Show up. Work hard. Adapt.
Those are the three core values women’s basketball coach Juli Fulks lives by. Following these principles, she says, is key to both professional and personal success.
And Fulks, who took the helm at Marshall University in Huntington, W.V., earlier this year after serving as head coach at Transylvania University in Lexington, Ky., for 10 seasons, knows a thing or two about winning.
She led Transylvania to a Division III national championship in 2023, was named the 2024 WBCA Division III National Coach of the Year after a 33-1 season—losing just one game in the Final Four—and led Transylvania to a 91-2 overall record, including a 64-game winning streak over three seasons.
“It may be hard, but you will be really successful if you can create an environment that allows everybody’s potential to grow.”
—Juli Fulks, women’s basketball coach, Marshall University
Speaking to legislative staff at the 2024 NCSL Legislative Summit, Fulks says her core values have shaped her team’s success. And it starts with taking a structured approach to each practice, including a pre-practice plan, giving shoutouts for previous successes and offering key takeaways for growth, both on and off the court.
“I love our core values because they’re the things that we get to reference in all decision-making,” she says. “It allows us to be very consistent in our jobs.”
Fulks, who holds a doctorate in leadership studies, a master’s in education and a biology degree, explained her mantra in detail:
Show up. This goes beyond just being physically present. “Average athletes often walk into practice and watch the clock until the time is up. The teams and players that win national championships come to practice and ask, ‘How can I be somebody who’s contributing? How can I add value when the coach is making a decision? Can I help have a voice? Can I talk to my teammates? What can we do to show up and really be present?’ Oprah always talks about being where your feet are. I love that.”
Work hard. You can’t cheat the process. “In the basketball world, that means extra time in the gym. It means they have to watch film, it means they need to come to extra team meetings—and they have to do that with gratitude.”
Fulks also preaches that success is earned. “You don’t get success from some days being good and other days being average. And so, we always remind ourselves it takes what it takes, you get what you earn, and the standard is the standard.”
Adapt. “Einstein says the measure of your success is your ability to change. And as a leader, I ask our athletes to change every day. I ask them to change who they are as players on the court. Sometimes, I ask them to change who they are as teammates. Sometimes, I ask them to change who they are as students, who they are as future professionals, who they are as leaders.”
Fulks talks about potential energy, which she defines as energy stored in a body relative to its environment. “Our job as leaders is to create an environment where our players can reach their potential.” Ask how you can create a thriving culture, one where it’s OK to fail and ask questions, and how you can adapt your leadership style by understanding your team’s strengths. “It may be hard, but you will be really successful if you can create an environment that allows everybody’s potential to grow.”
Lesley Kennedy is NCSL’s director of publishing and digital content.