Branded A Leader
You send all the right messages and reinforce the need for your student-athletes to make good decisions. And still, some of them continue to make destructive decisions – affecting themselves, their team and the institution. This becomes a personal and public nightmare, impacting the brand of your department and university. What can you do about it?
Branded A Leader (BAL) is a leadership program that teaches critical decision-making skills to student-athletes while challenging them to be responsible for their decisions and those of their teammates. BAL is a highly interactive training program that engages student-athletes in unusually effective ways.
Created in 2008 by the NCAS, BAL was developed in partnership with Michigan State University’s Student Athlete Support Services in an effort to engage their student-athletes in educational discussions on key issues, such as: violence against women, alcohol and drugs, hazing, and responsible computing.
Program Overview
Branded a Leader utilizes the appeal of mainstream branding strategies as a foundation for student-athletes to discuss personal decisions and difficult social situations involving teammates. The program illustrates the impact of individual and organizational decision-making on a wide range of brands through case studies of various companies and individuals like LeBron James and Michael Vick.
BAL trainers lead student-athletes through the “brands” that they represent (family, conference, institution, athletic department, team, community, etc.) and have them articulate how a range of good decisions and bad decisions will likely impact each of their “brands.” Each segment of this training utilizes a specific aspect of decision-making skills, consequences and accountability for self, teammates and beyond.
Student-athletes develop a success plan for enhancing their “personal brand” and share with their teammates. BAL trainers challenge the student-athletes to hold each other accountable for their espoused success goals and for making good decisions. Their role as their teammate’s “keeper” will be reinforced through social scenarios where they will decide the best options for intervening on a teammate’s behalf.
Program Goals
BAL can incorporate a wide range of topics into a training session, including: Violence Against Women (sexual consent and healthy vs. abusive relationships), Alcohol and Drugs, Hazing, Responsible Computing, Diversity, Gender Construction, and Power of Language and Criminal Behavior. Additional topics may be added upon request (conditional upon our ability to effectively educate on the topic).
Program goals include:
- Challenge student-athletes’ thinking regarding the social aspects of their lives.
- Empower student-athletes with information and skills necessary to make good decisions and to confront teammates.
- Foster student-athlete accountability for personal and teammate behavior.
- Create awareness and greater understanding of impact of decisions on a wide-range of brands.