Marcus Hilliard has worked for some incredible leaders during his career, including Danny White, Gerald Harrison, Kevin White, and Stan Wilcox. He is a UT alumnus who fully appreciates getting to work with an incredible team of Vols leaders and colleagues. The first half of the conversation is a deep dive on those leaders and what he’s learned. Then we get into how he learns and what he looks for in potential next opportunities. Hilliard is pursuing a doctorate in higher education and we talk about why the higher ed part of the degree is an asset for future ADs. Marcus shares what he learned from the “Leadership Knoxville” program and I talk about why I think more aspiring ADs and current ADs need to consider participating in these types of programs and rethinking their approach to LinkedIn to better connect with the business community. We wrap the conversation talking about the most overrated business advice Marcus has ever heard and applies it to today’s college athletics.
- 0:00 Introduction
- 2:58 Initiatives at Tennessee
- 8:35 Working as a UT Alumnus
- 10:37 Leadership Knoxville Program + LinkedIn Approach
- 14:50 Learning from Great ADs (Gerald Harrison, Stan Wilcox, Kevin White, Danny White)
- 21:28 Learning from Dad: Football Coach David Cutliffe
- 22:55 Career Design
- 24:22 Staying Ready – How Do You Study the Position?
- 31:00 PhD in Higher Education
- 39:55 Different Types of Institutions
- 43:18 Most Overrated Piece of Business Advice
- 47:15 HEA Road Trip Update – Thank You PILYTIX.ai & AD Vantage for Sponsoring
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