Running head: TURNAROUND STRATEGIES 1

Turnaround Strategies

Ashley North

OGL 365: Sports Leadership

Dr. Bruce Oberstein

June 12, 2021

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Turnaround Strategies

1. Reflect on how you can use "tracking" to create transparency and accountability in your

life as a student, at work and with your family. What can you track to make

improvements?

Tracking can be utilized in a variety of ways to help individuals achieve their goals. I

track my progress in school by auditing my degree progress. I track my progress at work through

quarterly evaluations I keep on file and consistently revisit. As Jim Harbaugh voiced in The

Turnaround Strategies of Jim Harbaugh: How the University of Michigan Head Football Coach

Changes the Culture to Immediately Increase Performance, “words and beliefs are meaningless

unless they are built into the daily operations of a program” (Harbaugh 2016, pg. 20). As an adult

juggling school, work, family, and friends, it can be very exhausting and difficult.

While I always manage to complete my assignment or visit with close ones, I know I can

be more productive with my time. As Jim Harbaugh stated, “by focusing on the daily process,

achievers are able to work on things in their direct control and to minimize distractions”

(Harbaugh 2016, pg. 27). Rather than worrying about the time I am not spending with friends

and family, focus on what I can control in a given day. To create transparency and accountability

throughout various aspects of my life I need to make alterations. For instance, I would like to get

together with girlfriends every other week and I would like to see my family once a week. To

hold myself accountable I will install a monthly calendar filled with time dedicated to my loved

ones. As the days proceed I can track when I visited friends and when I saw family. By having a

calendar insight, I am able to see the progress, changes, and improvements I have made for the

better.
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2. "Only the Paranoid Survive". What does this mean to you? Can you adapt to change?

What are you doing to keep ahead and well informed for the ever changing future?

In regards to “Only the Paranoid Survive”, I believe that it means to consistently stay

alert within your organization. Harbaugh stated, “no matter how good things are, they can either

get better or get worse very quickly. In any competitive industry, the situation can change

quickly” (Harbaugh 2016, pg. 15). With that said, I find change imperative to organizations as it

is inevitable; thus, we must be able to adapt and adjust. By staying paranoid and being aware of

their surroundings individuals and/or organizations have the ability to be cutting edge.

As Harbaugh established, oftentimes “a poor performing program is simply left to toil in

mediocrity, with no efforts to revive it. Teams and programs have gotten so used to losing that

the organizational culture has simply accepted the way things are” (Harbaugh 2016, pg. 9).

Something I learned from my previous employer was to always monitor and assess your

competition. In one meeting my district manager had all the managers go to various local pet

stores and notate what we noticed, liked, or disliked. Once completed we were to compare the

list to our own store and reflect. What were the similarities? What were the differences? Lastly,

what needs to be changed in our stores? This allowed us to see our stores with a fresh set of eyes

and a new perspective. In staying paranoid individuals and organizations maintain a competitive

advantage.

3. Complete the process to see how much "free time" you actually have. Determine

something that you would like to do or improve on. How and when could you schedule it

into your day/week? Discuss

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In breaking down the usage of time on a daily basis it becomes evident that humans are

full of excuses. Once I had done the math it seems I have roughly 40 hours of “free time” on my

hands. I can not deny that I am someone who uses the “I don’t have time” excuse; however, I

found Laura Vanderkam’s perspective of “it’s not a priority” to quite truthful. While school is my

priority at the moment it’s okay to focus on extracurricular activities in my spare time. For

instance, I have been working on my golf game and slowly been improving; however, I’ve

noticed I get frustrated with myself when I am not having a good game. I consistently remind

myself that I do not make time to practice aside from playing a round of golf. With that said, I

would like to make more time practice at the driving range with the intention of joining a ladies

league in the year 2022. At the moment I currently play a round of golf sometime on the

weekends, therefore, practice in the middle of the week would be optimal. Taking this into

consideration the best way to schedule it into my week would be after completing schoolwork on

Wednesdays. While I generally study into the evenings Monday thru Friday, carving out a few

hours before sunset should not be an issue. There is always enough time in a day as long as it’s

as the task is a priority.

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References

Harbaugh, J. (2016) The Turnaround Strategies of Jim Harbaugh: How the University of

Michigan Head Football Coach Changes the Culture to Immediately Increase

Performance. Leadership case studies.

Vanderkam, L. (2016, October). Transcript of "How to gain control of your free time". TED.

https://www.ted.com/talks/laura_vanderkam_how_to_gain_control_of_your_free_time/tr

anscript.