Daemen women's basketball's Rachel Pawlak, one of three ECC student-athletes attending the NCAA Leadership Forum, is blogging about her experience.
by: Rachel Pawlak
Day One:
Hello from sunny and warm Phoenix, Arizona! I arrived at the NCAA Leadership Forum this morning and was greeted by NCAA staff and students from around the country. After a few hours of settling in, it was already time to start the event at registration. On the walk from the hotel to the Convention Center alone, (which was right across the street) I met students from San Diego, Alabama, Texas and Florida. Since they were all from warm areas of the country, they all had the same response that didn't surprise me at all when I told them I was from Buffalo - "Wow! it's really cold there, right?!"
After registration we went right to dinner and had a kickoff speech led by Chris Grant of the NCAA. The energy in the room with over 325 athletes, coaches, and administrators was truly an unbelievable welcome. Our leaders were introduced and we broke right into our "Color Teams" for the week, which were mixed groups of students from Divisions I, II and III.
The first task we did was a common icebreaker and then we were all asked, "What makes your heart smile?" Although this was a simple question we all had to answer, it was really eye opening to see how we all had similar interests in what made us happy. Despite the different sports we played, the geographical distances, or cultural differences, we all seemed to respond along the lines of helping others or positively impacting the community. This exercise really bonded us as a group and we all got to know each other a little better. After a reflection about what leadership meant to us, we made "Affirmation Bags" to use throughout the week to give anonymous inspiration or compliments to each other on index cards.
To finish the day we headed over to Lucky Strike Bowling where we ate and got to meet even more people. On the walk there we got to see downtown Phoenix lit up at night. It was so nice to enjoy the walk without having to worry about the snow in April!
I was a little nervous going into the day not knowing anyone, but it all went away in the first five minutes with all the friendly people around. I can't wait to really get into the event and learn more about developing leadership skills. In such a short afternoon and night, I am already looking forward to hearing more about the student-athlete experience from the perspective of student-athletes in different divisions. I'm eager to gain insight about how I can bring this knowledge back to campus at Daemen!
I'll fill you in tomorrow after a full schedule of activities! Thank you for reading!
Day Two:
It was another beautiful day here in Phoenix! Our schedule started at 7:30 a.m. with a great breakfast and a whole lot of energy from all the participants. We got right to business and had our first "Color Team" session of the day. The activities focused on the philosophy of leadership that encourages you to build upon your strengths instead of fixating on improving your weaknesses. Although this seems contrary to what we often hear, it started to resonate with us because building on our strengths can allow us to exceed our own expectations. This thought-provoking discussion gave us a different perspective because in our sports we all know it is very important to improve our weaknesses, but when it comes to developing personally as a leader, we need to strive to be great at our unique and defining qualities.
Today, all the Division II athletes and administrators got together and listened to presentations from our national Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) representatives about governance education specific to our division. The emphasis was on student-athletes truly having a voice in the NCAA. They told us about the network in which we can bring new legislation to the national level and how student-athletes now have a vote at the NCAA Legislation Convention. At Daemen, our SAAC has primarily focused on being a voice for the student-athlete experience on our own campus, but we can take that a step further and have more discussion about facilitating change from a divisional standpoint.
After a short break and a walk through the city, our "Color Teams" met up for another session. We talked about the importance of being emotionally intelligent and the challenges leaders face today. Our group discussion kept leading back to understanding the people who you may be a leader for and knowing how you can be the best example for them. Effective communication, passion, and trustworthiness were some of the characteristics we learn from and seek out in those who exemplify great leaders.
The group discussions and presentations we had at the Forum today got us thinking about how we can all bring our experience back to our schools. Student-athletes, no matter your class status or role on the team, are seen as leaders on campus. Whether we identify ourselves as leaders or not, all it takes is a little inspiration to extract those leadership qualities. I hope to pay forward what I am learning to our SAAC at Daemen so our representatives can positively influence their teammates and inspire them to use their own unique leadership qualities.
Community engagement seems to be the focus for tomorrow, and I am looking forward to sharing my experiences with you on my next blog! Thanks again for reading!
Day Three:
Hello again from Phoenix, Arizona! The Leadership Forum was filled with back-to-back activities all day and I am excited to share some of my takeaways!
The morning started with ESPN broadcaster LaChina Robinson sharing her thoughts about "building your brand" with a focus on best social media practices. She opened our eyes to the way we are portraying ourselves on our accounts and gave us tips about using our platforms as a positive medium for networking. In today's world, social media can make or break you, so it is important to pay extra attention to what you are posting.
Our "Color Teams" had a great discussion today about effective communication. George Bernard Shaw once said, "The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place." This quote was introduced to us to encourage discussion from the student-athlete perspective, but I am sharing this because it can pertain to anyone. You may have a conversation with someone but it means nothing if it was not an effective exchange. We collaborated and came up with good practices of effective communication including active listening, being present in the moment, and being aware of our body language.
My favorite part of the day was our community service project for the youth of Arizona. Our efforts will benefit Helen's Hope Chest, an organization that provides for foster children in the East Valley and throughout Arizona. We made 1,000 box lunches, 1,000 school supply bags, and assembled over 2,000 jump ropes to promote well-being for these children. Each package contained a hand-written note from student-athletes letting each recipient know they are cared for. Through teamwork, communication, and a little friendly competition the participants were able to complete these tasks in just over an hour. It's truly a powerful experience when everyone comes together to complete a task knowing you are making a difference. I hope to bring more community engagement ideas to our Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) at Daemen.
Our wrap-up session was about what it means to be a transformational leader. This unique kind of leader causes change in individuals and social systems and maximizes growth and development of the group. The main idea was that having an impact on someone when you lead with integrity could be life changing and cause a chain reaction of positive influence. No matter what point you are at in your life, you can always facilitate change. Improving leadership skills is a continuous process. I hope to be a better leader on my team, on SAAC, and in the classroom, but I also want to inspire others to do the same for whatever they are involved in.
I can't believe tomorrow is the last day of this event. I will share my final reflections with you and I appreciate you taking the time to read! Thank you!
Day Four:
As I sit here in the airport waiting for my delayed flight, I have had a lot of time to reflect on my experience the past four days at the NCAA Leadership Forum. It has truly been one of the best experiences of my life.
The last day of activities only lasted until noon, but it was a perfect wrap-up as we heard from Justin Patton, a leadership development coach. He challenged us to use what we learned in the Forum to determine what our vision is, and how we can use that vision in our purpose to positively impact others as leaders. All of our experiences have led us to create this personal, unique vision. He asked us to think about how we will impact others. Will we empower? Serve? Teach? Help? Inspire? This "inside-out" approach to leadership helps us to first recognize who we are within and commit to our values so that we can then influence others.
Our "Color Team" session today emphasized that challenges will always arise when you are in a leadership position. Facing adversity and taking challenges head-on only allows us to grow as leaders. We discussed as a group the importance of having support around you as you face these obstacles to reinforce that we are capable of overcoming them. Giving people positive affirmations empowers them to reach their full potential and persevere through the tough times. Throughout the weekend we wrote personalized affirmations on index cards for each member of our team and we all got to read ours today. Despite only knowing each other for a weekend, it was an unbelievable experience reading comments that showed how people saw the best in you. As student-athletes, whether its on the playing field or not, we can completely change a teammate's attitude with a single positive comment. This in turn leads to improved team chemistry, increased investment in one another, and overall better team culture.
This weekend has been filled with an extraordinary amount of powerful insight on leadership from the perspective of student-athletes, administrators, coaches, and NCAA staff. Some of my key takeaways include: leadership is a continuous process, one person can make a difference, we can achieve more as a group, and through adversity is when we can reach our full potential to positively influence those around us.
For me, this weekend I focused on how I can bring this knowledge back to campus as a student-athlete, but if you have been reading this blog I hope you can take away something an apply it in your life. We all have the potential to be leaders in our own unique way if we have a clear vision and passion for helping others.
I appreciate you taking the time to read about my experiences. I am so grateful I have been given a chance to pay forward all the valuable knowledge I have gained at the Leadership Forum through this blog. I'm looking forward going back to Daemen to use this on my team, in the classroom, and on our Student-Athlete Advisory Committee so others can see their leadership potential.
