Charlie Baker has led the NCAA for 40 months, and while he and the NCAA are an easy punching bag, let’s recall his message from 2023 when asked what the association needed to do. Seven months in, he firmly said, “Get shit done.”
Yes, the NCAA is constantly under fire and criticized, but college insiders give Baker high marks for getting things done: He’s decreased the unworkable number of committees; he expanded the basketball tournaments and opened up sponsorship categories; overall NCAA revenue has grown more than $300 million during his term; and the association has a far greater understanding of its fans and is much more sophisticated in driving event attendance. The business metrics are impressive. Does that story get told enough? No, because plenty of other issues remain, and the NCAA is a damaged brand — so much so that Baker’s been lobbied to consider a dramatic image/brand makeover.
The quiet progress of the NCAA is reflective of Baker’s leadership, and from observing and talking to people close to him, here’s what I can share. First, Baker is resilient. You will get knocked down, but it’s about getting back up. Remember, Baker was soundly defeated in his first run for governor in Massachusetts, but is proud that he ran a second time and won in a very close race. Baker speaks about such public failure and stresses to his staff that they will get pushed around — by angry athletic officials, coaches, conference commissioners, partners — but he expects them to brush it off and move on.
Second, he’s a calm, accessible leader. During a conversation at NACDA in Las Vegas, in front of college administrators, I asked Baker what he was good at as a boss. “I think I’m really good at listening. I ask a lot of questions,” he said. “It would be really interesting to hear what people who work with me would say, but I usually have extraordinarily limited turnover. People who work for me seem to like it.” Sure enough, after my discussion, staffers shared that Baker is an active listener, open to ideas, never writing anyone or anything off. Staffers feel comfortable challenging him, knowing he’ll calmly listen. Yes, he will push back when he feels strongly, but it’s always fair and respectful. Sources in Boston told me that even during the difficult days as governor he never held grudges, understanding that if he did, he would be isolated and not have anyone to work with. It also speaks to his calm comportment and relative lack of ego. He speaks in “we” and not “I.” He’s not rushing to the cameras to take credit. Staffers say that modesty has helped build trust among colleagues and constituents.
Baker could easily tell people what they want to hear and deflect the hard issues to others, but those in the room admire how Baker doesn’t undercut colleagues but stays aligned with staff. But don’t surprise him — he insists on knowing what’s going on. “I have said this to people from the first job I ever had managing people,” he said. “Nobody’s ever going to get screwed for bringing me bad news unless you bring it to me three or four weeks or months after you knew we had bad news.”
The biggest joy for Baker has been being around the student athletes. He loves it and told me, “They make me feel much better about the future of the country.” So, it’s not surprising that he draws on sports and his own experience when I asked what attributes he looks for in hiring candidates. “They ask more questions than they offer answers,” he said. “You have got to be a great team player. You got to be willing to take constructive criticism, and you have to be willing to get up when you get knocked down. If you can’t grind, you’ll never make it, and everybody who plays sports gets that.”
He also says any young person looking to get into the sports business should focus on the quality of the organization and the people they go to work for. “I’ve had good bosses and bad bosses,” he said. “You learn from bad bosses, but it’s the things you prefer not to have to learn. But a good boss and a good organization can take you places that you never imagined, because the opportunity to learn and grow is profound.”
More than three years in, Baker is clearly more comfortable in his role, but, true to his own advice, he, too, grinds. Staffers cite his relentless work ethic: reading news and legal briefs; talking to coaches, athletes, commissioners and visiting politicians; and still communicating with staff seven days a week. It goes back to his fundamentals of leadership. “The most important thing good leaders do is they never stop listening and learning,” he said. “Because the minute you start to think everything is great and you stop paying attention to the cues and to the people around you and to the people on your team and the folks in your organization, bad things happen.”
Abraham Madkour can be reached at amadkour@sportsbusinessjournal.com.
