Inside HOKIE SPORTS | Vol. 9 No. 4 | March 2017

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A quick Google search of “leadership training” reveals any number
of workshops, events, symposiums, seminars and classes available
for one to attend and theoretically learn how to be an effective and
dynamic leader.
Those in the Virginia Tech Athletics Department want the Hokies’
student-athletes to succeed on the field or court, but they also want that
same group to be leaders in society. That has led to the creation of the
Leadership Institute, a unique, broad-based initiative of the Virginia
Tech Athletics Department designed to prepare student-athletes to
become better leaders and be able to serve efficiently and productively
in society once they graduate from the university.
Most athletics departments focus on leadership in various ways, but
Tech’s Institute is one of the few of its kind nationwide.
“It’s really a story of progress,” said Danny White, associate AD for
student-athlete development and one of the main founders and the
director of the Leadership Institute.
INSTITUTE’S
BACKGROUND
The genesis of the Institute came about in 2011 when a small group
of department administrators, including White and Dr. Gary Bennett,
Tech’s clinical and sport psychologist, started talking about ways to
help Virginia Tech’s student-athletes become better leaders. They
found a curriculum called Habitudes designed by Tim Elmore that
focused on teaching practical life and leadership skills. Both White and
Bennett started teaching the course to the volleyball, women’s soccer
and men’s soccer teams.
Roughly a year later, White designed a summer study abroad course
centered on the application of global leadership skills. Gradually, he
and Bennett implemented strategies and plans and tweaked others.
They also added a staff person to help with their mission. Shelby
Miller, coordinator of student-athlete development, came aboard
the staff last year, bringing her background in student-athlete
development—she worked in a similar capacity at Northern
Illinois—with her.
The end result of their work and commitment has been the
formation of the Leadership Institute, which came about last year and
encompasses all that has been established to date.
“You see all the NCAA advertisements and commercials about how
sports breed leadership,”White said. “Even theOlympic charter states that
sports breedmoral values, excellence, or certain other character traits. We
decided that we wanted to be intentional about that. Let’s talk about what
these principles are and how they impact you as an athlete—and just as
importantly, how they resonate for the rest of your life.”
The department’s Leadership Institute consists of four
components—leadership culture, the leadership advisory team, the
opportunity to participate in a study abroad course, and a leadership
program for coaches.
LEADERSHIP
CULTURE
The leadership culture component
represents the department’s belief that
team leaders can influence a team’s
culture. White and his staff bring in
speakers each semester—three times
in the fall for freshmen and three
times in the spring for upperclassmen.
Each speaker focuses on an aspect
of leadership in which he/she excels.
Tech’s approach, though, differs from most
schools, which pony up tens of thousands of dollars to bring in a
speaker to speak about leadership. Instead, White, Dr. Bennett and
Miller focus internally and have brought in AD Whit Babcock, Deputy
AD Desiree Reed-Francois, former football player Jarrett Ferguson, a
senior director in strength and conditioning, and others to speak to
student-athletes.
“What can those people [from the outside] add that Jarrett Ferguson
or Angela O’Brien [former softball player Angela Tincher, who is now
a Tech assistant coach] couldn’t add?” White said. “We do things in-
house. We have incredible people internally, and it helps our athletes
connect all the dots with all the sports. It connects a broader vision for
what it means to be a Hokie and to be here. I think, long term, we’re
going to keep it that way.”
LEADERSHIP
ADVISORY TEAM
The second component—the Leadership Advisory Team (LAT)—
consists of 15 student-athletes from different sports who volunteer
and serve multiple purposes within the Leadership Institute. These are
upperclassmen with an interest in leadership, and they promote the
speaker series, encouraging their teammates on their squads to come
to the events.
Continued on page 40
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