Doug Logan has guts. And as the CEO of USA Track & Field, he can do his thing without consulting you and me. But as I learned when I interviewed him in September, he seems open to us geezers. And recently he opened his blog to comments. Courageous. Of course, you have to play nice-nice, or your comment will be deep-sixed. But when I posted an innocuous item about adding a search engine to usatf.org, it appeared on Doug’s blog instantly! So now here’s your chance to express yourself to the top dog. And since all bloggers are vain egotists who monitor their sites frequently, it’s very likely Doug will read your comments! Have fun!

Here’s Doug’s latest entry — a self-evaulation:

The Time of Your Life
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
With all due apologies to Green Day for altering the title of their great song, since taking this job I am having the time of my life, and I think it shows. I am surrounded by a competent professional staff, anxious to adapt to a changing work culture and committed to making the sport better. I serve at the pleasure of a dedicated Board of Directors, excited about a changing future where they will make policy and sound business decisions for the benefit of a dynamic sport on the verge of regaining its rightful place as a major American pastime. And I am honored to serve a universe of talented athletes, wise coaches and just officials who give honor to our competitive endeavors and give us great moments of athletic achievement. How could I not be having the time of my life?
In recent days I have had the pleasure of hiring Michael McNees to the new position of Chief Operating Officer of USATF. This new post is called for in our newly adopted bylaws and plays a role in a structured plan of succession that is also a new requirement. Hopefully, this organization will never again be put in the position it was in earlier this year, making do with the disruption of working with an acting CEO for a half a year. Mike will act as my surrogate during my absence or disability and will also actively direct the day-to-day operations of our business, freeing me to focus on growing the sport.
I cast a wide net in my search to fill this position. I interviewed eight applicants of both genders and diverse racial and cultural makeup. I have known Mike for several years and know him as a disciplined administrator and devotee of team-building. He is a passionate competitor in our sport, stretching from his days as a Big Ten champion and record-setter to his current desire to enter masters competition in the sprints. Most importantly, Mike shares my business values of hard work, accountability, aggressive growth and fairness in dealings with others. Please extend a welcome to him when he joins us on March 1.
Consistent with my desire that our governance be transparent, I am starting what I hope will be an annual, institutional tradition. I am publishing, below, my self-evaluation of my performance for the year 2008. You, as our extended family, are entitled to see what my professional goals are, and, more importantly, how I believe I stacked up against them. Feel free [not that you need my permission] to let us know whether you agree or disagree with my assessment.
As this year comes to a close, I am compelled to think of those less fortunate than we are; who are really struggling in these tough times. I urge all of you to do what you can; from charitable donations to simple acts of kindness, that will help our brothers and sisters during these cloudy times. I wish for all of you the most joyous of Holiday seasons and my best wishes for a healthy and prosperous New Year.
I have urged my colleagues on the National Office staff to get some rest. Starting the first of the year, we are going on afterburners!
30UK12
# # #
Douglas G. Logan
Chief Executive Officer
Self Evaluation-2008
Paragraph 4 of my Employment Agreement requires the following: “Executive shall annually report in writing to the Board and USATF membership a self-evaluation of his accomplishments and a review of the goals for the prior year”. Despite the fact that I have been in my position for only five months, it is my opinion that the Board and the membership are entitled to receive my evaluation of my performance for 2008.
Upon being hired, I expressed publicly seven identifiable goals for the future. They were:
*Maintain and improve the US position at the top of the medal charts in World Championships and Olympic Games
*Be a passionate messenger in the battle against performance enhancing drugs
*Be a firm and fair agent for change as the organization goes through a restructuring of governance
*Improve grass-roots membership numbers
*Foster better relations with the USOC, IAAF and IOC
*Grow sponsorship sales, television outreach and number of domestic events
*Institute a “customer service culture” in the National Office in its dealings with the volunteer leadership and membership
For purposes of this evaluation I will use the following six ratings:
*Exemplary
*Above Average
*Average
*Below Average
*Poor
*Incomplete/In progress
Maintain and improve the US position at the top of the medal charts in World Championships and Olympic Games
My belief is that we did “maintain” our position as the top medal winner at the 2008 Games but I take no credit for that achievement. There were some disturbing trends that emerged from our experiences in Beijing and we took decisive action to get better in future Championships and Games. The establishment of the Project 30 Task Force and the top-to-bottom examination of our methods will lead to us improving our position. Rating: Above Average
Be a passionate messenger in the battle against performance enhancing drugs
From the first day on the job I have aggressively attacked those who have done harm to our sport and impressionable young men and women. Whether by writing letters, speeches or other public communication ,I have persistently expressed our abhorrence for those who cheat or for those who influence others to. Rating: Exemplary
Be a firm and fair agent for change as the organization goes through a restructuring of governance
The manner in which our organization re-invented itself in the last half of this year was a major institutional victory. There were many who share the credit for this victory, not the least of whom was a Board of Directors who put the common good above parochial interests. Of greatest satisfaction to me was the fact that compromises were achieved in a spirit of comity and good will and received near-unanimous endorsement at every level. Rating: Exemplary
Improve grass roots-membership numbers
This goal is still a work-in-progress. We have put in place several initiatives to achieve greater membership numbers, but the measurement of gains will not occur until the end of 2009. Rating: Incomplete/In Progress
Foster better relations with the USOC, IAAF and IOC
By dint of our successful restructuring of governance, our relations with the USOC are immeasurably better than they were six months ago. We are beginning to make some strides with the IAAF. We have not begun to reach out to the IOC. Rating: Average
Grow sponsorship sales, television outreach and number of domestic events
While we are still preparing for the 2009 sales season, we have seen a softening of the sponsorship market in the last months of 2008. We must be far more aggressive in the coming months to overcome the disadvantage of a faltering economy. Although the strengthening of our sales efforts is still in its infancy, we should have done more to capitalize on the results of the 2008 Games. Rating: Below Average
Institute a “customer service culture” in the National Office in its dealings with the volunteer leadership and membership
I believe we have turned around the perception of the National Office by our persistence, from the first day, on serving our customers in a professional manner. We have brought in outside experts in customer service to conduct employee retreats, talked about the issue repeatedly in our staff meetings, lengthened our telephone answering hours and presented a new professional image at meetings and conferences. Rating: Above Average