Students Take Over: Shaping Champions with Joe and Seth

This spring I'm releasing bonus episodes of The Take Home. No new
lectures on leadership, instead I'm sharing the amazing podcasts
created by the students in my Leadership for Sport Professionals
class.


In this bonus episode of Season 5, I'm sharing "Shaping
Champions" which was created and produced by Seth Jacobs and Joe
Mehary. Here are their liner notes:


Shaping Champions is a podcast formed by Seth Jacobs and Joe
Mehary; the objective of
the podcast is to interview sport industry leaders seeking
insight about their perspectives on
developing leadership skills. In Season 1 Episode 1, Seth and Joe
look at the textbook
"Leadership: Theory and Practice," to draw inspiration from the
Leader Membership Exchange
(LMX) and chapter 16, team leadership. More specifically, Seth
and Joe, talk about the dyadic
relationships and building trust between players and coaches, and
how heterarchical (lateral)
oriented teams can have advantages compared to hierarchical
teams.


In this episode, Seth and Joe are joined by Todd Wildman. Todd is
a Trinity University alumni who is a multiple time national
champion, competing numerous events, including multis. Todd
graduated from Trinity with a double major in finance and
accounting, receiving a masters
degree in accounting from Trinity as well. Todd now owns a real
estate company along with his
wife, a fellow Trinity alumni. In his spare time, Todd raises his
two boys, and coaches for the
Trinity track and field team. Specifically coaching hurdlers and
supplementing in other areas
when needed.


In the episode Todd discusses his time at Trinity, being a leader
on the Track team, a student, a professional, and lastly, a
coach. Todd puts an emphasis on the discipline that being a high
performing athlete taught him, as well as, the organizational
skills that being a student at a
rigorous university taught him, and how these skills were a
catalyst for a successful professional
career. Being a coach, Todd tries to build relationships with his
athletes to the point where it feels
like a mutual respect between both parties. He also believes
effective team leaders are those who
are committed to the team and approach each day with a purpose,
it is not about vocalness or
popularity, it is simply about one's will to success for
themselves and their teammates.


We hope that our conversation with Todd will give you some useful
insight on leadership within sports and the application of those
same skills in the professional and academic environments. We
really enjoyed our conversation and hope that you will as well.


Music Credits: Getting Wild Instrumental by jonworthymusic