Tar Heels Learn Resilience Through LeaderShape Partnership

By Jennifer Burris

On April 21^st, 36 North Carolina student-athletes and staff took part in a personal development opportunity through the LeaderShape and its new Resilience Seminar. This was the first Resilience Seminar conducted for college students and specifically collegiate student-athletes. This opportunity was made possible by a collaborative effort between the Richard A. Baddour Carolina Leadership Academy and the Smith Leadership Initiative, which is housed within the Kenan-Flagler Business School. Mindy Storrie, Executive Director of the Smith Leadership Initiative, was enthusiastic about the benefits of this development experience.

"It was a win-win for the Smith Leadership Initiative to partner with the Leadership Academy." Storrie said. "The Eddie C. Smith Jr. family made it possible for us to offer additional training to help our athletes and staff become more resilient, on the field and in the workplace. We all increased our understanding of the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects of resilience, while exploring how to apply the learning immediately."
LeaderShape provides various development workshops and seminars but resiliency is a skill Shelley Johnson, Director of the Leadership Academy, knows is crucial to the daily lives of student-athletes.

"When Mindy approached the Leadership Academy with the prospect of funding a development opportunity," Johnson said, "I immediately thought of LeaderShape and its one-day seminar on resilience. Resilience, perseverance, and grit are buzz words frequently used by our coaches. NCAA research supports the urgent need for this critical skill to be imparted to student-athletes."
Kristen Young, Senior Vice President at LeaderShape, oversees all of the programs LeaderShape offers and expressed her gratitude to be a part of this collaboration.

"We were honored to partner with UNC to provide the resilience program for their student-athletes," Young said. "In the day spent together, we were able to provide strategies for the students to help them bounce back from any adversity they may face, learn from that challenge, and grow as athletes, students, and individuals. We're grateful for the partnership with UNC and hope the student-athletes use these tools to help them recover and perform their best."

Mikayla Robinson, a sophomore on the gymnastics team, is one of the students who participated in the seminar. Along with the other student-athletes and staff members, she received hands-on experience and vital information on using resilience as a part of her daily routine.
"For me it was an eye-opening experience into the many ways I could be an effective leader," Robinson said. "It showed me that you don't have to fit a certain image of what a leader looks like in order to take ownership of responsibilities. The workshop showed me that every single person on a team could take on a leadership role in some capacity."

Ian Head, a junior on the men's Fencing team, also spoke about his beneficial experience as a participant of this seminar.
"Resilience is an important skill for any student-athlete," he said. "There are inevitable challenges in every athlete's career, but what distinguishes the best athletes from the rest is their ability to overcome those challenges and use them to grow or learn. The biggest takeaway for me was that, like our athletic skills, resilience is something that takes practice and is developed through small changes every day."

The one-day workshop gave athletic department staff a chance to grow personally and professionally along with the student-athletes with whom they work every day. Jenn Townsend, Associate Director of the Academic Support Program, was one of the staff participants.

"The LeaderShape Resilience Workshop was extremely beneficial for both student-athletes and the staff who support them," Townsend said. "Student-athletes are constantly taught how to take care of their bodies in order to perform at an elite level, but the same attention is not given to their minds. It is vital that they find coping mechanisms to help them weather daily stressors and also find joy in their college experience. As educators, it is also important for us to model self-care and to remind students of the tools they have to help them through any situation."

The Leadership Academy and Smith Leadership Initiative partnership for this event was a great success. Storrie is already striving to identify future opportunities for continued education on resiliency with immediate application throughout the UNC Department of Athletics.

Players Mentioned

Ian Head

Mikayla Robinson

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