Having a job and owning your role are two very different things. Anyone can have a job and go through their day-to-day responsibilities as presented in their job descriptions—but it takes a special person to own their role. So what does it mean to Own Your Role?

At LeagueApps, when someone is owning their role, it means they know the value of playing their position. By owning our roles and working together as a team, we can achieve success. 

Own Your Role is one of the nine values we uphold at LeagueApps—and it’s super important to the success of each team.  It allows us to fully trust that a job will get done and no steps will be missed because we’re each holding ourselves accountable and and to the highest standard. It means taking your job to the next level by bringing in your own life experiences, research, and learning to do your job better than anyone else can.

While we take the time to recognize LeagueApps teammates for various values every week during our All Hands meeting on Thursday, a SPORTSDOG Award holds a different meaning. 

Our two fearless leaders—Jeremy Goldberg, President of LeagueApps; and Brian Litvack, CEO—host a top-notch, Grammy-esque awards ceremony each year during our Winter OTAs (or Organized Team Activities) to properly acknowledge members of our team for the amazing, value-driven work they accomplished the year prior. 

The whole LeagueApps team votes on the winners of each category, with 5 nominees per category to choose from. The accomplishment comes with a sense of pride, reinforcement, and a chance to have your name featured on one of our value banners that hang above our desks in the office. As Brian loves to put it, “we literally work under our values.” 

When it came to deciding who most embodied the value of Own Your Role for the 2021 SPORTSDOG Awards, it was no easy task (every person at LeagueApps owns their role in one way or another). However, the votes came in and the choices were more than clear—Lavie Sak on the Product Team and John “Tex” Lechner on the Events Team are the 2021 SPORTSDOG Winners for Own Your Role!

Here’s what the LeagueApps team had to say about this year’s Own Your Role SPORTSDOG Award Winners.

SPORTSDOG Award Winner: Lavie Sak

Lavie has an extensive background in both youth sports and mobile apps—making him a huge asset for the LeagueApps Product Team. Some of his colleagues have even referred to him as “Mr. Mobile!” He’s able to take our coach, parent, and player experience to the next level, as his colleague Kara Lawson—and winner of the Student of the Game SPORTSDOG Award—puts it. This is what owning your role is all about.

“He prioritizes collaboration, research, and communication to ensure that we are building the best product and features to make sports experiences as effortless, accessible, and fun as possible,” says Kara. “I think I can speak for everyone at LeagueApps when I say that our team has learned and grown so much from Lavie’s experience and direction. LeagueApps is extremely fortunate to have a leader like Lavie owning our mobile app and member efforts!”

“Lavie has stepped into an incredibly difficult position and really owns it. We appreciate all he does to help the team,” says Ryan Drzewiecki. 

“I can’t think of anyone that reflects owning your role more than Lavie. He is an example for the team of a great product management mindset and behaviors,” says VP of Product, and recent Difference Maker SPORTSDOG Award Winner, Rebecca Gross. 

Brian Litvack even says he is inspired and excited by the way Lavie owns his role—and that’s exactly what this team needs to have a top-notch mobile solution for the sports community. 

SPORTSDOG Award Winner: John “Tex” Lechner

What’s so special about LeagueApps is that you can have two very different people in very different positions uphold the same values each day. John “Tex” Lechner is on the Events Team, and he brings the same dedication to owning his role to work each day as Lavie does on the Product team.

As someone who travels to events and conventions for LeagueApps, Tex has been known to take every event he is a part of “to the next level.” His colleague Annie Gavett associates him with getting “stuff” done. Always!

His colleagues have described him as an events guru, people wrangler, the ultimate planner, the king of logistics, and the king of events. 

As someone who has traveled with Tex for some of these events, I can attest that he takes his role to the next level by not only ensuring all of the external members of the events are taken care of, but that internal members are taken care of too. Even if that means running through Audi field with a glass of red wine.

“No one espouses this value like Tex. Through his talent and hard work, he owns the title king of logistics at LeagueApps. Whenever two or more team members or customers are gathered, you will find Tex leading the way,” says Tex’s colleague Benita Fitzgerald-Mosley. Tex owns his role by making sure that all the details are handled and most importantly that everyone has a good time.”

Why Our Team Values Matter

Having annual SPORTSDOG Awards and shoutouts every Thursday that highlight a team value allows us to hold ourselves accountable as members of the LeagueApps team and truly live our company values each and every day we go to work. Stay tuned for next month’s SPORTSDOG Award spotlight, the final one of the series: the winner of Grit.

Do you think you embody the value of Own Your Role as well as Tex and Lavie do? Or maybe she’s just someone you really want to work with? (We don’t blame you!) Be sure to take a look at our open positions to find your fit at LeagueApps.