggle to
balance their sporting commitments with their academic work. They end up sacrificing one
for the other. As a person who has excelled in both academics and sports, I believe that I best
suited to guide the young men and women in balancing sports and academics.

For these reasons, I see myself continuing to work at Heat Elite where I have an
opportunity to teach and train young men and women from different parts of the country who
intend to pursue basketball as a career. I may also be interested in college sports as it also
involves teaching and training young men and women to become better basketball, a skill I
am well-versed in. Remaining in management and coaching at amateur sporting level also
help in increasing minority representation at such level. While there is large representation of
minority groups in various playing roles, minority groups are not equally represented in
amateur management and coaching positions. Thus, my presence in such roles is likely to
encourage other people from minority groups to seek out such positions.

 What does this particular segment or segments do (i.e., core products or
services)?

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My segment is amateur sports at either college level or at local club level, such as my
current work at Heat Elite Club. At college level, the core service is academics. Even in
colleges that have highly successful sporting traditions, sports occupy a secondary role to
academics. Thus, when working in such organizations it is important to guide the student
players so that they learn to have a healthy balance between their sporting activities and their
academics work.

The situation is a little bit different in clubs, such as Heat Elite Club whose main service
is training amateur players to become successful basketball professionals. In such clubs, the
main preoccupation of the management is to improve the athletic ability of the players
through regular training and to sharpen their basketball skills and knowledge as part of their
preparation for a career in basketball. However, even in clubs so dedicated to the promotion
of basketball sport, there is still room for other services. For Heat Elite Club, the other service
provided to the young men and women who attend is to prepare them to be also successful
off the basketball court. That means preparing them to be successful as family people, as
professionals, as businesspeople or whatever other path of life that they may take.

 What organizations with this segment or segments you expect to intern and/or
work in?

I am comfortable with my current work place. I get to work with highly qualified and
motivated colleagues. The coaches that I work with have many years of experience, including
international experience in training top basketball players. Some have even taught players
that have gone on to become successful in the National Basketball Association (NBA). By
working with such people, I get to learn a lot about preparing young men and women to
become successful basketball players. I also learn how to mentor the players so that they can
also become successful off the basketball court in their personal and professional lives.

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Even though I am fine with the organization that I am currently working for, I cannot rule
out working for a college sports organization in future. I may be tempted by higher pay or
just the desire to make career progression. Even though I love basketball, I am also a person
who is also passionate about academics. Working in an environment where the two go hand
in hand will certainly be exciting and fulfilling to me.

 Who do these organizations compete with?

Clubs for amateur sportspeople, such as Heat Elite Club recruit from local schools and
prepare the recruits for professional basketball career through extensive basketball and
athletic training. Competition for talented comes from similar clubs and one-on-one
basketball trainers. However, since there are not many organizations offering top basketball
training, competition for young talented basketball players is usually not intense. Once
recruited, the main competition comes from other amateur clubs and even varsity clubs
through various tournaments and leagues that involve clubs under the Amateur Athletic
Union (AAU). For instance, Heat Elite is a regular participant in the Island Garden Super
League in New York. Thus, generally, amateur organizations compete with other amateur
clubs in leagues and tournaments.

 Conduct an overall Human Resource Analysis including a Diversity Assessment
with these segments (e.g., are these organizations or industry segments pro-active
in hiring women or minority candidates).

According to Lapchick, Estrella & Bredikhina (2017), amateurs sports hold far more
career prospects than professional sports because they have more jobs. Unfortunately, the
many opportunities in amateur sports, including college sports continue to evade women and
minority groups as white males continue to dominate the top positions in various sporting

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organizations at amateur level. The senior positions that continue to be dominated by white
males include head and assistant coaches, athletics directors, and associate as well as assistant
athletics directors (Lapchick, Estrella & Brekhina, 2017). For instance, white men hold 84%
of head coach positions in all basketball divisions. The highest representation of head coach
positions among African Americans is in the division one category where they hold 22% of
head coach positions.

The dominance of white males continues even to women’s basketball. Just 38.9% of head
coach positions in the sport are held be female. The rest are held by men. The overwhelming
majority of these men are white males. Even in the women’s sport, there is significant
underrepresentation of people of color with just around 11% of the head coach positions held
by African American women. The dominance of white males is apparent in other sports, such
as football, soccer, and baseball. It also continues in other senior positions where key
decisions are usually made.

Certainly, there is need to conduct more research to determine why white males continue
to dominate senior leadership positions in amateur sporting organizations. Regardless of the
reasons for their dominance, it is important to address the gross underrepresentation of
women and people of color in senior positions in various sporting organizations at amateur
level. As the level with the most job opportunities, continued dominance of white men in the
most lucrative positions denies many women and people of color who are passionate about
basketball and spend a lot of time and resources perfecting their craft and acquiring relevant
education and certifications the opportunity to make a decent living what they love the most.

A starting point would be a review of hiring practices. Components of hiring practices
include job description, hiring committee, and the interviews themselves (Sensoy &
DiAngelo, 2017). With regards to job description, adding statements such as ‘women and

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people of color are encouraged to apply’ can go a long way in encouraging women and
minority groups to apply for some of the senior jobs in basketball organizations (Sensoy &
DiAngelo, 2017). As for hiring committees, their lack of diversity can lead to hiring of
candidates that look like them. For instance, if the hiring committees are composed of only
white males, they are also likely to hire candidates who are white males (Sensoy &
DiAngelo, 2017). Thus, one way of increasing the number of women and people of color who
hold senior positions in basketball organizations at amateur levels is to diversity hiring
committees. Lastly, the actual interviews also impact who gets hired and who does not. For
instance, the use of structured interviews has been found to reduce potential biases that may
work against women and candidates from minority groups (Hyat, 2020).

 What are some of the overall ethical, environment, and potential legal challenges
associated with these segments and/or organizations?

There are multiple ethical, environment, and legal challenges that are associated with
amateur sports. Perhaps one of the most significant ethical issues in amateur sports is whether
to pay the athletes or not (Knoester & Ridpath, 2020). There are arguments that amateur
athletes playing for college teams and clubs like Heat Elite ought to be compensated for their
performances while others believe that such payment is unwarranted. Regardless of one’s
stand on the issue, it remains one that presents significant ethical dilemmas to the
management of amateur basketball sporting organizations.

Other ethical concerns include gender equity and diversity of leadership of amateur
basketball sporting organizations. As noted in the preceding sub-section, white males
continue to dominate top leadership positions in both male and female amateur basketball
organizations. Lastly, there has been the issue of coaches having inappropriate relationship
with some players. This issue is particularly common among female teams that are coached

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by men. Depending on the nature of the relationship, the issue can also be a legal one, not just
an ethical one. For instance, a coach having sexual relations with a female player who is
below 18 years may be liable for prosecution (Fasting, Sand & Sisjord, 2018).

As for environment, the main issue has been the extensive littering in amateur
sporting events. Amateur basketball leagues and tournaments often result in accumulation of
large amounts of trash, including plastic trash. There have been concerns about the impact of
generation of such amounts of trash in light of worsening environmental conditions across the
globe.

7. Professional Goals & Objectives

3 Years Strategic Plan

Goal: Become Assistant Athletics Director

Five Strategy Statements

1. Improve my qualifications for assistant athletics director

Objectives:

i. Complete MSc in sports management by 2021, November.
ii. Take short online course in marketing, branding, and promotion in preparation for
marketing and promoting sporting events that I will be in charge.
iii. Take an online course in budgeting.
iv. Find a mentor to help me improve my sports leadership skills and knowledge.

2. Networking

Objectives:

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i. Attend sporting events even when my team is not participating.
ii. Attend sporting seminars where I can meet key stakeholders in basketball.
iii. Establish close relationship with basketball directors from other sporting
organizations.
iv. Make use of social media platforms, such as Twitter to connect with other people in
basketball sporting fraternity.

3. Preparation for Employment

Objectives:

i. Update my resume to include all my latest qualifications and experience.
ii. Do regular interview training so that I can improve my interview performance.
iii. Send my resume to potential employers in major amateur clubs and colleges.
iv. Set up a LinkedIn profile containing all my qualifications, skills, and experience.
v. Regularly check for jobs on clubs and organizations that deal with amateur sports.

4. Personal Goals

Objectives:

i. Buy a decent suite for potential interviews.
ii. Buy a nice car
iii. Propose to my girlfriend
iv. Buy my parents a house

5 Years Strategic Plan

Goal: Become a High School Athletics Director

Five Strategy Statements

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1. Improve my qualifications for high school athletics director

Objectives:

i. Participate webinars dealing with issues related to basketball coach recruitment,
training, and scheduling.
ii. Take short online courses in financial management and budgeting.
iii. Learn public relations and communication skills.
iv. Take a short course in people management and effective interpersonal relationships.
v. Learn a foreign language such as Spanish to improve my job prospects abroad.

2. Networking

Objectives:

i. Join an association of basketball directors of athletics.
ii. Use social media to network with school principals and other key stakeholders who
may give me a job.
iii. Join social media groups for basketball coaches.
iv. Start a blog where I will be making regular updates about issues and activities that are
related to basketball in general and athletics directorship in particular.

3. Employment

Objectives:

i. Look out for opportunities for athletics directors in various high schools through
friends and other people in my networks.
ii. Send my resume to different high schools that might be interested in my services
even if they are not advertising for the position of athletics director

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iii. Record excellent performance in my current position so that I can be recommended
for bigger positions when they arise.
iv. Look out for advertisement of athletics director in job sites, both online and offline.

4. Personal Goals

Objectives:

i. Dress smartly to project an image of a serious professional.
ii. Start living a healthy lifestyle by taking nutritious foods alone to prevent contracting
lifestyle diseases that might slow me down.
iii. Take vigorous physical exercises to keep me fit so that I can effectively discharge the
duties of an athletics director.
iv. Move to a nice neighborhood that will help in my networking goals.

10 Year Strategic Plan

Goal: Become owner of a non-government amateur basketball club

Five Strategy Statements

1. Improve qualifications for the position

Objectives:

i. Take short online course in business management.
ii. Learn how to register a non-profit organization.
iii. Study ways of fund-raising for non-profit organizations.
iv. Have a mentor who runs a similar organization.

2. Seek donors for my organization

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Objectives:

i. Write to different donors about my idea of starting non-profit to train young and
talented basketball players.
ii. Schedule meetings with high-net-worth individuals for discussions on supporting my
initiative.
iii. Write to supportive organizations for financial support.
iv. Conduct publicity events for the organization

3. Personal Goals

Objectives:

i. Improve my communication skills, especially public speaking.
ii. Increase media engagement to raise my profile.
iii. Save money to help in starting off my organization
iv. Continue living a healthy lifestyle

4. Family

Objectives:

i. Get married
ii. Have a child
iii. Focus on having a healthy work-life balance.
iv. Learn some relaxation sport, such as golf.

8. Conclusion

Listing down professional goals is not enough. The goals need to be based on various
individual, organizational, and industry-level factors. Based on examination of individual-

28
level factors, I am most suited to be in a position where I train, teach, and mentor other
people. Luckily, I work in an organization that offers me an opportunity to exercise activities
that make use of my strengths. Thus, my personality, values, and strengths greatly fit into the
current organization that I work for. However, industry-wide factors are not in my favor.
Leadership positions in amateur basketball are heavily skewed in favor of white males. On
the surface, this fact may be discouraging. However, viewed in the context of continuing
efforts to increase the number of women and people of color in senior positions in sporting
organizations, my disadvantage might not be as big as I initially thought. That is why I have
prepared a detailed and ambitious list of goals that I hope to achieve in the timelines
provided. The most important of the goals is the one about starting a basketball training club
similar to the one that I am currently working at. As a person who has had great joy training
young men and women who have gone on to become successful basketball professionals and
successful people in general, I have no doubt that starting such a club will provide me with
great satisfaction for a long time to come.

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References

Fasting, K., Sand, T. S., & Sisjord, M. K. (2018). Coach–athlete sexual relationships:
Coaches’ opinions. International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching, 13(4), 463-
470.

Hyatt, E. C. (2020). Interviewer perceptions of job interviews and interview
structure (Doctoral dissertation). http://hdl.handle.net/11343/267301

Knoester, C., & Ridpath, B. D. (2020). Should College Athletes Be Allowed to Be Paid? A
Public Opinion Analysis. Sociology of Sport Journal, 1(aop), 1-13.

Lapchick, R., Estrella, B., & Bredikhina, N. (2017). College sport racial and gender report
card. The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports.

Sensoy, Ö., & DiAngelo, R. (2017). “We Are All for Diversity, but…”: How Faculty Hiring
Committees Reproduce Whiteness and Practical Suggestions for How They Can
Change. Harvard Educational Review, 87(4), 557-580.