XU athletes learn about Leadership

Leadership guru Jeff Janssen visits campus



Student-athletes were blindfolded and then guided through a series of cones

Sept. 30, 2008

By Adam Kiefaber

 

CINCINNATI - What is a leader?

 

According to Jeff Janssen, who is recognized as one the world’s top experts on sports leadership, a leader is simply “somebody that has a vision that will influence other people.”

 

When Janssen recently conducted his Leadership Summit at Xavier University, he conducted various activities in which he used metaphors and also featured quotes from some of the biggest names in sports, including Michael Jordan.

 

This wasn’t Janssen’s first visit to XU. Last year, he held a short meeting with some of the school’s student-athletes and coaches. Based on the positive feedback from the meeting, Director of Student-Athlete Development Kim Powers Hoyt decided that it would be a good idea to bring Janssen back.

 

This time Hoyt booked Janssen for two days, during which time he led a select group of student-athletes through his thoughts of what a true leader should be.

 

“I think Jeff does a really good job at connecting with the student-athletes,” Hoyt said. “He understands them well because he used to work on a college campus with student-athletes. He is very good at what he does.”

 

Janssen developed that connection when he worked as the Peak Performance Coach and Assistant Life Skill Director for the University of Arizona athletic department. There he realized the best way to connect with the student-athletes was to involve them in more hands-on activities.

 

“I really try to be interactive. They probably listen to lectures all day long, so what I try to do is use interactive and physical challenges,” Janssen said.

 

The select group of Xavier student-athletes were handpicked by their individual coaches and lead through a variety of drills during the Leadership Summit. One that seemed to stand out to the athletes was the exercise that made one athlete wear a blindfold while the other had to guide them through a series of cones.

 

“That activity really summarizes what a season looks like, the cones could symbolize anything from injuries, to academic challenges, to team chemistry issues. As leaders it is their job to help navigate themselves and their teammates safely through the various obstacles that they will encounter,” Janssen said.

 

Janssen also said another purpose of the drill was to symbolize the college career. XU tennis star Doug Matthews said that the drill stuck out in his mind because it just made him think of being a senior.

 

“I am the one that has been through it all or for three plus years now. We have a bunch of freshman this year so I kind of see myself leading them through this first year and kind of helping them get adjusted and hopefully when they get older they will be able to do the same for the incoming freshman,” Matthews said.

 

Besides holding leadership seminars, Janssen is also a successful author and has written numerous books on leadership, including “Championship Team Building”, “The Seven Secrets of Coaches” and “The Team Captain’s Leadership Manual,” which many coaches use regularly.

 

Outside the sports arena, he also speaks and consults with Fortune 500 companies. He uses some of the same ideas that he uses with some of the athletes in the business world.

 

“I want these leaders to see that they can use these leadership skills not just for the four years at Xavier, but for the 40 or 50 years after they leave and do some pretty special things with those skills,” Janssen said.

 

Just like last season, Hoyt has already seen a lot of great feedback from Janssen’s latest event at Xavier. If he does come back, Matthews is one of the many that would recommend it.

 

“I would tell them that if they want to be a leader for their team then it would definitely benefit them,” Matthews said. “It makes you think about things that you never really thought about being a leader.”
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