18:83 Speaker Series: Leading ‘the Nodak way’

Character, work ethic and genuineness are keys to effective leadership, says Dane Jackson, UND’s head hockey coach

How one responds when facing adversity is a key measure of character.

That’s according to Dane Jackson, who in March was named the 17th head coach of UND’s storied hockey team, and whose tenure with the program as a player and assistant spans nearly four decades.

On Wednesday, Jackson visited the Memorial Union’s Social Stairs to kick off UND’s 18:83 Speaker Series for the fall semester. Speakers time their addresses to about 18 minutes and 83 seconds, a number coinciding with the University’s founding year

A native of Castlegar, B.C., Jackson played in 150 games at right wing for UND from 1988-92, before embarking on an 11-seasonlong career in the professional ranks. This included stints with the Vancouver Canucks, New York Islanders and Buffalo Sabres of the NHL, plus serving as captain of the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League.

After hanging up his skates in 2003, Jackson immediately entered the coaching realm. Three years later, he was hired by former head coach Dave Hakstol as an assistant — a position he held until being named UND hockey’s head coach in March.

Leaders, Jackson opined, are not born with the requisite traits. Rather, they are forged through experience — much like UND hockey’s culture of excellence over the years.

This culture, which Jackson dubbed “the Nodak way,” dates back to former head coach John “Gino” Gasparini — who held the role from 1978 to 1994 and won three NCAA titles in an eight-year span.

Upholding the program’s culture, Jackson added, is dependent on living up to its ideals on a daily basis — with no detail too insignificant to ignore.

“We have a saying up in our coaches’ room: ‘If you’re not coaching it, you’re letting it happen,’” Jackson said. “I tell our staff all the time, if we see something that’s not up to our standard, we address it. We stop practice, stop the workout, stop guys on a bus and say, ‘That’s not the standard at North Dakota.’”

Jackson touted “the Nodak way” — and its emphasis on work ethic, camaraderie and loyalty — as a selling point for recruits, evidenced by the most recent offseason that began just weeks after he was named head coach.

Several players left the program, both due to graduation and transferring to other schools, leaving at one point just 12 skaters on the roster — less than half of the 27 typically carried by a college hockey team. Jackson, his assistants and his team’s leaders had to scramble to find replacements by fall.

“The last week of March was tough,” Jackson said. “It felt there was a clear delineation between guys who didn’t want to be here and guys who did. We talked about the stuff we learned from Gino, and sat in kitchens across North America — scouting, recruiting and talking about our vision. And that resonated with people.”

Having persuaded his team’s stalwarts to stay, and with a strong recruiting class of players buying into UND’s culture, Jackson and his staff filled the roster by mid-August — albeit a few months later than usual.

Other traits Jackson considers important to leadership:

• Model appropriate behavior: Showing up prepared, making sacrifices for the betterment of the organization and being invested in the success of subordinates speaks louder than words.
• Who you are is more important than what you do: An individual’s accumulated thoughts and priorities, Jackson said, determine their character — and character is a great equalizer over natural talent.
• “How you do anything is how you do everything”: Cutting corners in one aspect of life tends to permeate into other areas.

The 18:83 Speaker Series continues Sept. 17 with Sarah Prout, vice president of Marketing & Communications at the UND Alumni Association & Foundation.