Thanks Coach Huggins! (via Dave Pray)

Friend and fellow blogger Dave Pray articulated exactly what was on my mind following this weekend's huge victory at Madison Square Garden. The following post is from Dave Pray's blog:




















What a remarkable game yesterday. WVU beats Georgetown and...for the first time in school history, won the Big East Basketball title. I loved the game and really the entire week. What impressed me the most about yesterday's performance was Coach Huggin's post win interview.

Coach's post game interview doesn't seem to be popping up at the moment on ESPN's website...but here is the jist of it. (1) Coach Huggins is very close to tears....and this is not coming from the head....but the heart. (2) And why he is almost crying in his words...is because the kids played their hearts out...played beyond their skill levels....and he is so happy because he is happy for the State.

And I for one am buying this. Many Division One coaches would be crying because they know their resume just got expanded and they are worth more money.

Huggins isn't looking to move. He loves West Virginia and he is inspiring these young men to play beyond their given capabilities. His ability to provide a much bigger mission is paying off and is a great example of leadership we can all learn from.

OK...he's got the X's and O's down...he is a great recruiter....he knows how to build individual skills and conditioning....yeah...and so do about 50 other D1 coaches. But he is leading these young men on a slightly higher mission....win this one for the people of West Virginia....he means it and I feel it.

Great season...great coach...great leader.

Did You Use Quicken, TurboTax or Quickbooks Today?

Today was Tax Day in America. If you used Quicken, TurboTax or QuickBooks to help prepare your tax filing, you were not alone. You were joined by millions of Americans who use software created and produced by Inuit Corp. And you can thank the guy in the photo at the left.

Intuit's President and CEO is West Virginia native, Brad Smith. He has graciously agreed to come and serve as the keynote speaker for the Charleston Area Alliance's Annual Celebration on May 6th. This is a tremendous opportunity for us to hear from one of the nation's technology leaders. We are so fortunate to have Brad coming to this great event, and I hope you will join me in attending and learing how Brad's West Virginia roots have shaped his leadership style.

When it comes to leadership, Brad Smith is a highly accomplished and successful leader. Upon joining Intuit, he had a meteoric and battle-tested rise to the top. Serving in each of the company's five business units over an intensive, five-year period, Brad became known as the leader within Intuit who could "sell" change to the employees. As many of you know, there are not many challenges tougher than getting several hundred employees to embrace and accept new programs, new ways of doing thing or new ideas. He did it, establishing himself as a true leader and change agent.

It never ceases to amaze me how many corporate leaders come from West Virginia! Brad Smith is a native of Kenova, West Virginia. After attending Marshall University, Brad went on to graduate studies at Aquinas College in Michigan. His prior corporate experience includes Pepsi, ADP and Advo. Brad's full bio is here.

Please register now to attend. Don't miss this tremendous learning opportunity!