Leadership

Editor's Note: Summer 2024

Anonymous — Tue, 16 Jul 2024 06:00:00 +0000

Editor's Note: Summer 2024 Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 07/16/2024 - 00:00

Maria Kuntz

This summer, we examine powerful leadership skills: empathy, humility and emotional intelligence. I’d like to add one to that list — kindness. A few years back I found my favorite T-shirt: it’s charcoal gray with simple white lettering that reads, “kindness is magic.”

Kindness takes many forms: asking about someone’s day, giving the benefit of the doubt or offering help. In a bustling world, even a little can leave a lasting impact. I vividly remember a moment when a supervisor shared tough feedback with me. They communicated with kindness — enabling me to soak up their gift. I’ve never forgotten it.

This issue is packed with leaders who display kindness alongside strength and tenacity. Read about Philip P. DiStefano’s 15-year tenure as chancellor and enjoy other inspiring alumni profiles, including Ally Chapel, founder of jazz group Brass Queens, cycling legend Sepp Kuss, and chef and entrepreneur Bruce Bromberg.

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Photo courtesy Maria Kuntz

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The Coloradan's Q&A with Coach Prime

Anonymous — Mon, 10 Jul 2023 09:00:00 +0000

The Coloradan's Q&A with Coach Prime Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 07/10/2023 - 03:00

Maria Kuntz

The Coloradan sat down with Deion Sanders on the eve of the spring game to discuss leadership, coaching and Buffs football.

What drew you to coaching?

What drew me to coaching was fulfilling a need. I was watching my youngest two sons at football practice, and it was horrible. I mean, the coaches didn’t know what they were doing, and they had these kids colliding and hitting each other. So I went out there and tried to teach them the proper protocol for doing what they needed to do. And I sat back down like a real parent. Then I saw something else and I couldn’t take it. So I went out there and helped them.

By the second or third time, I was running the whole practice. I said to myself, ‘If you’re gonna do this, you’re not going to do it with nobody else. Do it your own way.’

How did you know you were meant to be at CU?

Well, God places you where you’re not necessarily wanted, but you’re necessarily needed. That is not just a need at CU for the football department. There’s a need in this whole city and state for equality and to improve the equilibrium in race. I think we are at 3% Black students on this campus — if that. So God takes me to these types of places so I could bring something to the table that hasn’t been fathomed.

And I’ve always been in those situations — going to play football in Atlanta, going to the Atlanta Braves or Cincinnati … Everywhere I go, I’ve got to be a product of change. I never go anywhere where everything is good, everything is glowing, everything is wonderful, everything is kind, everything is generous. It’s always a situation that needs to be fixed or needs to be improved.

Is there an aspect of Boulder that has surprised you?

The beauty, the serenity, the calmness, the willingness to understand. I love that. There’s so many more, but those are the top ones that get me to the place I want to be.

What is your vision for CU Boulder football and the Forever Buffs community?

It’s hard to just say what the vision is. Let’s talk about the goals. The goals are to win. Winning is not just what is placed on the scoreboard. Because I could win out there every game, but if we failed in graduation rate, we didn’t win. I could win out there every game and we could get all these kids graduated, but if several of them are having a kid out of wedlock and not being a father of their own children, we did not win.

If we’re not maturing these young men to be leaders who understand life and are willing to embrace and love and understand and help and assist, we didn’t win. It’s an enormous challenge. If you sent me your son at 18 and I sent him back at 21 and he hadn’t changed, we lost.

What does leadership mean to you?

Leadership means you’re much more than just the person in the front. You’re much more than the person who may get the first or last word. You’re much more than the person who’s the most visible. A leader doesn’t have to walk in the front. A leader doesn’t have to speak the loudest. A leader does not have to command the most finances in the building. A leader is a leader, and no one can teach you how to lead. That’s in you.

Are there one or two characteristics that define your leadership?

I can’t define my leadership. Someone else would have to define it. Because I walk ... I move different than most. And my music don’t play on the same beat that yours may play. And I’m not looking for your approval. I’m not looking for a check by my Instagram or Twitter. I don’t need validation from others, not whatsoever. Because I have a higher calling, and I could hear [God’s] voice in the midst of boos or cheers. I could hear his voice and know where to go.

Who have been your mentors and inspirational leaders?

My mother is not a mentor — she’s my mama. But she’s always been the one. I had some wonderful men in my life, many of whom have passed away, but they left their imprint on my heart. My youth coach, Dave Capel, who took me from the inner city to the other side of town and opened my windows of life to let me see some things I would’ve never seen.

My high school coach, Ron Hoover, we had a rule: If you get suspended, you get kicked off the football team. And he kicked me off the football team when I got suspended junior year — even though the suspension wasn’t my fault. I was trying to break up something in the library. And my coach was mad and upset, but he kept his word. And that changed my life because now I understood discipline and true leadership.

Mickey Andrews and Bobby Bowden when I went on to college and the other different coaches that I had in my life — it was a plethora of coaches, teachers, people and positions that God took me through on my journeys that I had to pass by and pass through. But I took something from them and kept them sacredly.

How do you motivate players?

You don’t try to motivate players. You are who you are. Every player is not the same, but that [relationship] comes from sitting on that couch with the mother or father or uncle or friend or aunt or coach — someone in his life who has been a value. You’ve got to know those things.

So I may whisper to a kid, ‘Mama have to work today.’ That may not mean nothing to you, but a mama told me she was driving an hour and a half to work every day to support his little butt. Now he’s coming to college trying to make it happen. He’s forgetting that Mama’s still driving to work every day while he’s out there loafing. But he made Mama promise that one day he was going to take care of her. So all I have to do is say, ‘Mama have to work today.’ And he reflects on that moment.

It is an open relationship because I want them to understand my ‘why.’ I can’t just tell these guys, ‘Hey man, I don’t want you laying down on the field.’ That’s one thing to say that but it’s another thing to say, ‘You know what? I played the game 14 years. No one ever had to get me off a field.’

One time I fell and cracked my eye socket. I remember the guy who played cornerback on the opposing team played with me a year prior. I heard his voice and I said, ‘Push me the way my sideline is.’ And he pushed me that way and I ran off the field. Next thing I know, I’m in the ambulance and I had surgery like two days later there, but never did they have to get me off the field. But if the kids don’t understand that story, they don’t understand my why.

What do you want your legacy to be?

That I’m the best father that ever lived. That’s it.

Now that you have the tools of social media, what is the story you’re trying to share with the world?

Hope, man. I instill hope. We’ve got another hour. We may have another day. Even if we don’t, what are you going to do with your now? We’ve got so many people in life upset with yesterday and so afraid of tomorrow that they’re missing their now. I dominate my now, every darn moment God gives me, even this moment right now, I’m going to dominate it because this is my now.

I’m going to win today, which is going to prepare tomorrow. And I forgot about yesterday. I ain’t got time for it.

What’s important to you that you want readers — CU Boulder alumni, fans and supporters — to know?

As much as they think they need me, I need them just as much because of what we’re trying to accomplish. I need them to see what can possibly be and what’s going to be. And I need them to forget about what was. I need them to be all in. I need them to get in the game.

It’s one thing to be in the stadium, but it’s another thing to be in the game. One thing to be in the crowd, but it’s another thing to be in the game. It’s one thing to be over there cheerleading with pom-poms, but it’s another thing to be in the game. It’s one thing to have an instrument, blowing the tuba or whatever they’re playing in the band, but it’s another thing to be in the game.

I need everybody in that stadium to be in the game because this is the genesis of what’s coming, and that starts tomorrow.

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Photos courtesy CU Athletics

Read Coach Prime's winning mentality and leadership philosophy

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The Prime Effect

Anonymous — Mon, 10 Jul 2023 06:00:00 +0000

The Prime Effect Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 07/10/2023 - 00:00

Kasim Kabbara

The “Prime Effect” has arrived in Boulder … but what, exactly, is it?

Is it the fact that the Colorado Buffaloes — a football team that won one game last year — became the only team in the nation to have their spring game aired live on ESPN this year?

Is it the 600% increase in followers to CU football’s social media accounts since Deion Sanders, known as Coach Prime, was hired in December?

Is it the way Coach Prime merchandise initially sold out after each restock in CU gear shops around Colorado?

Perhaps it’s all of that and more — it’s even bigger than sales and stats. The Prime Effect is also about Coach Prime’s “Midas Touch” — the way he seems to enhance situations and environments once he enters the picture.

Deion Sanders spent three seasons at Jackson State �Թ�� (JSU), where he put an ultra-positive jolt in the backs of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). He generated the equivalent of $185 million in advertising and exposure revenue for the JSU athletic department in less than a year on staff, according to an April 2021 article in USA Today. JSU’s football team went 27–6 — a complete turnaround from the continuous under .500 team records in the years before Coach Prime’s arrival — and on College GameDay 2022, ESPN entered Jackson, Mississippi, for the first time in history.

The Prime Effect transformed Jackson State, and Buffs are ready to see what effect it will have on Boulder.

The Prime Effect Is Unapologetically Black

“Coach Sanders’ impact as a father figure for students on campus and his players is amazing.”

2020 census data shows that Colorado has experienced growth in racial and ethnic diversity in the past 10 years, but CU Boulder remains predominantly white.

CU’s total enrollment is over 36,000 students. Roughly 66% of those students are white, 12% are Hispanic, 9% Asian American, 7% international, 1% Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, 1% American Indian/Alaska Native, 1% unknown and almost 3% are Black, or approximately 800 undergraduate students and 150 graduate students.

Already, Coach Prime is making an effort to support Black community members at CU, and in turn, they’re rooting hard for Coach Prime and the team to succeed.

Reiland Rabaka, founder and director of the Center for African & African American Studies (CAAAS) and a professor in the ethnic studies department, is already impressed by the man CU hired to lead its football team.

“Coach Sanders’ impact as a father figure for students on campus and his players is amazing,” Rabaka said. “The man truly cares about his community.”

On Feb. 1, the first day of Black History Month, the CAAAS hosted its grand opening — and Deion Sanders was there. Feb. 1 was also National Signing Day, a pivotal day for high school senior athletes. It’s the day many athletes sign a national letter of intent, declaring where they intend to play Division 1 football. Coach Prime spent part of his day with future Buffs headed to the football team, and he also celebrated with Black Buffs on campus, creating and continuing a legacy of African Americans in Boulder.

“He’s almost a sensei; that brother is a blessing for this university,” Rabaka said. “Most coaches don’t realize it’s not always about what you do on the field, but off the field, and Sanders showing up for us on this day of all days shows me the type of man he’s developing in that locker room.”

The Prime Effect “Ain’t Hard to Find”

The 2023 CU spring game sold out with more than 47,000 in attendance (tickets cost $10). That’s more people for a single scrimmage than the past nine spring games combined, all of which were free — and completely shatters the record of 17,000 attendees in 2008.

The spring game, which was broadcast on ESPN, hosted 260 members of the media. The school record for most media credentials at one game is 601, a record set in 1989 when Colorado beat Nebraska to head to the Orange Bowl. The university made around $200,000 net profit from the game, including $123,000 in merchandise revenue, and about $143,000 in concessions.

The buzz around this team is simply hard to ignore, and everyone even remotely involved is benefiting. It’s been 27 years since CU has sold out season tickets, and it’s the first time they sold out before August.

“The thing that I think I’ve noticed more than anything on campus is the excitement level,” said Patrick Ferrucci, CU Boulder associate professor of journalism. “Being here eight years, I think there was maybe one year where people kind of even really cared about the football team. I was at a university meeting where they were joking about how they used to give away tickets, and they were like, ‘Just know that that’s not going to be the case this year.’”

His first night in Boulder, Coach Prime said, “I’m coming,” which has remained a catchphrase. A few days later he quipped, “I’m not hard to find,” referencing his social media presence. Surrounded by his son, Deion Sanders Jr., and a team of content creators, he’s constantly posting footage from practice, his office and even local hangouts.

This always-on, insider approach to CU Boulder football has catapulted his accounts to a whole new level: As of June 2023 he had 3.3 million followers on Instagram and 291,000 YouTube subscribers.

Sanders has posted reels of team practices, reviews of Boulder restaurants and CU facility tours with Colorado legends like former NBA Final MVP Chauncey Billups (Soc ex’99) and Kordell Stewart (Comm ex’95; BA’16), high-profile fans like rapper Lil Wayne and even his mother.

“Sanders and his team, with the way that they use social media, do a great job, especially emotionally,” Ferrucci said. “In our program, we teach social media storytelling, and I think there’s a lot that our students could learn from the way that they use [it] to get their stories across in a way that resonates with a lot of students and alumni.”

Bigger Than Football

“Sanders and his team, with the way that they use social media, do a great job, especially emotionally.”

Teaching associate professor Jamie Skerski taught the “Communication, Culture & Sport” course at CU, a campus favorite where students discuss the intersection of athletics, sexism, racism, culture and politics. Since 2020, when CU students joined nationwide racial inequity protests and Black Lives Matter demonstrations, she’s noticed a shift in students, she said. With Coach Prime’s arrival, classroom conversations are becoming increasingly nuanced, too.

“I feel a shift in the level of conversations about and around privilege in my classroom,” Skerski said. “That’s not to say that there are not structural problems at CU or in Boulder, because there certainly are, but students can recognize and talk about them with more sophistication. The arrival of Coach Prime comes at a time when many students can appreciate that the moment is here, and is bigger than football.”

Skerski believes white students at CU Boulder are starting to check themselves and their classmates when conversations about racial inequalities arise, especially relating to Coach Prime’s position on campus and the world.

“In terms of understanding larger cultures and racial inequities coinciding at the same time, I know at least my students are much more aware of their white privilege and have a stake in the way these conversations are happening inside and outside of the classroom,” she said. “They for sure see this Deion Sanders moment as an intersection of all of the things we teach in our course.”

And Coach Prime, who is unapologetically himself, is making an impact on the Boulder community in unexpected ways.

When he visited Village Coffee Shop as part of his food review tour, he gave them an “A-.” They could have had a higher grade, he said, but Coach Prime appeared jokingly appalled that the cafe, like many others in Boulder, did not serve grits, an African-American staple food dating back to the transatlantic slave trade.

Since Coach Prime posted the video, there has been a surge in Boulder diners serving grits and other traditionally African-American fare. Two local restaurants even named items on the menu after Coach Prime.

A simple gesture like a restaurant serving grits can help build a sense of community and belonging — creating unity among fans and the coaching staff.

Coach Prime’s presence in Boulder and on social media is igniting conversations about important social issues. He may be here to coach football, but his impact is far greater.

Once in a Lifetime

Regardless of the Buffaloes’ success on the field, wins are — hopefully — guaranteed. Everyone will find out when the Buffs kickoff against Texas Christian �Թ�� on FOX’s Big Noon telecast. But the community and player development are worth more than any Pac-12 championship trophy.

This year, the Buffs are transforming their outlook and building a program that fits Sanders’ vision of a winning team — both on and off the field. And that is the Prime Effect.

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Illustrations by Timba Smits

Surging social accounts, sold-out tickets and ESPN are just the start.

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Editor’s Note: Summer 2021

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Jul 2021 06:00:00 +0000

Editor’s Note: Summer 2021 Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 07/02/2021 - 00:00

Maria Kuntz

The COVID-19 pandemic illuminated social inequities as the ubiquity of phones and digital media focused attention on interrelated issues including racial injustice, gender, voting rights, gun violence and access to health care and education.

These challenges gave rise to another topic that ancient philosophers, modern researchers and CU students have sought to better understand: leadership.

While there is an eagerness to return to “normal,” new types of leaders are emerging to usher forth the future as it unfolds.

In this issue, we examine leadership research, education and practice through CU’s Center for Leadership and explore one alumna’s dedication to Colorado’s future luminaries. I invite you to read these, plus stories about an unlikely book-turned-movie, robot-fueled sustainability and the power of lullabies.

The challenges of the past year will not resolve quickly, but Forever Buffs instill hope for a brighter future.

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The COVID-19 pandemic illuminated social inequities as the ubiquity of cellphones and digital media focused attention on interrelated issues including racial injustice, gender, voting rights, gun violence and access to health care and education.

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From the �Թ��: Leadership for Our Times

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Jul 2021 06:00:00 +0000

From the �Թ��: Leadership for Our Times Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 07/02/2021 - 00:00

Philip P. DiStefano

Several years ago, CU Boulder students started an ad campaign that grew into the Colorado Creed, a social responsibility code for the campus community. It reminds us to act with honor, integrity and respect. It compels us to be responsible for our actions, take accountability for our decisions and accept our differences.

The students’ vision remains today, evidence of the lasting impact of thoughtful leadership. The subject of leadership has been paramount recently. From COVID-19 to social justice and racism, the lack of recent leadership in the corporate sector, government, political system, nonprofits and, yes, education, will be felt for generations.

In the face of these events, I have been thinking more than ever about leadership and what it takes to become and maintain being a good leader. Our collective mission is to positively impact humanity, so the stakes are high.

But how do we build leaders in today’s world? Author Simon Sinek once said, “There are only two ways to influence human behavior: You can manipulate it or you can inspire it.” Our mission at the university is to cultivate leadership through inspiration.

That’s why we have researched and identified the traits of successful leaders across a variety of fields and developed an innovative curriculum to foster leaders for a changing world.

CU Boulder’s Center for Leadership, established last year, combines 25 leadership programs from across the campus, including our athletics department, schools, colleges and graduate and undergraduate studies.

By aligning our programs to harness expertise from throughout CU, we’re cultivating moral character and social duty and advancing innovative research on leadership. The vast majority of higher-education leadership offerings reside in business schools, but at CU Boulder we believe that leadership education must be ubiquitous.

Every societal challenge we face and every industry that can address these challenges requires the right leaders for the right moment. Universities can answer the call.

Philip P. DiStefano is the 11th chancellor of CU Boulder. He is the Quigg and Virginia S. Newton Endowed Chair in Leadership, overseeing CU Boulder’s leadership programs.

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Photo by Glenn Asakawa

�Թ�� DiStefano weighs in on leadership.

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CU Students and Faculty Ask: What Does Leadership Mean in Today's World?

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Jul 2021 06:00:00 +0000

CU Students and Faculty Ask: What Does Leadership Mean in Today's World? Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 07/02/2021 - 00:00

Barbara Brooks

CU Center for Leadership

The Center for Leadership unites 27 leadership programs across campus to support programming and research.

The Presidents Leadership Class is a four-year, comprehensive leadership development program focusing on academics, experience, service and community to expose students to leadership lessons on many levels.

The Scripps Leadership and Career Development Program provides student-athletes with resources and opportunities to explore and pursue their passion while preparing them to continually thrive and achieve long-term success.

The Leadership Studies Minor (LSM) encourages students to discover what the academic research says about leadership, including collaborative and inclusive leadership, ethical decision-making and issues of power and privilege.

The Boulder-CU Leadership Program provides opportunities for current CU undergrads to partner with professionals in the Boulder community for mentoring experiences.

Center for Leadership Information

For Brian Muriithi (AeroEngr’22), leadership is about building community, bridging cultures and collaborating. While his ideas are largely informed by his Kenyan heritage and personal experience, Muriithi has found confirmation in the books he’s reading as a student in the Engineering Leadership Program (ENLP).

Take Speaker of the Dead, by Orson Scott Card, which he read for his “Intelligent Leadership” class this spring: “There’s an ongoing, tense war between cultures that don’t understand each other,” he said. “It was the job of a few characters to find the common ground and get people to work together instead of eliminating each other. The book was really about the importance of empathy and understanding.”

Muriithi is one of five recipients of the 2020–21 Newton Endowed Chair in Leadership Student Leaders of the Year Award, from CU Boulder’s Center for Leadership. In 2021, he was one of 3,000 undergraduate students on campus who are focused on improving their leadership skills through new CU Boulder opportunities.

A new era of leadership at CU

As part of the university’s Flagship 2030 vision to better address 21st-century humanitarian, social and technological challenges, CU introduced a Center for Leadership last year. The center is a top priority for �Թ�� Philip P. DiStefano, who holds the Newton Endowed Chair in Leadership, and will distinguish CU’s approach from other universities.

“Just as there is no one way to lead, there is no single approach to developing the leaders of tomorrow,” said Aaron Roof, executive director of the center. “We are a hub that will connect more students to the multidisciplinary leadership education they need, while also amplifying CU’s cutting-edge research in the field of leadership development.”

The Engineering Leadership Program Muriithi is involved with is one of 27 initiatives for the center. CU’s Shilo Brooks, a staunch supporter of the liberal arts with a discipline in political theory, was tapped in 2018 to help prepare future leaders to grapple with the impacts of advances in biomedical engineering, energy, social media and other rapidly evolving fields.

“My view is that leadership education is, in essence, liberal education,” he said,“and that the kinds of challenges leaders face require a certain intellectual agility that can only come by way of a broad and deep curiosity and a vigorous mind that wants to encounter and engage all aspects of the world.”

Along with Angela Thieman Dino (MAnth’95; PhD’07), an anthropologist and senior instructor in the program, Brooks focused the four-course curriculum on exploring leadership through philosophy, history, psychology, politics, literature and anthropology.

Students read biographies — of the Wright brothers, Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr., for example — and listen to podcast interviews as a way to understand human “passions and longings and hopes and fears,” which Brooks said is critical to leading teams and also doing well by society.

“We teach leadership as a philosophy, which is where art and science meet: a reasonable, rational knowledge of the world, combined with a humane sensitivity to guide us to wisdom,” said Brooks, faculty director for the ENLP program. “Some of the qualities that a good leader must possess — empathy; character; an appreciation for diversity; a sense for the right, the just and the good — are not purely numerical, measurable or scientific in character.”

While the ENLP curriculum emphasizes character formation, Brooks appreciates the diversity of approaches to leadership on campus.

“The Center for Leadership brings together all the programs, all the diverse interests, all the manifold ways of doing things,” he said. “So, we all talk to each other and learn from each other.”

New metrics for leadership

For Stefanie K. Johnson, associate professor in CU’s Leeds School of Business, the art and science of leadership have become one and the same.“People study how leaders build empathy, and we can measure empathy,” she said. “So, if you consider science to be what I do — which is using the empirical scientific method to test hypotheses —then it’s all science.”

Specifically, Johnson studies the intersection of leadership and diversity. Her bestselling book, Inclusify: The Power Uniqueness and Belonging to Build Innovative Teams, was published last year, and in addition to teaching students, she has spoken across the U.S. as a consultant, including in the White House.

What matters most to Johnson is that leaders keep learning.

“If you were a great leader in 1980 and you’re doing the same thing today, then you’re not a great leader anymore.”

“If you were a great leader in 1980 and you’re doing the same thing today, then you’re not a great leader anymore,” she said. “But if we can define certain competencies, then we can train people to be better at them. That makes leadership more accessible.”

At Leeds, Johnson said they are focusing on building leaders who have moral, ethical character, not just people who can make money.

“For a long time, we thought first you had to get your technical skills down — accounting, finance, marketing — and if you had extra time, you could focus on the more social skills like empathy and inclusivity. Now it’s the opposite. Our students want an education that aligns with their values and prepares them for a workplace that supports the triple bottom line of people, planet and profits.”

In that way, she believes CU Boulder is getting it right.

“Of course, we have to act on our values and make certain changes,” she said. “But our Center for Leadership shows how progressive we are compared to other institutions.”

Learning the art of leadership

Peter Huang, professor and DeMuth Chair at Colorado Law, studies happiness in law and business. Among other courses, he teaches Law and Leadership, which focuses on what he calls “the art of leadership”— and includes skills such as mindfulness, emotional intelligence, self-discipline, grit and subjective well-being.

“These skills are teachable and extremely important,” Huang said. “If you can lead yourself, then you can lead others and lead change. If you’re distracted, you’re not fully present to hear what your client, or the jury or opposing counsel is saying.”

Huang is pleased that other Colorado Law professors are also teaching empathy and compassion, though the profession at large is embracing the concepts relatively late.

“Doctors realized the importance of bedside manner,” he said. “Managers understood the importance of being adaptive when a plan isn’t working. But law is by its nature precedent bound. Lawyers want consistency over time, and they’re also risk-averse.”

Huang is convinced that improving their leadership skills will help CU graduates stand out in the job market.

Allie Reuter (IntPhys, Neuro’21) agrees. As a pre-med student and a member of the Presidents Leadership Class, she is graduating with a leadership minor. She serves on the Senior Class Council and conducts undergraduate research on mental wellness with engineering students.

After a friend died by suicide, Reuter started CU’s chapter of Active Minds, the national organization that promotes mental health for young adults. Like Muriithi, she was one of the top five student leaders for 2020–21.

Reuter believes her leadership training and experience at CU will help her standout when she competes for jobs and medical school admission.

“Everyone who applies will have a great resume and be decently smart,” she said. “But what ends up differentiating people is whether they can have conversations and help others feel comfortable. I’ve met some really impressive doctors in the field, and the thing I’ve taken away is how compassionate they are and how comfortable others are in their presence. To me, that’s really an art.”

Leading the way to change

Whether leadership is considered an art or a science, everyone agrees that the future requires leaders who have more than technical skills for their field.

Brooks says they’ll need the intellectual grounding to grapple with fundamental human problems. So, he wants all leadership students to “think through the great question Aristotle first asked: ‘What is good for man?’”

But there’s more, said Muriithi, who plans to continue fostering the growth of future leaders within the Kenyan community in Colorado. He believes leaders will need to see the world as a diverse community whose problems cannot be solved alone.

“In the Kenyan community, one of our big mottos is, ‘It takes a village to raise a child.’ That influenced me a lot growing up,” he said. “Leadership is about how you live your life and carry yourself on a daily basis.”

“Our generation is more progressive, and we’re change-makers,” he said. “When we look to the past, we see that the top-down method hasn’t worked, sowe want to do things a different way — to make our future and the future for our children better.”

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Illustrations by James Yang

As part of the university’s vision to better address 21st-century humanitarian, social and technological challenges, CU introduced a Center for Leadership last year.

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Boettcher Foundation CEO Katie Kramer Talks Leadership

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Jul 2021 06:00:00 +0000

Boettcher Foundation CEO Katie Kramer Talks Leadership Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 07/02/2021 - 00:00

Kenna Bruner

Deep family roots anchor fourth-generation Coloradan Katie Kramer (Mgmt’97; MBA’09) to the state she loves. Moreover, she has found a place for her professional life in an organization that has a long history in the state: the Boettcher Foundation.

The Boettcher Foundation is a philanthropic organization whose mission is to invest in the promise of Colorado and the potential of Coloradans. It seeks to build a connected, inclusive and accessible leadership ecosystem that serves all of Colorado while propelling the state forward.

The foundation is named after Charles Boettcher, a German immigrant who arrived in Colorado in 1869 to pursue business ventures. The women in his family were a crucial part of guiding the family fortune toward philanthropy in 1937. Among them, Edna Boettcher and Mae Boettcher were trustees, and Claudia Boettcher Merthan (Mus’91) served the foundation for 21 years including as board chair from 1992 to 2007.

Kramer is following their lead. Her career trajectory toward serving the foundation began in 1993 when she was named a Boettcher Scholar — awarded to 50 Colorado students a year — and enrolled at CU Boulder. In the nearly three decades since, she has held multiple titles at the 84-year-old foundation, including vice president when she was just 26. Today, she serves as the youngest president and first female CEO in the organization’s history.

As the head of a leadership-focused foundation, the standards are high. And Kramer has brought her A-game from the beginning, said Sharon Linhart, chair of the Boettcher Foundation Board of Trustees and founder of Linhart Public Relations.

“I’m a believer that anyone can be a leader and that it most often starts with the choice to care about the success and dreams of others.”

“Katie has it all — intellectual curiosity, sensitivity and compassion, sensibility and an intense desire to make a positive impact,” she said. “She embodies the Boettcher Foundation’s mission to champion excellence across Colorado.”

Reflecting on the evolution of her career, Kramer describes her role as that of a connector who cares deeply about the quality of life for Coloradans. When asked what fulfills her professionally, she said: “To work in a place where I feel like I’m being of service to my community and to be in a place where I’m always learning.”

Kramer, who has spent more than 20 years focused on leadership development, believes effective leaders should be defined by the role they play in a community, not their title or position. And since she started as CEO in 2017, over $18 million has been distributed through scholarships to deserving Colorado students seeking to be future leaders.

“Our communities thrive when individuals from all sectors, industries, generations and geographies have access to leadership opportunities and support,” she said.

Kramer added that she doesn’t believe leaders are born.

“There are multiple characteristics of leadership that can be learned, developed or enhanced,” she said. “I’m a believer that anyone can be a leader and that it most often starts with the choice to care about the success and dreams of others.”

A self-described “leadership nerd,” Kramer’s interest in leading people began long before she was named a Boettcher Scholar.

“In high school, I was student body president and attended leadership camps,” she said. “I read a lot of leadership books. And I love working with other leaders to make good things happen and find ways to serve our community. So, it’s been in the cards for me all along.”

The receipt of the Boettcher Scholarship and her tenure at CU Boulder, where she was a member of the Presidents Leadership Class, built upon these interests. Her undergraduate years served as a training ground to learn how to work with people from different backgrounds, perspectives and lived experiences.

Leaders should be defined by the role that they play in a community, not their title or position.

“It’s important to understand different viewpoints and develop the skills and willingness to engage in civil discourse,” said Kramer, who lives in Arvada, Colorado, with her husband and two sons. “You must get out of your echo chamber. Can you have a growth mindset and be curious if you’re always convinced you’re right?”

Kramer’s insatiable desire to learn, grow and share has been a driving force behind her success.

“I wanted to orient my career around being of service to my community,” she said. “And the mission of Boettcher is in complete alignment with my personal passions, so I am grateful for the opportunity to do what I love and make a difference in this place I care so deeply about.”

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Photo by Matt Tyrie

Katie Kramer found her calling at the helm of a leadership-focused foundation.

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Tomorrow's Leaders

Anonymous — Sat, 01 Feb 2020 07:00:00 +0000

Tomorrow's Leaders Anonymous (not verified) Sat, 02/01/2020 - 00:00

Philip P. DiStefano

You hold the Newton Endowed Chair in Leadership. Why is leadership important to you?

We prepare students to impact humanity when we help them work well with others, empathize, resolve conflict, think critically and always act with integrity. While these themes are universal, the context in which they are delivered varies. Leadership is not ‘one size fits all.’

How so?

Leadership comes in many forms: corporate, political, grass roots, educational, nonprofit, charitable and community leaders to name a few.

In addition to our student government leaders, we have a wide breadth of programs, such as the cross-campus leadership studies minor and certificates in leadership in the business and engineering colleges. We have co-curricular programs such as the highly regarded Presidents Leadership Class and ROTC. We also offer leadership programs dedicated to social justice, service and volunteerism, as well as multicultural leadership. I am impressed with the diversity of student leaders we have and how they approach challenges from different points of view.

How do you shape tomorrow’s leaders?

One way is through a learn-observe-do model. We have world-class leadership experts teaching and leading our schools and colleges.

We have students observe leaders. This includes reading about accomplished leaders – such as one of my favorite leadership books, Leadership in Turbulent Times by presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin. She recounts leadership lessons of four presidents. I hosted Doris last month as part of our Leo Hill Leadership Speaker Series so students could talk directly to her about the lessons of accomplished leaders.

What about leadership opportunities beyond campus?

Boulder is unique in that we are co-located with many respected companies in technology, aerospace and sustainability, among others, as well as an exciting group of entrepreneurs and start-ups. I’m pleased to partner with the Downtown Boulder Partnership and the Boulder Chamber of Commerce over our common belief in developing leaders and connecting students to diverse and accomplished leaders in multiple industries.

I will also note that law student Junie Joseph (Law’21) was elected to the Boulder City Council and we’ve now had Rhodes Scholars in consecutive years, both active in campus leadership: Jake Reagan (PolSci, Span’20) and Serene Singh (Jour, PolSci’19).

What’s your advice to future leaders?

I like the words of John F. Kennedy, who said, “Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.”

Illustration by Melinda Josie

�Թ�� DiStefano discusses the university's focus on leadership.

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Winning Well: A Manager’s Guide To Getting Results Without Losing Your Soul

Anonymous — Tue, 04 Apr 2017 17:49:21 +0000

Winning Well: A Manager’s Guide To Getting Results Without Losing Your Soul Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 04/04/2017 - 11:49

By David M. Dye (PolSci'95) and Karin Hurt
(AMACOM publishing, 298 pages; 2016)

It can feel like a rigged game. Executives set aggressive goals, so managers drive their teams to burnout trying to deliver. Or, employees seek connection and support, so managers focus on relationships . . . and fail to make the numbers. The fallout is stress, frustration, and disengagement, and not just among team members—two-thirds of managers report being disengaged.

To succeed, managers cannot choose between results and relationships. They need both: They must get people to achieve while creating an environment that makes them truly want to. Winning Well offers managers a quick, practical action plan—complete with examples, stories, and online assessments. They will learn how to:

Stamp out the corrosive win-at-all-costs mentality
Focus on the game, not just the score
Reinforce behaviors that produce results
Sustain energy and momentum
Correct poor performance without drama
Build productive relationships
Be the leader people want to work for

Today’s hypercompetitive economy has created tense, overextended workplaces. Keep it productive, rewarding, and even fun with this one-stop success kit.

Winning Well offers managers a quick, practical action plan—complete with examples, stories, and online assessments.

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Head of the Herd

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 07:00:00 +0000

Head of the Herd Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 03/01/2013 - 00:00

Kenna Bruner

Four decades ago, the university created an innovative program to groom Colorado’s future leaders. Where are they now?

What does it take to lead — whether it’s a startup venture, a nonprofit, a global corporation or a community? Does our DNA contain a gene for leadership?

Some say leaders are made, not born. At CU-Boulder, top undergraduates have the opportunity to learn or enhance the necessary skills to invent, create, lead and manage in the Presidents Leadership Class (PLC).

Forty years ago, CU-Boulder teamed up with a group of Colorado business and community leaders to design a program for talented students. The goal was to recruit the best and brightest who would then become leaders in Colorado.

The seed of that venture found fertile ground. The result was PLC, one of the country’s oldest collegiate leadership programs. Founded in 1972, the pioneering academic program approaches leadership as a set of skills that can be learned, expanded and improved. Last July Inc. magazine featured the annual list of America’s 30 Top Entrepreneurs Under 30, and three PLCers made the list.

“Our mission is to develop extraordinary leaders — not ordinary ones,” says Barbara Volpe, PLC director. “We take this mission very seriously and have defined the skills we believe a person needs in order to lead in an extraordinary way.”

Each year, 50 of CU’s most gifted incoming freshmen are selected to be PLC scholars during their four-year undergraduate career. They are awarded a merit-based scholarship and receive rigorous academic instruction, internship experiences, personal development, community service experiences and leadership training.

Throughout four years, students attend courses and lectures focusing on ethics, global issues and leadership. Each year’s courses build on the previous year. In the last two years, students engage in real-world activities, including crafting policy statements, interacting with international policy leaders and applying for grants to fund their own leadership ideas.

“We operate our program as a leadership laboratory,” says program director Jake Davis. “All students, staff, faculty and volunteers model and practice the skills and virtues that PLC cultivates.”

Upon graduation, students receive a leadership certificate with their diploma, equivalent to a minor in leadership studies, as well as transferable skills and experiences for their résumés.

Accomplished PLC alumni embody a bold spirit of entrepreneurship. They have the ability to see possibilities and the ambition to follow where inspiration leads them. Read on to find out how some PLC graduates are making a difference in the world.

Being Unreasonable

What happens when you put 25 entrepreneurs together with 50 mentors and dozens of investors?

You get the power to change the world.

Sound unreasonable? Maybe, but that’s exactly what they cultivate at the Unreasonable Institute, say Daniel Epstein (Phil ’08) and Teju Ravilochan (IntlAf ’08), two of the nonprofit institute’s co-founders who were in PLC. The institute aims to help young civic-minded entrepreneurs across the globe reach their goals. Its name came from Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw who once said, “all progress depends on the unreasonable man [and woman].”

“The PLC community is chock full of innovators and entrepreneurs hungry to make a positive dent in history,” Epstein says. “Some of them became my co-founders and many have become my best friends.”

One of them is Ravilochan.

“PLC transformed my life,” says Ravilochan, “by introducing me to some of the greatest people.”

Entrepreneurs travel to Boulder from around the globe for six weeks of workshops, mentoring, training and business development. With a nod to Shaw, the nonprofit was launched from a desire to effect change on a global scale.

The goal is to arm entrepreneurs with the knowledge and resources to accelerate startup ventures that address an urgent social challenge affecting a million or more people. Entrepreneurs tackle issues ranging from converting agricultural waste into fuel to developing a clean water delivery system to providing an inexpensive palm-sized infectious disease detector.

In spring 2013, the Unreasonable Institute headed for the high seas by teaming up with Semester at Sea to launch Unreasonable at Sea. The 106-day journey around the world is a unique entrepreneurial learning laboratory for mentors and innovators. The idea is to mix great thinkers and doers in an international setting while in the close quarters of a ship to facilitate powerful outcomes.

“Our solutions will transcend borders and cultures,” Epstein wrote during his own Semester at Sea experience. “Tomorrow is today’s mystery . . . I kind of like that.”

For more information visit unreasonableinstitute.org.

Media Madness

In today’s nonstop, wireless, global news environment, event coverage unfolds at warp speed and can be accessed from anywhere. That’s good news for universities that can provide stories to a content-hungry audience.

The challenge, says Bronson Hilliard (Hist’86), director of university media relations and news services at CU-Boulder, is to be prepared for a mélange of scenarios — positive and negative — that could impact the campus.

That’s no small feat for a university that garners national and international coverage. Daily stories can encompass the announcement of a new Nobel Prize winner in physics, a $20 million instrument built by CU being launched to Mars, President Obama’s multiple campus visits, football team ups and downs, and even CU’s efforts to snuff out the unwelcome 4/20 pot smoking event.

As the official spokesman for the Boulder campus, Hilliard has to have the facts straight and an answer ready when the media call.

“It constantly keeps me on my toes,” Hilliard says. “There is always a story out there and most of them are good, but even unforeseen negatives can come out of positive stories.”

Hilliard recalls how beneficial participating in PLC was in preparing him for his career. He rubbed elbows with such influential leaders as a U.S. senator, a governor’s press secretary and an economist — heady stuff for
a freshman.

“Today, we talk about the university’s role in helping keep our intellectual know-how in our own backyard,” Hilliard says. “I’m proud to say CU and PLC had that vision 40 years ago. The program succeeded, I think, beyond its founders’ wildest dreams.”

A Guide for Parents

The idea for �Թ��Parent.com came about when Sarah Schupp (Bus’04) was a sophomore and her parents, visiting from Dallas, asked for suggestions on where to eat, sightsee and shop in Boulder.

There was no guide specifically targeting parents, so she wrote the first �Թ�� Parent Guide for the annual Family Weekend event on campus. Her business proposal to launch �Թ��-Parent Media won the business plan competition in the Leeds School of Business entrepreneurship program in May 2004.

Schupp’s company produces print and online guides for parents with more than 200 universities and colleges around the country. Each participating school has its own website that helps parents find information they need from events, hotels and shopping to the location of the closest bank to campus and when tuition is due.

“All of the PLC experiences helped me form the business,” says Schupp, “and gave me the framework to work with other higher education institutions to fulfill �Թ��Parent’s mission of making a positive impact on students’ success.”

Learn more at www.universityparent.com.

Power in Public Policy

JulieMarie Shepherd (PolSci’07, MA’09) thought she wanted to pursue a career in law, but her experience in PLC redirected her goals.

Shepherd learned to use research and data to drive decision-making. Her PLC internship at the Colorado State Capitol turned into a paid staff position Shepherd held for two legislative sessions.

Today Shepherd is a doctoral candidate in political science at CU and anticipates graduating in May. She is studying the structure of school boards, their governance models and the implications for student achievement, and board/superintendent relationships.

As president of the Aurora [Colo.] School Board, she also serves as research associate at the Spark Policy Institute in Denver where she conducts research and evaluates projects related to early childhood health integration; social and emotional learning and development in K-12 education; and access to health care.

“I have always had an interest in politics and public policy,” says Shepherd. “Nearly everything we do every day is in some way driven by political or policy decisions, and I want to better understand those decisions, how they are made and, when necessary, how they can be improved.”

Four decades ago, the university created an innovative program to groom Colorado's future leaders. Where are they now?

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Leadership

Editor's Note: Summer 2024

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The Coloradan's Q&A with Coach Prime

The Coloradan sat down with Deion Sanders on the eve of the spring game to discuss leadership, coaching and Buffs football.

What drew you to coaching?

How did you know you were meant to be at CU?

Is there an aspect of Boulder that has surprised you?

What is your vision for CU Boulder football and the Forever Buffs community?

What does leadership mean to you?

Are there one or two characteristics that define your leadership?

Who have been your mentors and inspirational leaders?

How do you motivate players?

What do you want your legacy to be?

Now that you have the tools of social media, what is the story you’re trying to share with the world?

What’s important to you that you want readers — CU Boulder alumni, fans and supporters — to know?

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