a leader in marketing:
Stephen Pugh
About stephenStephen Pugh is currently the Assistant Athletic Director for Marketing at The University of Tulsa.
Pugh arrived in Tulsa following two years at James Madison University, where he served as the Director of Marketing overseeing the marketing efforts for 18 intercollegiate sports. Before that, Pugh was an Assistant Marketing Director at the University of Miami (Fla.). He primarily worked with the nationally prominent Hurricanes baseball program and Olympic sports, while assisting with football. Previously, Pugh spent six months as an Athletics Marketing Associate at James Madison University. He was the Sales and Marketing Coordinator for RockSports Northwest in Austin, Texas for one year and before that served as the Assistant General Manager for the Greeneville (Tenn.) Astros, a minor league affiliate of the Houston Astros, for two years. Pugh earned his bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Texas and his master’s degree in business from the University of Miami. |
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I credit Stephen with being the biggest influence in my hiring at James Madison University. He so graciously decided to interview me for the Athletics Marketing Graduate Assistant position in March of 2015. Much to my surprise, he decided to select me for a second interview for the position. After gaining a strong friendship and feeling of chemistry, he decided that he wanted me to join his athletics marketing team at JMU. For this, I will be forever grateful for believing in me despite my lack of experience.
Getting to meet him in person after my interview further built on our already growing friendship. After discussing the plans for the year for our team and for myself, I was thrilled to help take the campus engagement and community outreach efforts at JMU to the next level. However, Stephen was offered the Assistant Athletic Director for Marketing position at the University of Tulsa shortly after I had signed the contract and been accepted into JMU's Graduate School. Realizing he was no longer my boss was frustrating, but I was still grateful for the opportunity that he had provided me with. Knowing that this was a massive career step for him, I could not help but be excited for him. Even without his leadership and vision, we have been able to keep our relationship alive and well. Despite being majorly separated geographically, we still find time to connect, reflect, and look to the future. Because of this, I have gained insight into how to lead others even if you are not their direct superior. In the future, I hope to increase my connection to Stephen and further enlighten our friendship by continuing to reach out and seek advice and guidance from him. |
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Living the athletics marketing lifestyle, Stephen knows how tough it can be to manage time, staffs, and personal nuances associated with this career. Understanding the value of having work/life separation, he makes sure that he "spends time when there is time" for himself and his interests outside of work. Without spending time for "you," your productivity and general health and wellness will certainly suffer. By laying out time for yourself, you will be able to re-energize your efforts and influence your followers in an even more positive way. Another key part of balancing work and home life is understanding who makes up your staff. Realizing that everyone has time constraints and personal conflicts is crucial to empathizing with your followers. Everyone's situation is different, and everyone will handle the "balancing act" differently. If you can help them balance their time appropriately, chances are you will better be able to manage yours.
Stephen has seen a vast amount of learning curves in his career, all of which were very unique. His advice for staying ahead of those curves is to ask plenty of questions. Not being afraid to seek guidance from people you look up to and trust is crucial to gaining enough knowledge to overcome intellectual challenges. Becoming a lifelong learner can also contribute to your gaining of the mental capacity necessary to defeat any piece of adversity. There is no need to reinvent the wheel; learning from others' past successes and mistakes can help bolster your own "tool belt" and help you increase the size of your professional repertoire. In terms of relationship-building, understanding others' viewpoints is vital to gaining common ground with others. Knowing each other's personal and professional goals can aid in preventing potentially toxic and unhealthy relationships. Personality styles will not always agree, so it is crucial to be up-front about any issues that could potentially come up at the workplace. Being forthright can help employees empathize better with each other while showing enough respect for another to remain productive. People may not always like you, but if you can find a way to gain their respect, then everything will be OK. Stephen also believes that education can be the foundation for you are as a person, employee, and leader. Obtaining a Master's Degree has helped him in countless ways today. For example, he was exposed to a multitude of talented people, all who challenged him to improve in work ethic and intellect. Creating a strong network of people from all over the country has opened numerous doors for him; he would not be where he is today without his educational background. This also helps him look at the "big picture" of the corporate world inside and outside of sports. Knowing the business world in different realms has made him more well-rounded, thus increasing his ability to make smart decisions. In terms of leadership challenges, Stephen's biggest struggle has been to continue learning and evolving. Still young, he has quickly accelerated through the ranks of collegiate sports marketing. He has learned so much so quickly that he wishes he could take a step back and "smell the roses" more often. Dealing with personalities much different than his has been tough, but he is grateful that he has been exposed to these situations as it has made him even more effective with relationship-building. Stephen has numerous leadership "do's" that he believes in. Firstly, you have to be open with what you are trying to do as a leader of an organization. Having a specific vision and being able to implement methods to make that vision come to life should be a primary goal of all leaders. Also not being "above" anything that needs to get done is vastly important to showing humility and respect to your followers. Being invested in growth opportunities for your staff is also a key part of getting followers to want to do a good job in everything that they do. Proving to them that you want to see them progress professionally will give them some added motivation to impact the organization in a positive manner. Stephen is not perfect; he has made a few mistakes along the way that have shaped him into who he is today. Through trial and error he has learned that nobody can single-handedly change a culture overnight. Upon arriving somewhere, sometimes you have to adjust to the culture that is already in place and the gradually implement little things to help that culture change for the positive. By trying to completely turn a culture around from the beginning of a tenure, you may turn a lot of people off from following you and believing in your overall vision. This lesson will go with Stephen wherever he goes in his professional life because of its power and significance. All-in-all, Stephen has one major tip for long-term success in the athletics industry: networking. He cannot put a value on professional relationships. You never know what opportunities will come your way just by knowing people. However, it is up to you to build numerous relationships and then continue to grow those relationships by following up with the professionals around you who have much more experience than you. By having a broad network, you can significantly impact your career and positively influence your ability to connect with the right people and pave your way to future success. |
His personal leadership philosophy is simple: empower others to be successful and set them up for long-term growth. By doing this, you can convince others to want to follow you. If you invest in your people, they will invest in you.