PERSONA At Home with the Sharks If you ask Greg Jamison where he’s from, the answer changes daily. Today it’s Washington, tomorrow Oregon. Next week he might say Colorado. That’s because Jamison moved constantly as a child, attending a total of thirteen public schools before he graduated. Summer 2008

KRISTIN A. SMITH

“I don’t advise that for everyone,” says Jamison, “but I learned a lot from the experience. I learned that wherever I am, that’s my home.”

As an adult, Jamison has found his home in the classroom, the NBA, and now the NHL, where he serves as CEO and President of the San
Jose Sharks.

Before entering the world of professional athletics, Jamison was an elementary school teacher. In his first year, he taught the fifth grade class that nobody wanted — they were disruptive, challenging, and achieving below grade-level. He says that there was “no teaching until March. There was just survival.” But slowly he transformed the class. “We came a long way. I taught them and they taught me,” he says, while tossing an apple into the air. He catches it without looking.

With the heart of a teacher and the mind of a businessman, Jamison was on the fast track to becoming a principal. He began pursuing a master’s degree in education administration, but midway through graduate school, he took a personality test that changed everything. “It came out that I love two things—sports and business,” says Jamison, who sits comfortably in a tailored suit on the locker room bench.

Growing up, Jamison was personally involved in sports—he ran cross-country and track in high school and played tennis in college. In high school, Jamison ran a 4:35 mile and he looks like he could still win a race or two.

Jamison took the advice of his high school track coach about running the 8000m and applied it to his career life — you have to sprint the first lap, sprint the second lap, and rest in between. Having raced through the education lap, Jamison quickly moved on to sports. Within a year of taking the test, he had completely changed his direction from education to athletics.

At the time, Jamison says he didn’t even know if jobs in professional athletics existed. But they do. And he’s had a few of them, including Director of Marketing at Athletes in Action, a Christian sports organization, and Vice President of Operations for the Indiana Pacers.

Jamison says his most exciting job is the one he has now. Before taking a position with the Sharks in 1993, he had only ever seen two hockey games. “I wasn’t always a hockey fan, but I am now,” says Jamison, running his fingers across the awards that line the locker room wall. “I like basketball,” he says, “but I really like hockey.”

Jamison says that in many ways teaching prepared him for his current job— it taught him presentation skills and the ability to inspire a group.

“It’s hard to get a class of fifth graders to be quiet,” he jokes. But not harder than winning the Stanley Cup, which Jamison says is the ultimate goal of the Sharks.
Perhaps the greatest lesson Jamison learned in the classroom is that if you show people you believe in them, they’ll work hard for you. When Jamison began, the Sharks was a struggling team with a poor record. Today they have a shot at the championship. Jamison stares at a picture of the Stanley Cup. Beneath it is a piece of metal begging to be engraved.

“But you still have to have luck on your side,” he says, pushing open the heavy locker room door.

On the way out, Jamison passes a janitor pushing a cart of supplies. “Good afternoon, Mr. J,” says the worker. “Afternoon,” says Jamison, flashing a kind smile. Then he leans in and whispers, “Mr. J, that’s what my kids used to call me.”°