Navigating Change: Coach K's Perspective on Leadership in Modern Times

Sean Khozin: 00:00:21

Welcome to Precision Signals. I'm Sean Khozin.

Today I'm honored to welcome Mike Krzyzewski, known to most of the world simply as Coach K. Coach K is one of the defining leaders in American sports.

Over more than four decades at Duke, he built championship teams, won at the highest levels of college basketball and the Olympics, and shaped generations of young people who carried his lessons far beyond the court. But the real power of his story is not only the record.

It is the way he thinks about people, relationships, and what it takes to build something that lasts. For Coach K, leadership begins with a simple but demanding belief.

People can do more together than they can do alone, but only if the relationships are strong enough to withstand the pressures of ambition. Talent matters, but talent by itself can be fragile. It needs trust, a shared language of purpose.

And people who are willing to put the group above their own need to be seen and celebrated. That idea has deep relevance for medicine.

In science and healthcare, we often describe progress through its visible markers, a new therapy, a sharper biomarker, or a more powerful disease model. Those things matter enormously. But a biomedical discovery does not become progress the moment it appears in a paper, a data set, or a press release.

It becomes progress only when people carry it across the long distance between an idea and a patient's life. That distance is not crossed by technology alone. It is crossed by teams that share a common vision.

It is crossed when scientists ask better questions, when clinicians test evidence with rigor and judgment, when regulators make difficult decisions under uncertainty, and when patients and their families believe the people around them are worthy of trust.

Every part of that chain depends on human coordination and on whether people from different disciplines, institutions, and incentives can work together around something larger than themselves. That is why Coach K's voice feels so important today. His understanding of teams was formed long before the banners at Duke.

It began in Chicago with his parents, working class Polish immigrants who taught him the dignity of work and the confidence that comes from knowing someone believes in you. Those early lessons followed him to West Point, to the army, to Duke, to the Olympics, and eventually into his work in cancer advocacy.

In this episode, we talk about that history, but we also talk about the moment we are living through now, when so many forces are changing how people learn, lead, turn, communicate, and belong.

We talk about social media and attention, the transformation of college sports, the pressure young people are under, and the challenge of building real connections in a culture that often rewards performance over presence. We also talk about artificial intelligence in medicine. Coach K doesn't approach AI as a technologist.

And that's exactly why his perspective is valuable. He approaches it as someone who understands time, attention and trust.

If AI can reduce the burden that pulls clinicians away from patients, if it can give physicians more room to listen, explain and be fully present, then it can serve a deeply human purpose. Used well, it can help restore the relationship at the center of medicine rather than replace it.

And because I'm a New Yorker, I had to ask him about the Knicks. After nearly three decades of waiting, our city seems to have come alive around basketball again.

His answer began with Madison Square Garden, the NBA Finals, and the force of a fan base that had found its voice. But underneath it was the same theme that runs through the entire belief. What happens when people feel part of something together?

What changes when a team, a city, or a community begins to trust again? That's the thread of this episode.

Whether we're talking about basketball, medicine, leadership, or cancer, the central question is not simply who has the most talent or the best technology. The question is whether people can build the trust, discipline, and shared purpose needed to turn individual effort into collective progress.

Let's step into the conversation and trace the signal beneath the noise. Hi, Coach. Welcome to Precision Signals.

Coach K: 00:04:37

Yeah, well, thank you. It's an honor to be on.

And my association with the CEO Roundtable to fight cancer has been remarkable and unbelievably rewarding and humbling to be a part of it.

Sean Khozin: 00:04:57

Well, I admire your humility and thank you for your support throughout the years and thank you for making the time.

I'd like to say that this conversation matters a lot to me and to all of us at the CEO Roundtable and to our audience, because you've done just so much over the decades as a coach, as a leader, as a human being. That's been so inspiring to so many people.

And your work is also, I must say, woven into the CEO Roundtable, the organization I lead now, and also the people that you've stood next to. Coach K, President Bush, Bob Ingraham, Marty Murphy, Jimmy Valvano, Chris Vibocker and others are really part of the foundation that I'm building.

Coach K: 00:05:46

Great group, right?

Sean Khozin: 00:05:48

Yeah. Well, thank you again for being here.

en you were growing up in the: 1950

Your parents, William and Emily, were Polish immigrants, both devoutly Catholic, and as a first generation immigrant family. And I can certainly relate to that myself. It seems like your Parents did whatever was required to give their son a different starting point.

those conditions back in the: 1950

Coach K: 00:06:51

Yeah. Well, it's terrific. I enjoyed growing up.

And looking back, I enjoyed it even more knowing the gifts that were given to me that didn't cost money, you know, it wasn't, it wasn't a materialistic background. You know, my, we weren't poor, but we weren't, definitely were not rich, you know, and, and my parents worked their butts off.

My dad was an elevator operator and utility person at Willoughby Tower on Michigan Avenue in Chicago. And my mom worked nights at the Chicago Athletic Club, cleaning. And they worked, they provided.

We had a faith based background, went to, you know, they believed in education, so Catholic schools, grade school, and we had a community. You know, Chicago is a huge city, but it's a city of little cities, little villages.

And we grew up in what's now called Ukrainian village, but it was primarily Polish then with not much difference. Good people. And we bonded with our friends. Everything was safe. And my mom and dad only wanted what would help me and my brother.

I had an older brother, Bill, who passed 12 years ago, and he was the good looking one of the family.

He didn't have big ears and a big nose like me, and he never went to college, but he was remarkable and became a Chicago firefighter and captain in the fire department. So I had a great family, great education, great friends, and was well taken care of. And I learned the dignity of work.

I learned to be on a family team. When people ask me, who are your mentors and your wife? I said, my mom and dad. My mom and dad were my mentors.

They taught me the values that then I was able to learn at an even higher level at West Point army and during my career.

Sean Khozin: 00:09:21

That's amazing. Coach, would you say those values were faith and their work ethos? Was there anything else?

Coach K: 00:09:29

Yeah, one. Faith. I think you start out with faith that you do believe in a higher entity. You believe in doing good. You believe in treating people right.

You believe, you know, you know, you believe in being a good person, you know, like in your. And my parents and my family made sure that we were being taught the right way.

If we got a little bit off track during our teenage years and that they, they put us right back on course and, and you know, something that I didn't realize until later in, in life, my parents believed in me. You know, they, they Believed that I was supposed to be successful. They were willing to sacrifice things to help me be successful.

But knowing that, I didn't consciously know that as a kid or a teenager. But inherently it was there on a day to day basis, which gives you confidence. You're not alone, someone's behind you. And that is really something.

I took forward as an army officer and a coach my entire career to develop with my teams or my unit, a belief in them, like, I got your back, I'm there for you. And that started out with my family.

Sean Khozin: 00:11:14

That's amazing.

In the age of technology, it seems like human relationships still continue to be one of the most critical things in life for having confidence, to push ahead and to really understand life from different perspectives. And it seems like that inclination, Coach K. For you goes back to the very early days.

As you mentioned, you had a great relationship with your parents, but also it seems like you maintain great relationships in school. I'm going to go to elementary school because I found out that there's.

You went to Columbus Elementary School and you've referred to the Columbus Crew as a group of friends that you're still in touch with and hang out with decades later. Is that true?

Coach K: 00:12:14

Yeah, we called.

Not a gang or anything, but, you know, we went to St. Helens School, but there was a public school that had a schoolyard, a social center and whatever. And we called ourselves the Colombos, you know, and, and, you know, we maintained the friendship for now 70 years.

My best friend of all time, Dennis Munsky. Mo. You know, since we were six or seven.

And the thing at that time, which people would find it hard to believe now is actually you went out to play in the schoolyard. There was no adult supervision, your parents weren't worried. You grew together, you made up games, you became close friends.

And we played every sport that there was and invented sports. You know, there, there was imagination, there was leadership, there was camaraderie, there was all, you know, all amazing things that.

It's a different world now.

I feel so very fortunate to have grown up in that environment where you understood the value of friendship, you know, the value of not being alone, of doing things together, of celebrating someone else's success. You know, wow.

You know, I was, I was, you know, I was a very lucky guy to grow up with that support system and the friendships that I had and still have.

Sean Khozin: 00:14:02

That's amazing, Coach. And it seems like you had a keen interest as a child in sports. It seems like.

Coach K: 00:14:10

Right.

Sean Khozin: 00:14:10

But when did you specifically become interested in basketball?

Coach K: 00:14:15

Yeah, you know, in the schoolyard. I played every sport.

And when I went to Weber High School, Catholic Boys School, I thought I might want to be a quarterback on the football team and then went out, did not like that, and tried out for basketball and made the junior varsity team. But I fell in love with it then.

And that summer between my freshman and sophomore years, I played every day on my own and dove into the deep end on basketball. And my sophomore year I started on the varsity and. And that became my passion, you know, the love of the game.

But playing multiple sports was good for me. I think kids should do that more now, not to specialize too early because it teaches you different skills, motor skills and whatever.

But also you may be really good in one sport and just okay in another. And so you learn maybe to be a key player in one sport, but a role player in another. You learn about teamwork.

And then once it came time to kind of specialize again, basketball was it. And it turned out really good for me.

Sean Khozin: 00:15:45

That's great. That reminds me of what a lot of musicians say, that every person has a musical instrument in them. They just have to find out what it is.

Coach K: 00:15:54

That's interesting.

Sean Khozin: 00:15:55

I mean, not. Yeah. And then may not be playing the piano. It may be something else. So it seems like everyone also may have.

Coach K: 00:16:02

They love music, Right?

Sean Khozin: 00:16:05

Right.

Coach K: 00:16:05

I love sports. I mean, I. I played everything. And. And I'll say that the camaraderie and the friendships that you. You find by being in team sports.

When I went to West Point, you know, they have a saying, every cadet an athlete.

So athletics, whether it be intramural, club or varsity, was an integral part of your education as it taught you real life things and trust, loyalty, collective response, you name it. You learned that through sport.

Sean Khozin: 00:16:45

Sure. Yeah. The camaraderie is quite special.

You know, I always use the analogy from my experience that in medical school and residency, because it's such a tough environment, you become very close to your peers. And some of those friendships, for me and many others, become very central to Mozart.

Coach K: 00:17:12

It's a shared experience.

Sean Khozin: 00:17:14

Right.

Coach K: 00:17:16

And a dependency and friendship with one another. You make each other better in a very tough environment for medical school. Are you kidding me? That's as tough as it gets. And thank goodness it is.

But also, you learn to depend on one another and have each other's back. And that's a team too.

Sean Khozin: 00:17:39

Oh, absolutely.

Coach K: 00:17:40

Right.

Sean Khozin: 00:17:41

And I think team sports and the way that especially you've approached coaching, it is all about the ethos of the game and the psychology of the game and the relationships.

Coach K: 00:17:53

Right.

Sean Khozin: 00:17:54

Which is probably as important, if not important, please correct me if I'm wrong, than the physical aspects of the game. Is that a fair assumption?

Coach K: 00:18:02

Yeah, there's both. You want to stay healthy and all that, but the thing that makes you tick are. Are the things that. The intangibles. And you. You do the other.

The physical stuff better when you realize all those intangible things are. Are happening for you. It's. It. It's an incredible environment to grow as a person.

Sport does that, you know, when you're in things together with other people, you know, people make people better. You know, and my parents, my mom especially, told me, you're not going to get there alone.

You know, be with good people, you know, associate with good people. And being on those units, you'll go to places that you could never, never reach alone. I firmly believe that.

And it's been one of the mantras for me in my entire life.

You know, that's why I've loved the development of teams, and we've been very successful in doing that, but also very rewarding, Sean, you know, like, to be a part of something bigger than you, for crying out. Wow. Come on, man. You know, like, don't be alone. You know, shared experience. Shared experiences are the best experiences.

Sean Khozin: 00:19:40

Yeah, absolutely.

Coach, when you look at the evolution of the sport, basketball, over the years, do you think the ethos that you held very dear back in those days are still what a lot of the teams are following, or has the game changed?

Coach K: 00:20:05

Well, the game itself has changed in technique, rules. You know, there are different.

In other words, like in anything in society, there's an evolution of sport, there's an evolution of mankind, there's an evolution of everything. In other words, the world is always becoming. And are you becoming with it or are you staying behind? That doesn't mean you change everything.

You keep your values and what you've learned, but you keep adapting. And now sport is still unbelievable. I mean, and.

But it's up to the coach, the manager, the person in charge, the staff in charge, to make sure they're not just teaching technique, but they're teaching the values of the sport and the camaraderie. And Sean, a huge thing is to hold people accountable while you're doing that, so that you learn, you know, you're responsible.

I'm not blaming you or whatever, but you're responsible for what you. Or what we just did. And responsibility means you can do something really good. Let's say, hey, good job. But if it's not going well, take.

You have to be taught. In other words, get better. And you'll get better if you allow somebody to help you get better.

And that's why the relationship between a teacher and a student, a coach and a player is so incredibly important. So two can act as one, not as two. And when two act is one, usually good stuff happens.

Sean Khozin: 00:22:02

Yep. And nowadays it seems like coach players move around a lot more than they used to.

Do you think that has an impact on morale when it comes to team cohesion?

Coach K: 00:22:16

I think one, the mobility for the players in college should have probably happened a long time ago because the normal student can have that mobility. You shouldn't hold back an athlete from, from the ability to do that. I do think it's more challenging than for each team when you have you.

You don't necessarily have the same group or a culture where you're. The juniors are helping the freshmen or whatever. They're new, they're new people. How do you keep your culture? How do you teach your values?

So it's a, it's a different challenge for a coach and his staff. But the other thing though, in doing that, you have older people playing and they do bring things from wherever they were just at. To your group.

Now, are they good things? Are they. In other words, it's a melting pot.

So you have a shorter period of time to develop a team while you're still maintaining hopefully the culture that you have established over, over, over years for your program.

Sean Khozin: 00:23:37

Now, what are your thoughts about the emphasis on name, image and.

Coach K: 00:23:47

Yeah, well, again, I think that's been a long time coming. I think that this should have happened 30, 40 years ago and there should have been an evolution of how that was introduced.

Instead, it should have been done for over three decades and then it was introduced. Boom. And so as a result of doing that, the people in charge have not. The NCAA has not. They didn't know how to handle it.

They're, they're, they're infrastructure. They weren't ready for it. They. And they're still not ready for it. It's taken, it's taken close to.

This is the fifth year that they're doing it and there still is not a structure for it. However, the name, image and likeness is good. You know, a young man, a young woman has the right to use their image, likeness for, for gain.

And now how do you do that? How do you, you know, people make a lot of money now, sure. As college athletes. There's nothing wrong with that. There's.

But there's a lack of Transparency. And there's a lack of cohesion for the whole unit, for the whole sport to know what, okay, here's what we're doing. Here are the guidelines.

These are the things we can do. And, you know, here's some of the things we. We shouldn't do. And that's not been. That's.

That has not been clearly defined, even close to being clearly defined over the last year. They're moving towards that, and we'll see if they move towards it in a legal way.

And that's why the NCAA wants antitrust protection, because they've been annihilated in the legal system by imposing rules that legally can't be substantiated.

Sean Khozin: 00:25:54

Right. Interesting. Ideally, who do you think should be in charge?

Maybe in charge is not the right phrase to use, but whose responsibility should it be to generate the new consens, which is more transparent?

Coach K: 00:26:09

Yeah. Well, I think it comes from the leadership of sport in our country, primarily the conference commissioners, especially from the power four.

They have the most leverage, the most power, the most visibility and whatever. And to develop a system, leadership system like who leads college basketball? Nobody.

You know, committees and anything that's just run by committee is not going to be run as well. You need to have a leadership group, a leader. I went to West Point. I've studied leadership my whole life there.

Unless you have pinpoint responsibilities like Sean, it's on you. Okay. We're talking about college basketball. And okay, you're the leader. It doesn't mean you're alone.

You have your leadership group, you have your leadership organization. And we don't have that. We do not have that. And football is close to that.

They have a thing called the cfp college football player and the four power conference commissioners and group, they kind of weed that better than any other sport. But still could be. It could be better also and could serve as a guideline for other sports in the ncaa. Right?

Sean Khozin: 00:27:44

Yeah. Interesting. You know, your comments about committees. It hits very close to home, almost verbatim. Coach.

That's what I used to say when I was in federal government at the fda. All the decisions are made by committees. Not just one, but multiple committees. Well, different topic.

Coach K: 00:28:05

Yeah. It's bureaucracy. There's certain things that are good with it, but I'm not. I'm not a flag bearer for. For.

Sean Khozin: 00:28:15

No, you know, I'm sure that's one of the reasons why we're all here. You know, having been born into immigrant families, you know, they escaped in a way, central authority and bureaucracies and seeking Freedom.

Coach K: 00:28:34

Well, it's kind of like what President Bush 41. He went outside of the system. He wanted to fight cancer. And that's how the CEO Roundtable got started. There wasn't anything like that.

There wasn't something that a committee put together or that it had to get a vote on or whatever. He just took the bull by the horns and said, we're going to do that. And that's the type of leadership in a bunch of different areas that you need.

Look, you need a certain amount of structure. There's no question in that. But you also need a certain amount of freedom. Right. To act on. On things. And. And to me, that's when you're fighting.

When you're fighting a really horrible enemy. Like cancer. No. Like, let's go, man. Yeah. We're not just going to beat it by doing boom, boom, boom. We got a boom. Yeah, boom. We gotta.

We gotta knock the heck out of it. And that's what I have loved in being a part of certain units that are fighting that dreadful disease.

Sean Khozin: 00:30:02

Yeah. It seems like the President was quite entrepreneurial in his approach to the CEO Roundtable.

Coach K: 00:30:09

Sean. That's the great. I should have said that that was better than what I said.

You, you know, he went outside and obviously when you're president or have a. You're accustomed to a whole bunch of. A whole bunch of stuff. And he said, we need to make an end run here or we need to do something different.

And so what he did was he recruited some talent, you know, some of the most talented people in our country. CEOs. I know you have different businesses and whatever. What's the commonality that we have? Well, we all hate cancer.

Okay, well, why don't we all come together and figure out how this team can. Can punch it, can hit it right can. And it's amazing. I was so proud to have been invited to be a part of it and my association.

I wearing the pin that CEO Roundtable to gold standard to fight cancer. And when I became a member, the coaches used to wear sport coats or suits and that. And which is okay how they dress now.

But I always wore this pin once I became. For every game. Once I became a member of that team and I wanted to visibly show one, I was proud of it.

Like, you know, when you're on a great team and say, hey, I'm on this team, you get an identity. You know, everyone on that team has his or her own identity, but the collective identity of being a part of that team. Wow.

And so it was an Honor to be. To be a part of that.

Sean Khozin: 00:32:18

Really appreciate all the support, Coach. And thank you for mentioning the pin.

Coach K: 00:32:24

Thank.

Sean Khozin: 00:32:24

You know, a couple years ago at this year roundtable meeting, you told a fascinating story that you bored a pin all the time during all the games, except for once.

Coach K: 00:32:36

Yeah.

Sean Khozin: 00:32:36

And then you got a call from the president.

Coach K: 00:32:38

Yeah. Remember? I knew it. Once I was in the locker room, but I didn't have an extra pin. I said, darn. Like, I hope no one notices.

And President Bush noticed it. And so what's Mike doing? What's wrong? So I got that darn pin on right away again. So I was coached well, that was very, very good coaching.

Sean Khozin: 00:33:10

So your loyalty is certainly legendary because you still. Please correct me if I'm wrong here. Put your mother's rosary in a shirt pocket and you.

Coach K: 00:33:25

Or in my pocket? Yeah. You know, I think, you know, Sean, that started like, initially when we started our conversation talking about faith.

You know, I. I believe I. I have faith, and mine is Catholic. You know, I think there are a lot of roads that people can take and have great faith. So I'm not like, this is.

That's the only way or the only road or whatever, but for me, that's been a good road. And the ability, like before a game, in a private time to say a rosary, to get my mind straight, to know that I'm not going in this alone. I.

My faith, I've never thought it were. Helped me win. You know, I never, never prayed for that. What I prayed for is help me do my best, Help me, help me during moments of weakness.

Excuse me. And that put me in a good frame. If you have faith, you're really never alone. And alone. Alone is.

Some respects, you're meditating or whatever, but just to actually be alone is not a good thing. And as a leader, my whole life, leadership is lonely, Right? Yeah.

And you gotta be careful not to be consumed with that because it would have a negative impact on you as a person, but also on your decision making.

Sean Khozin: 00:35:15

Yeah, absolutely. And that's where faith comes. It can be quite instrumental. Do you think that's one of the things that we've lost today?

You engage a lot with young people, with young athletes especially. Do you see a difference? Do people feel lonelier today than they used to because of lack of.

Coach K: 00:35:38

I think people. I don't know about faith because that's an individual thing.

So people can express their faith now differently than they did five years ago or whatever. But I think there are more superficial things.

Social media has put us In a position where we end up celebrating ourselves instead of having someone else celebrate us. And I'm not big on social media. I think it can, I think there's a purpose for it. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of good things.

But when you're in the position of promoting you, I don't, you know, I've always felt if, if you're good, someone will promote you. Right, right. And just do good stuff and stuff will happen. And so it's just a different time in that, in that regard. And you can get consumed.

I think the phone that social media has made us more into us into you as an individual than to be out there. And even when I coached, I've not coached for four years now, but the last couple years of coaching, I found that the attention of a team was less.

You know, Instead of a 20 minute talk, go eight minutes, you know, show pictures, do a bunch of things. And in saying that, that's up to you as a leader, how you get your message across.

If you approach that, say, well, it used to be, well, it's not that anymore. But can you get your message across in a time that your audience can consume the message? And I just think attention spans are less as a result.

And also some of the relationship building that you have, the interaction, the personal stuff, I loved coaching, not like coaching. And there's something about the energy of a group together, physically together.

And so even in workplaces now, you don't have that on a daily basis and you have to figure that out as a, as a company, you need some days where we're all together because. And remember, the most important resource for any organization are your people.

You can have all kind of new technology and whatever, but the single most important entity for an organization or its people, and therefore your people have to be at some time together. I call it the physical energy you get from being with others. And it makes us better.

And that in essence, teams don't play on Facebook, teams don't play on the Internet, teams play in real time. And that's why they're able to form and get these qualities. Same things with businesses, medical or whatever.

We need to always have that interaction, right?

Sean Khozin: 00:39:29

Absolutely. Medicine, just like basketball, is a team sport.

And usually when patients fall through the cracks is when there's lack of communication among the care team. And it happens a lot, unfortunately, because people are more distracted. I think some of the same concepts apply to medicine.

Coach K: 00:39:53

One other thing with that, Sean, is that on that team, that medical team that we're talking about that's taking patient care. Everyone is important, right. It's not just the doctor, the nurse, it's the technician. It's the people who clean the room who serve.

And so are you producing an environment where everyone feels like their input is important, they own it. And really well functioning groups create ownership, create a sense of pride in whatever that person is doing.

And the people on the team should recognize the other team members for their contributions to making it a success.

If you just do your individual jobs, it doesn't collectively come together unless you're weaving those jobs and the satisfaction of doing the job, you know, and making people feel that, helping them feel that, that's what you. That's the best when it happens.

Sean Khozin: 00:41:11

Yeah. As you've said before, coach, you can't win alone.

Coach K: 00:41:17

Right?

Sean Khozin: 00:41:18

And certainly true in medicine and medical research.

You know, a lot of times I feel like in medicine, sometimes we're focused on the wrong outcomes, like how many papers you publish if you're an academic. And whereas it's really about the patient, it's not necessarily about what's in the periphery.

Papers that you've published, how many patients you're seeing a day generating revenue. Because at the end of the day, and this is something that I'm extrapolating from what you have said before, they're gonna.

The most important question is, did you win?

Coach K: 00:41:59

Did you win? It's.

Sean Khozin: 00:42:01

And in, in medicine, it's did you help a patient? Is a patient surviving longer? Is a patient living longer?

Coach K: 00:42:07

Yeah. And you know, your points are well taken.

And, and however you know that person who wants to do the paper, who wants to treat more people, that's good, right? I mean, and that makes you better. And what you're doing in that paper can lead to something that's terrific.

Sean Khozin: 00:42:32

Sure.

Coach K: 00:42:33

But what's the balance? And do you go too deep in one over another? And how can you keep balance? But all the things you said, I think are necessary.

It's just if you get too heavy or only are thinking of one or two of those things and always. And I truly believe that our medical profession believes this, the patient is first. But sometimes you can get distracted by the pressure.

So you have to put out a paper, you have to do this, you have to this.

And at the end of the day, no, we have to take care of the people that we have the honor and privilege of taking care of and who we're trained to take care of, Right?

Sean Khozin: 00:43:23

Absolutely. I think the distractions are unfortunately a byproduct of a term that you brought up before bureaucracy.

And I think we have overcomplicated the practice of medicine where it's really. It should be just about the patient and the doctor. And right now there are a lot of distractions.

For example, there's a stat that's quite eye opening. You know, for every hour of patient care, physicians are spending at least three hours on documentation and checking boxes.

Coach K: 00:44:03

Yeah. You know, I'm very involved with our medical community here at Duke. We have an amazing medical center.

Sean Khozin: 00:44:11

Sure, of course.

Coach K: 00:44:13

And I know in working with cardiology, one of the great doctors here, Manesh Patel, who runs our cardiology unit, he and I are great friends. And, you know, that's one of the things he's trying to solve.

Cardiovascular care and through AI and a bunch of things, can you reduce that amount of time, you know, where you're doing all the paperwork and everything? So that would increase patient.

The number of patients, but also the waiting, you know, that, you know, people have to do before they get an appointment. So that would. That's kind of a revolutionary thing that could be done in addition to finding more cures and whatever. Find more time.

Find more time where that man or woman who's been trained as a doctor can be a doctor, you know, can be with. I think it's a critical thing, right? Yeah, I think it's critical.

And hopefully with the advancement and people have different opinions of AI and whatever, but I think that's one of the ways that it can really, really help the medical profession.

Sean Khozin: 00:45:37

I completely agree, and I'm quite optimistic. And coach, I admire your optimism.

I've noticed throughout our conversation that when I show any signals of being a little jaded, you course correct me. So thank you.

Coach K: 00:45:53

I don't know if you haven't crossed the line of being jaded of maybe. Maybe have you've been in this for a while, so you have an expected outcome that isn't the expected outcome that we want.

Sean Khozin: 00:46:10

Right.

Coach K: 00:46:11

It's not a bad outcome. But part of doing things like this is to. No, we're going to create different outcomes. We're going to create more success. We're going to create.

And you do that by being frustrated with a current situation. Like, you know, you can do more. Right. You know you can do more. Well, how do we do that? How do we do that? Not how I can do it. How can we do that?

And again, don't try to do it alone. You know, what can your team do? What can your organization do, you know, and look for ways of improving, not just.

Again, I Shouldn't use the word just cures, you know, like advancement. How do we get that across to the people that we serve? And again, we get back to the most important part of this whole thing, the patient.

And how do we see more patients? How do we see them better? How do we deliver more? How do we. How do we.

And that's exciting, though, and that's evolution and technology, and that should take us to a position where we should be able to do more. Right?

Sean Khozin: 00:47:38

I completely agree. And it seems like a lot of folks are afraid or suspicious of technology and AI, especially when it comes to medicine.

But I share your thinking on the topic that AI can automate the mechanics of the enterprise. So we decompress physicians so they can spend more time with patients, so they can actually look them in the eye when they're in the exam room.

Because right now, a lot of doctors have to type their notes when you're not even looking at you. So that doctor patient relationship has been affected over the past couple of decades. So in a way, AI can make medicine human again.

It's sort of like country dog back in the day, where your doctor knew everything about you, your family. And that relationship is quite critical.

Coach K: 00:48:29

You know, what you're saying is. And again, that takes time. Relationships take time. And so I feel our people in the medical profession are squeezed on time.

But what happens is we miss a very important part of patient care, and that's the attitude of the patient. In other words, if someone shows a little bit more, knows your name, knows a little bit of. About you, they're better. They.

They're gonna do the medicine better. They're gonna.

They're gonna have a better attitude, you know, and attitude has a big part, a huge part in getting well, you know, and the acceptance of what a doctor and a doctor staff is telling you to do. So the more we can have our physicians spend time with patients, the better. No question.

Sean Khozin: 00:49:35

Yeah, absolutely. And it goes back to what you were saying, that it's all about collaboration, and the ethos of competition is good.

But when it comes to medicine, cancer, diseases that individual organizations alone may not be able to solve by themselves, collaboration is key.

o the CEO Roundtable, when in: 2001

Was it received well or did it take a little bit of convincing of industry?

Coach K: 00:50:46

It was new. So anything new you need, like time is new, going to be good. But it was exciting for everyone in the room.

And I don't think they ever felt like competitors. They felt, okay, I do this. But it's a different organization. They're not all pharmaceutical companies.

They're different companies, different organizations. And what you're trying to do is, okay, let's develop what would be the best practices to fight cancer in your organ. Share best practices.

You know, I'm a big believer in talent. Makes talent better. Okay. And basically you had all this talent. How can we make each other better to fight cancer, to cure cancer?

And one of the main things that came up was the gold standard, where different things that the organization had to adhere to and then they would get. They would be told you're a gold standard or organization and be proud of it.

And the people in those organizations would be more prone to be participants in clinical trials. And so it was kind. It was really a cool way of doing it. And more and more people tried to do it. It wasn't just to cure cancer.

It was to prevent cancer.

You know, like when I coached, you know, we have physical therapy and physical, you know, trainers and all that, you know, I didn't want my guys to get hurt. I wanted prevention, you know, and then if they did get hurt, we wanted them to be taken care of. Really.

The CEO roundtable really took a giant step forward and tried to prevent cancer. And then eventually being able to share data from clinical trials, that was over a decade later. And data sphere, that was. Wow.

In other words, tell me what you're doing. I'm going to share my data. You are? Yeah. And I'll share mine with you. That was a huge step. That was over a decade ago.

But again, that's another thing, prevention, sharing of the data. You know, there's been progress, good progress that been made by getting outside of the normal way of attacking. It's another way to attack cancer.

Sean Khozin: 00:53:57

Yeah, absolutely. And a lot of times that takes a shift in perspective on how you think about the disease and the approach to helping the patient. And coach.

You've been involved in a lot of great organizations, obviously, beyond the CO Roundtable when it comes to this theme. Can you tell us about some of those organizations? And it would be great to start with the Emily Kay Center.

Coach K: 00:54:26

Yeah, well, you know, you're trying to cure diseases and there are different kind of diseases there. Obviously, cancer is physical, but There also is a disease and not allowing educational opportunities for all of our youngsters in our country.

And we started the Emily K. The Emily Krzyevsky center, named after my mom, to help low income youngsters in getting to college. And it's grown, it's 20 years old now. And we service about 2,000 young men and women, about 250, 300 in after school programs and that.

And in fact we have our graduation of about 28 kids tomorrow at the MLK and they all go to college and we also follow them for four years in college. But Sean, about 10 years ago we started a thing called Game Plan College.

We call it Game Plan Future now where every high school student in Durham county, thousands, freshmen through seniors, applying to a college is not easy and there are educational and intellectual hurdles for a number of people to actually do the paperwork and whatever.

d that's increased the number: 1500

So we're, I think one of the biggest resources in our country that's not used is the talent in low income areas.

You know, the young people, I mean we've seen it with all the young men and women who've left the MLA K and what they're doing, whether they're here at the University of North Carolina, at Duke, at Harvard, at Penn, at UNC Greensboro, what, you name it, they're doing things that they wouldn't have been able to do before. And as a result that's helped our community and other communities.

Sean Khozin: 00:57:15

That's remarkable. And I'm sure it must make you very proud to have watched them grow up and do great things with their lives.

And I think that catalyst matters a lot, especially for folks in underserved communities. Very, very admirable to say the least. Because you're also involved in the V Foundation.

Coach K: 00:57:40

Yes.

Sean Khozin: 00:57:40

Can you tell us a little about that?

Coach K: 00:57:43

Yeah. Well, the V Foundation is founded by Jim Valvano, coach who we competed against each other as players.

Coaches probably didn't like each other very much during that time. And then he stopped coaching in the late 80s and went into broadcasting and was great in that. And we became closer then.

And then he was contracted with cancer, an incurable form of cancer, and was in our Duke Medical center for four to six months. And during that time I visited with him two or three times a week. And we Became like brothers. And he had this amazing idea.

They did not have a cure for his cancer. And he found out that only one of every six researchers was funded at that time for cancer research.

And we have to be careful about cancer research now with all the federal, the lack of funding. We can't go backwards with that. Uh, and he said, you know, one of those five people could have found a cure for mine.

And so he said, I'd like to make sure that going forward we fund research. And then he developed. I thought, I think it's divine intervention. He, he said, I want to start a foundation. I need.

He was working for espn, said, we need to get a big, a big bat in the lineup, you know, and he was able to do that. And he said, would you be on the board? And so over now three decades, I've been on the board and been actively involved.

And the Visa foundation has done incredible amount, over $400 million. And, and it's still doing. We have our own Scientific Committee, 30 of the top oncologists in the United States.

They look at all the research grants, you know, like, and whatever, and they decide where it goes. And it's making incredible progress and it's going to keep going. And by the way, every penny that's donated goes. We're completely endowed, okay.

And that's part of our mission to stay completely endowed. So if you're given a buck, hour's gonna go. If you're giving a million bucks, a million bucks is gonna go.

Would like for you to think of the million bucks, but will accept the buck too.

Sean Khozin: 01:00:41

That's amazing. And as you alluded to, the work that the foundation does is more important than ever right now, given the uncertainties.

Coach K: 01:00:50

You know, Sean, one other thing too, because it's out there, there's a visibility for it. So people who are fighting cancer, they see other people fighting for them. That's an.

I think it's probably an intended consequence of raising the money.

But by being with ESPN and being so out there, it is really a great consequence from the actual funding to give that great four letter word that we should always have in our life. And that's hope. To give hope for the people who have contracted cancer, that, hey, we got a lot of people fighting for you. You know, you're not.

Again, you're not alone, right? And then the success stories that are celebrated out there, people need to know that we're winning. We just haven't won. And they have hope.

They have hope.

Sean Khozin: 01:02:05

Yeah. Matters a lot. We haven't won yet, but moving certainly in the right direction, as you alluded to. Well, Coach, how are you enjoying retirement?

It seems like you're busier than before.

Coach K: 01:02:19

Well, I'm busy. I do only the things I want to do, so I'm in my conference room. I still work at Duke. I'll be here forever and do a lot for our university.

But I work for the NBA National Basketball association the last three years. I'm a special advisor for Adam Silver, the commissioner. So I'm at all the meetings. I speak a lot for the Washington Speakers Bureau. I enjoy that.

And I'm a professor of leadership at our Fuqua School of Business. That and my 10 grandchildren all live within 10 minutes of us.

So we're happy and we're still able to have an impact and be purposeful, which I think everybody needs in their life, Right?

Sean Khozin: 01:03:12

Absolutely. Well, Coach, since I'm a New Yorker, I have to ask you this question, and I think you know what I'm going to ask.

You know, there is an undercurrent of energy throughout the city right now because of the Knicks and, you know, almost three decades of disappointment, and now we're going to the final.

Coach K: 01:03:35

Yeah.

Sean Khozin: 01:03:36

So what do you think happened?

Coach K: 01:03:39

Well, one, they've done a terrific job. And I would see. I wouldn't say there's an undercurrent. I think it's like a. A storm going through New York and.

And their fan base is taking it to all the other arenas and. Yeah, it's like an incredible good disease of happiness, hope and. And whatever. But, you know, New York.

New York has always been an amazing basketball city at every level. At every level. And the Knicks are one of the storied programs in sport.

And Madison Square Garden, outside, for me of playing, we played in Cameron Indoor Stadium at Duke. The next place where I coached the most games was Madison Square Garden. And obviously not Hundreds, but about 55, 60. It's magical, the Garden.

The ball sounds different when it bounces the. And it'll be at a fever pitch for the finals. And I think it's great for New York. They deserve it. They've earned it. And.

But it's great for the NBA, for basketball. It'll be one of the most watched finals, no matter who they play, because of it being New York. Right.

Sean Khozin: 01:05:16

Well, coach, thank you so much. You're welcome. And thank you for being a friend to so many of us, to the CEO roundtable, and thank you for being such an inspiration for so many.

And I'm looking forward to continuing the conversation offline.

Coach K: 01:05:34

Okay. Well, thank you. It's been an honor to be on Sean. I've really enjoyed it.

Sean Khozin: 01:05:40

Thank you,.