Tanya Vogel on Creating a Culture of Community

Tanya Vogel has had quite a career in athletics and she’s kind of just getting started with her impact and influence in not just athletics, but beyond it as well. She’s been a distinguished leader in collegiate athletics for nearly 3 decades. Recently, she concluded her tenure as the Director of Athletics at George Washington University; she served in that position for 7 years. Her journey at GW began in 1992 as a student and All-American soccer player. She’s in GW’s hall of fame and she earned multiple degrees at GW including a BS, and MS, and an MBA. So, Tanya is a learner, which is going to be the core of today’s conversation; she loves to learn, she loves to grow. Additionally, she was recognized for her playing career becoming the first women’s soccer player to be inducted into the GW athletic hall of fame in 2002. She became their head coach at the age of 25. So, Tanya at GW is certainly an icon and somebody that the Athletic Department for a long time has looked to for leadership as a player, as a coach, and as an athletic director. In that athletic director capacity, she cultivated a culture of excellence resulting in 19 conference championships and a cumulative GPA of 3.62 among student athletes. One of the things that’s going to be abundantly clear in today’s conversation is that Tanya is a competitor; she loves to win, and she cares deeply about human beings and developing them and cultivating them and pouring into student athletes. She’s a recognized national figure; she’s served on key NCAA committees and chaired the Atlantic 10 Athletic Director’s Council. She’s also a graduate of the Georgetown Transformational Leadership Coaching Program and she’s an ICF certified coach. We’ll talk a little bit about her journey to becoming an executive coach, and I may have actually played a small part in that journey and maybe a spark to have her explore that journey. In addition to her coaching practice, she serves as a consultant for the Pictor Group, which helps her continue her commitment to leadership and organizational development, specifically within the athletic world. So, Tanya is a competitor, she’s a leader, she’s a coach, she’s been essentially the CEO of an athletic department (that’s what the role of an athletic director is), and she has seen just about everything when it comes to collegiate athletics. So, this is a conversation about culture, this is a conversation about leadership, this is a conversation about mindset, and most of all it’s a conversation of two friends chopping it up and chatting about what they’re passionate about, which is people.

Tanya had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include:

“I don’t make too many decisions without processing, without thinking through things” (8:05).

“I felt like I took [George Washington athletics] about as far as I could take it” (10:00).

“I feel like comfort and discomfort overlap” (12:35).

“I’m comfortable in discomfort, and I can be uncomfortable in comfort” (13:35).

“Our competitive advantage is going to be seen in how we treat one another” (14:55).

“Culture is people” (22:30).

“It can’t just be high fives and I love you” (25:30).

“Confidence and motivation come from within” (27:30).

“Just be insanely curious” (28:05).

“I work really hard to gather the data and do the research” (32:10).

“When you’re a head coach, you’re not going to be liked” (34:20).

“Leadership is not about being liked” (34:40).

“Every job I’ve gotten is by somebody that’s known me” (40:30).

“Be great where you’re at” (42:05).

“Mentors play a huge role in our growth and development, but advocates are key [too]” (47:15).

“Genuinely, most people want to feel useful” (55:55).

“I have this burning desire to go into the grave still l