A Man Of The People: Peter Wilt
Photo Credit: Jeff Vorva
In the 1980s, seeing a soccer team in the U.S. was a rare occurrence. It was uncommon to hear anyone talking about an American Soccer team. Besides, there weren't any major league teams.
Peter Wilt didn't care; he saw working in an unknown industry like American Soccer as an opportunity. Ironically enough, he never expected to work in the soccer business and got rejected by "all 24 of the Major League Baseball (MLB) teams [he] applied for." Nevertheless, Wilt has relished his continuing 40+ year career and is currently bringing his expertise to Chicago House Athletic Club as a Managing Partner, President, and CEO.
Wilt has always been about pleasing fans of the sports team he is representing. To him, "the boss is the fans." The customer is always right approach is something he's lived by since he was about 16 and had his most memorable experience as a fan of a pro sports team.
"When I was 16 I was a big White Sox fan, and I was upset that the owner of the White Sox, Bill Veeck, hired a guy to manage the team that I despised. I despised him because he was a former, longtime shortstop of the Chicago Cubs, and I didn't like the Cubs," continuing, "and I wrote him a letter telling him that. [The letter] was more cathartic, just to get it off my chest. I didn't really expect to get a response but I did!"
An enthusiastic Wilt went on, "He wrote me back! He explained why he did hire him and that I'm wrong for not liking him and blah blah blah. I was just blown away that he would take the time to address my concerns and personally address them."
Wilt noted that he admired Veeck for how much he respected fans, saying that moment inspired his approach as a General Manager and team official.
When it comes to managing a team, having a relationship with fans, or even life, he believes that everyone should work towards exceptional communication and transparency. These two things are also included in Wilt's ten pillars that outline his soccer management philosophy:
- FANS ARE IN CHARGE.
- WE ALL SELL
- TARGET THE SALES AND MARKETING EFFORTS
- BUILD A GOOD STAFF
- BE A GOOD LISTENER
- TRANSPARENCY IS GENERALLY GOOD
- PROVIDE GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE
- MAKE FAN(atic)S NOT SPECTATORS
- CREATE EMOTIONAL CONNECTIONS
- BE AUTHENTIC
By the way, he doesn't just talk the talk, he walks it too.
Back in 2002, when Wilt was the General Manager for the Chicago Fire, he was in a perplexing situation. As the team was coming off a disappointing season, Wilt had to make some decisions bound to set off the team's fanbase.
"After the 2002 season, [the Chicago Fire] had a bad season. We didn't make the playoffs; we had high expectations, our salary [cap] the next year would be way over the league's salary cap, and I had to cut or trade a lot of the high paid, popular players to get under the budget," as Wilt continued to make these contentious moves, fans became aggravated. “The fans… every time there was another trade, and they saw we were trading experienced veterans for unknown, young players or draft picks [the fans] got upset, and they were letting me know about it."
Wilt caught much heat for his offseason decisions. He'd traded multiple fan-favorites, coach Bob Bradley, who was admired by fans, resigned, and he'd traded the team captain Peter Nowak, "the most popular player in team history."
Wilt was facing an enormous amount of controversy and decided to acknowledge how the fans felt. "I wrote a public letter to the fans, explaining to them in detail all the moves [the organization] made and why we were making them. I kind of brought them into the room." This proved to be very convenient as the letter got everyone on the same page. "[The decision to write the letter] went a long way to changing the attitudes of the fans that offseason. They understood what our choices were and that I made the choices that were in the best interest of the team both, short-term and long-term,” explained Wilt.
Wilt has been dedicated to using his ten pillars to achieve greatness throughout his career and will continue to while he enjoys his tenure as the President, Managing Partner, and CEO of Chicago House AC.
As many can tell, Wilt will always figure out a way to lead a team to the ultimate goal, which is winning. How will he lead the Chicago House AC to that 'ultimate goal?’
According to Wilt, it starts with "hiring talented, good people," which he's done so far. He notes when looking for the right people to help contribute to the organization; he looks for four characteristics: "they're talented, they're hard-working, they have good character, and they have good communication skills." For Wilt, these are the perfect ingredients you need for a winning organization.
“Chicago House AC's definition of success is more than lifting trophies; it's about doing our part to make Chicago a better place." -Peter Wilt
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