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This story is part of our June 2022 CoSIDA 360 package, to view more stories,
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A great boss, a better person
During times of difficulty, Matt McCollester of Richmond shows how to maintain excellence at work, humility, and trust to ask for help when he needs it.
by Dan Wacker – University of Notre Dame, Assistant Athletics Communications Director
When you first start a career, you want a supervisor that can help you learn how to work in the profession, set an example of how to balance work and family life, challenge you, and yet allow you to work through problems on your own. I got extremely lucky when I started my first full-time job at UNC Greensboro, because my supervisor did exactly that. Matt McCollester helped shape my career and my future, not only by being a supervisor, but a mentor and a friend.
After a year and a half at Indiana State, I used the CoSIDA job board to look for full-time employment. I got lucky and Matt gave me a shot as I started my first full-time job at UNCG. When I got to Greensboro, Matt immediately became someone I leaned on. Through my time with him at the G and beyond, Matt helped me become a better professional by continuing to challenge me and help me work through some of the more difficult aspects that come with the media relations profession. I was thankful that after he left UNCG for his current role at the University of Richmond, he happened to have two assistant director openings. Not quite sure how I convinced him to hire me again, but the move up to Richmond was one that helped me add more tools to my metaphorical toolbelt to become a more well-rounded professional and person.
One of his best leadership qualities is also his selflessness. Having worked with him in smaller departments, he’s led by example when our staff gets a little short-handed. He’d be the first one to help produce a live stream for an event, man a camera if needed, even just continuing to learn more about motion graphics, video editing and photography, he led by example. That example helped me realize that no matter how long you’ve been in it, there’s always more to learn and more ways to help your team.
Aside from helping me learn the day-to-day, I think what Matt taught me most was strength. Not the verbose, rah-rah strength or physical strength, but emotional strength.
Strength doesn’t mean you’re the biggest, strongest person in the room. There are few people who have had to endure some of the challenges Matt has had to face in the eight years that I’ve known him. A sick child with an unclear diagnosis, a spouse who was diagnosed with breast cancer, none of that is something you can be mentally prepared for. During those times, he showed how to maintain excellence in his work, humility, and trust to ask for help when he needed it.
Those of us who have gotten the chance to work with Matt have had the opportunity to learn that sports information isn’t a matter of life and death. Yes, we need to make sure we stay on our game, and be good at what we do, but we also have to have our priorities in line. Managing your home life, taking care of yourself and your family, are more important than making sure your game notes have that 18th bullet point, or you saw everything pertaining to your program on social media that night. I’m lucky to have had an example of how to do that.
As Matt can attest to, writing isn’t my strong suit, so if you take anything away from this, it’s that Matt is a great boss, but a better dude.
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