Ryan Kane is Athletic Director and men’s basketball head coach at Ripon College. This blog addresses remarks made by Coach Kane regarding his leadership roles on and off the court. Questions for the interview were prepared by Elliott Holt, Esteban Borja Pena, Clark Cunningham, Jaylen Mahone, and Jacob Zuehlke, all members of the Ripon College Business Leadership course in the fall semester of 2021.
What drives you and keeps you motivated year after year?
This one is pretty easy. When I was in the corporate world I worked in, more or less sales, the year would end at the end of every fiscal year. After that, you would start over. Management would say, “OK, here’s your new goal. Go out and get it.” It would sound so monotonous. It was as if to get the same people and the same clients to get more from them. Maybe we would try to grow and get a few more clients. That was kind of what my life was like in the corporate world and I desperately hated that. It was a continuous cycle where the game doesn’t change. That’s not to say that it’s much different in the coaching
