Highlight interview of the 2025 Annual Conference & Exhibitor Showcase keynote speaker. Register now through July 25 to receive Early Bird pricing. CSDA would like to thank California CLASS for sponsoring this keynote address.
By Kristin Withrow, CSDA Communications Specialist
In August, CSDA is pleased to announce that the keynote speaker for our Annual conference & Exhibitor Showcase in Monterey will be celebrated football icon and Super Bowl Champion Joe Theismann. He began his NFL career in 1974 with the Washington Redskins (now Washington Commanders), becoming their starting quarterback in 1978 and setting franchise records before suffering a traumatic leg injury that ultimately ended his career on the field.
How does this relate to special districts, and why did we select him as our keynote at our biggest event of the year? Joe Theismann has learned a few things about powering through adversity. He has reinvented himself several times over, from broadcast journalist to entrepreneur to motivational speaker, and he will undoubtedly turn conference attendees into cheering fans by the time he is through.
Special district leadership teams are regularly reinventing themselves and pivoting in response to external factors. Board members come and go, staff leadership changes can impact district culture, political winds shift and threaten (or enhance) revenue streams – each time a significant force impacts a district, the entire team must shift in response. You never know when the “blitz” is coming, but you better have a plan when it does.
When Theismann suits up as a motivational speaker, he delivers a powerful message introducing concepts of personal responsibility, defining yourself and knowing your mission. “I’ve always believed that mental toughness is the key to surviving in life,” said Theismann. “You need to be strong foundationally to be able to grow from there.”
The structure and function of a sports team has overlapping trends to the world of business. A board of directors is comprised of individuals who must understand their personal motivations and values to ensure they fit into the team they’ve joined.
In the NFL, team structures have hierarchy of responsibilities from owner to manager to a variety of specialized coaches, just like the structure of the relationship between the Board, general manager and staff. Learning to work together as a team is critical to the success of the mission. It’s important everyone shows up ready to work hard, fulfill their role, and share their energy with the team. “Attitude precedes everything we do,” said Theismann.
In addition to a firm foundation, goal-setting is critical to success in business and life. In sports, plays are documented, studied and practiced. In business, goals need to be documented as well. From budgets to personal objectives, it’s important to take the time to put goals into formal, written documentation. Taking the time to conceptualize the goal and turn it into words on a page that the team can agree upon and form actionable steps to achieve brings it into existence far greater than staff meetings or sideline conversations.
“If things aren’t going the way you want, you have to take a step back and change, which is a challenge,” said Theismann. “If your action isn’t resulting in attaining the goal, you have to change the approach.”
Lastly, Theismann coaches, in business one of the great lessons passed from generation to generation remains true: “It’s never what you say to someone, it’s how you say it.” In teamwork, it is critical to work together in ways that continually motivate yourself and each other.
Theismann will bring big game energy to rally the crowd and leave the room motivated and ready to return home with a champion’s mentality to tackle special district challenges.