Kimberly Whitler

Author: Positioning for Advantage | Former GM/CMO | Forbes Contributor | Darden Business School Prof | Desire to help CMOs Grow & Succeed | Tweets are my own

[Anish Moonka @anishmoonka]

Jared Isaacman dropped out of high school at 16 and started a company in his parents' basement with $10,000 his grandfather gave him. Tonight he's on the deck of a Navy ship, waiting to welcome four astronauts home from the moon.

That basement company is now Shift4 Payments. It processes over $200 billion a year in credit card transactions, about a third of all restaurants, hotels, and casinos in the U.S. Went public in 2020. He ran it as CEO from age 16 until he stepped down to take over NASA last year.

He also co-founded Draken International, which ran a fleet of over 100 retired fighter jets whose entire job was playing the enemy in combat training for U.S. Air Force and NATO pilots. He sold it to Blackstone for over $100 million.

He has over 8,000 hours in the cockpit and can fly more than a dozen types of military jets. He personally owns a MiG-29, a Russian fighter that tops 1,500 mph, which he bought from the estate of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. It's the only one in private American hands. In 2009, he flew around the entire planet in a small Cessna jet in 61 hours and 51 minutes, a world record, to raise money for Make-A-Wish.

In 2021, he paid for and commanded Inspiration4, the first all-civilian spaceflight. Four people with no astronaut training, three days orbiting Earth, $250 million raised for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Then in 2024, he went back up on Polaris Dawn and floated outside the spacecraft, held to it by a 12-foot cable, in the first spacewalk ever done by someone outside a government space agency. That same flight reached 870 miles above Earth, farther than any human had been since the last Apollo crew in 1972.

He took over as NASA's 15th administrator in December 2025. In his first three months, he redirected $20 billion away from a planned space station around the moon and toward building a permanent base on the moon's surface.

Right now he's aboard the USS John P. Murtha, about 50 miles off San Diego. The capsule carrying the Artemis II crew is going to hit the atmosphere tonight at around 25,000 mph. If the heat shield holds (it took damage on its last unmanned test), if the parachutes open, four astronauts splash down at 8:07 PM ET after a 694,000-mile trip around the moon. And the person waiting for them has been to space twice, walked outside a spacecraft, owns the only Russian fighter jet in private American hands, and started his first company as a teenager in his parents' basement. His call sign is "Rook."

[Steve Magness @stevemagness]

Arizona's was Down 7 to Purdue at halftime of the Elite Eight. Their first Final Four in 25 years slipping away.

Coach Tommy Lloyd walks to the front of the locker room and says: "Guys, the coaching staff and I are going to leave right now. You guys figure this deal out."

There wasn't some huge speech. He walked out.

Every instinct in a coaches body says to give the movie style inspirational speech. Light a fire, demand more, sound like Al Pacino in Any Given Sunday...

Lloyd did the opposite. He left 5 minutes on the clock and sent a key message to the players: This is your team. I trust you to lead it.

The veteran players took charge. They'd been through the tournament losses before, helped with emotional regulation, and reiterated that they still had a shot.

Freshman Koa Peat said afterward: "They told us to keep going. Can't get too high or too low. Just stay even-keeled."

Arizona outscored Purdue 48-26 in the second half. They had zero turnovers and shot 51.6% from the field.
Second half: Arizona outscored Purdue One.

They put on a clinic.

When asked why he did it, Lloyd said after the game:

"The most powerful thing in a team sport is a player-led program. The coach, you have to help them navigate it, but when you can get the players to own these moments, you are just so much better."

He said he'd done it four or five times this year and it worked every time.

There's a mountain of science behind Lloyd's approach

In 2003, researchers Mageau and Vallerand found autonomy-supportive coaching, giving athletes choice, acknowledging their perspective, and avoiding overt control, consistently produced more motivated, more resilient athletes.

Controlling coaching did the reverse: higher burnout and lower resilience.

This is at the heart of one of the most theories in psychology, Self-Determination Theory

When people feel autonomy, competence, and relatedness, you get the highest quality motivation.

When a coach trusts his team to figure it out and right the ship, he's handing them all three at once. It's the ultimate signal of trust when his team needed it the most.

Lloyd built a culture where the players internalized the stuff that matters.

A 2025 meta-analysis by Clare and colleagues looked at 50 studies and over 17,000 athletes.

They found that team captains had nearly twice the effect on performance as coaches did.

Coaches help set the culture and expectations. They guide good leaders, but the players look to who else is in the arena with them.

We need peer pressure in the positive direction.

Lloyd understood this. Too often, as coaches we think we need to "do something." That instinct pushes us to over control, to grip the wheel harder.

When so often, what we need to do is trust that we've guided them the best we can, and show them the trust they deserve.

Steve Kerr once did something similar with the Warriors, telling his team that he was sitting out and they were coaching the team for a game.

Build the culture. Coach the team up, giving them the skills and ability.

And then sometimes, you've just got to step back, tell them you believe in them, that it's there team.

That ownership and self-belief is the fuel of the purest motivation.

Sometimes, when we're struggling, we don't need all the answers. We just need to hear that we've already got the inside of us. And to give us that belief to go get it done...together.

-Steve

Research:
Mageau & Vallerand (2003)
"The coach–athlete relationship: a motivational model." Journal of Sports Sciences, 21(11), 883-904.

-Clare, Hardy, Roberts, Tod, & Benson (2025)
"Do Leaders Actually Influence Sports Performance? An Integrated Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses." Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 47(4), 205-222.

[UVA @UVA]

Coach Todd DeSorbo and@UVASwimDive are on the brink of a record sixth straight NCAA title. How do they keep meeting their high standard? https://t.co/5hOxpOmigG

[Brad Franklin @Cavs_Corner]

#UVa’s Ryan Odom is the best performing first-year coach in the country.

[Jon Rothstein @JonRothstein]

Everyone knew that Ryan Odom would do a great job at Virginia.

No one knew that he'd do this type of job in Year 1.

29-4.

Ridiculous.

[Jeffrey Farma @JeffreyFarma]

Thrilled to be at #ACSLAS26 @AmCollSurgeons #Leadership #Advocacy @UnivSurg @AcademicSurgery @AmColSurgCancer @RASACS @KimWhitler @msutherlandmd

[Kimberly Whitler @KimWhitler]

How can a leadership brand impact performance? Focus, efficiency, effectiveness. It is about aligning actions with objectives. Honored to work with @AmCollSurgeons leaders for their Leadership and Advocacy Conference! @UnivSurg @AcademicSurgery @RASACS @msutherlandmd @JeffreyFarma

[Danny Neckel @DNeckel19]

Virginia's Kymora Johnson is currently averaging 19 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds, and 3 three-pointers per game.

The only other major conference women's college basketball player to do that for a whole season is Caitlin Clark.

[Kimberly Whitler @KimWhitler]

what does tara mckelvey write about

[Jonathan Cotten @JonEasystep]

What Steve Alford says here is spot on. Over the last year or so, I have talked at length with Tony Bennett, Tony Elliott, Carla Williams, Wally Walker, various UVA professors, and other coaches and assistant coaches in addition to many players across at least 8 different sports. My belief has been and still is, that the quality and integrity of UVA athletes is one of the most compelling aspects of the UVA brand and the coaches that have fostered this culture have done a phenomenal job. It is the #1 antidote to the issues that Alford accurately points out. Character, culture and integrity are not accessories to a winning culture, they are central to it. They are not competitive with a winning tradition, but essential to sustainable success.
When I see the UVA collective partnering with the ABC store to drive NIL revenue, I wonder if some are confused as to the value of the UVA brand, in an effort to try to catch up to other schools. Marketing in business is largely about protecting both the integrity of the brand and the perception of the brand. Rolex, Ferrari or Goldman Sachs would not have an event at the ABC store to attract customers even though all of them know they have many customers who frequent the place. It is not a judgment about the ABC store or their customers, just brand positioning. We do not select centers with the ABC store in them because they are not premium centers. Attachment to the brand is not a will-nilly process.
My thoughts are simply centered around understanding business strategy. The above is just a minor example, but it does reflect IMO flawed business strategy. I hope that lack of sound thinking does not extend to coaching decisions or broader strategy as UVA seeks to be more competitive in this landscape. UVA can “become what they are not without losing who they are” as business author Michael Gerber so aptly put it. Respect the brand, have the courage to protect the brand, and be creative and cerebral on the strategy to advance the brand.
Go Hoos! 🔶🔷

[Jonathan Cotten @JonEasystep]

He can run, he can jump, he can catch, he can pass!!! Malachi Fields is his name. Watch him this year on Saturdays. Watch him next year on Sundays! Go Hoos! ⁦@UVAFootball⁩ ⁦@Good_Feet_Group⁩

[Kimberly Whitler @KimWhitler]

How CMOs Choose Athletes And Sporting Events To Sponsor https://t.co/eSPT9JU9zf via @LinkedIn

[Kimberly Whitler @KimWhitler]

@Suns Amazing "get" by the Suns. @Almighty_ry3 will work his heart out and represent with class. Smart kid. Needs help on the offensive side but he will develop with capable coaching. Beautiful to watch on defense.

[Brandon Lloyd @blloyd8298]

#GoHoos

[Kimberly Whitler @KimWhitler]

7 Lessons on How To Succeed In A Summer Internship https://t.co/LtPDrSMkZh via @LinkedIn

[Kimberly Whitler @KimWhitler]

How do the college athletes chosen given NIL deals by big, respected brands manage social media? In this @HarvardBiz article, ex. include @matthew_boling1 @blake_corum @dahlskylar @IsaacMcKneely @VaughnYonta @JonEasyStep @paigebueckers1 @Zach_Carey_

https://t.co/XKWPt7XoDv

[Kimberly Whitler @KimWhitler]

What do the Most Respected Brands care about when sponsoring college athletes? @HarvardBiz has some unexpected insight @5PillarsPress @JonEasyStep @JonRothstein @FOSports @On3NIL @NILNewsstand @NIL @danmcginn @mattgreen1996 @SethDavisHoops @amypoftak
https://t.co/5uGmnmvjI8

[Kimberly Whitler @KimWhitler]

Not all growth strategists are the same. @HeatherLoisel provides insight on 5 different types of B2B CMOs
https://t.co/psrkNRJZj9
@ajlucio5 @ForbesCMO @CMO_Odisha @leeodden @AMA_Marketing @MarketingCloud @BradFriedman @WomeninMarketin @alewnes @lindaboff @KarMWalker

[Kimberly Whitler @KimWhitler]

@cwdarney @cavfutures Congrats!!!!

[Kimberly Whitler @KimWhitler]

This is absolutely amazing. It's go time! @UVAMensHoops @WhiteMamba_GK20

[Virginia Men's Basketball @UVAMensHoops]

🧡💙 This is what it means!

🔶⚔️🔷#GoHoos