Retired Dallas Mavericks CEO Mentors HPU Students on Being Better Leaders

HIGH POINT, N.C., Oct. 7, 2026 – Retired Dallas Mavericks’ CEO Cynt Marshall returned to High Point University’s campus and encouraged students to tap into their leadership skills, do their best work and achieve their career goals through caring for more people.

Marshall, who serves as HPU’s Sports Executive in Residence, shared her management style with students who gathered in the Callicutt Life Skills Theater for her Life Skills and Leadership Series session titled “Leading at the Top: Lessons from the C-Suite.” She also stressed the importance of emotional intelligence to the entire freshman class during HPU President Nido Qubein’s First-Year Seminar in the Nido and Mariana Qubein Arena and Conference Center.

Before becoming the first Black woman CEO in NBA history, Marshall spent more than 30 years in leadership at AT&T. During her presentation in Callicutt, student moderator Gabi Silva started a Q&A session with Marshall by asking about her vision when she started working with the Mavericks.

Marshall told students that she knew little about leading an NBA franchise when then Mavericks owner Mark Cuban talked with her in 2018 about becoming the team’s CEO. As she left his office, two employees stopped her and asked if they could speak with her in private. The next morning, more employees pulled Marshall into a conference room and talked to her for three hours.

“When I walked in, I had a vision that we would be a values-based employer and that we would set the standard for how to include everybody,” Marshall said. “We would set the standard for diversity and inclusion in all aspects. We would be a place where every voice mattered, everybody belonged and people would really want to work there. I wanted to make sure the women felt as included as the men.”

Marshall said she is not the type of reclusive CEO who prefers to sit in her office instead of interacting with team members. She stressed her leadership philosophy includes three L’s to listen, learn and love. The sooner team members know they are cared for and included, the more open they become with sharing their ideas, Marshall said.

“I am responsible for making sure they have a great experience, that they can feed their family and that they can achieve the personal and professional goals they have in life,” Marshall said. “When you open up to people and have a system that’s transparent, it takes the guessing out and they begin to trust you. It’s more efficient, especially for the bottom line, when you have that structure and are transparent about it.”

 Leaders show up every day in the way they want to be seen as a leader, Marshall told students. She tried to make sure each team member and employee felt seen, heard and loved. Commitment to teamwork and other core values transformed the entire Mavericks organization into a place people were proud to work, she said.

 What Students Learned

“I think she gave a lot of insight for how to lead in any position, whether it’s small or big, how to just manage people and spread the message you want in the most positive way,” said Brooke Kehle, a senior sport management major from Sanford, Connecticut. “I really liked how she hit on the little things that you need to do. For example, it’s not what you say, it’s how you make people feel. That’s an aspect a leader needs to keep in mind.”

Eryn Malone, a freshman business administration major, said she learned from Marshall better ways businesses can connect with employees. She was impressed by Marshall’s open-door office policy and the ways she upheld her values.

“Also, I learned from her talk about how to be humble and how emotional intelligence is so important in business,” said Malone, who is from Columbus, Ohio.

This was the second time Ethan Hurley, a sophomore sport management major with a minor in sports media, heard Marshall speak on campus. Knowing that her background was not in sports confirmed his belief that sport management is also a form of business.

“Specifically, from this event I learned a lot about being yourself in the work world,” said Hurley, who is from Pinnacle, North Carolina. “A lot of people like to hide who they are. At one point, she mentioned that people put on a show in front of media, and not just the media but in front of other people or corporate businesses. Being able to not do that but be your authentic self so people understand who you are and not have to guess is the biggest takeaway I got.”

Ryan Vaughn, a freshman business administration major, asked Marshall her advice for time management and how she sets and pursues goals.

“She had such good advice about how to go about life,” said Vaughn, who is from Charlotte, North Carolina. “She talked about her values of everyone being seen, heard and loved. As a leader, it’s important to feel those things because then you care about what you’re doing and want to help those people. And they want to work for you, help you and make the company better.”