Leadership and Motivation While completing his MBA, UPIKE Coleman College of Business graduate Preston Poag ’21, MBA ’22 was more than excited to lead his first class as a graduate assistant last spring. Under the direction of CCOB Dean Howard Roberts, Ed.D., Poag created a course on leadership and motivation. “As an entrepreneur, Preston was always interested in graduate school and research,” said Roberts. “As we discussed his options, his skills as a highly-motivated self-starter became more apparent. He possesses excellent interpersonal communication and listening skills, and his interest in accepting challenges has contributed to his transformation from an undergraduate student to a thriving, ambitious graduate student.”
The course provided students with insight into management versus leadership and developing leadership styles. Students were able to experience hands-on activities and learn about group dynamics, leading teams, barriers to effective communication and other issues leaders face. It also allowed students to learn about dominance, influence, steadiness and conscientiousness profiles, which help identify a leaderʼs preferred behavioral style and how to motivate others. “The class was set up around two main things, the speaker series, made up of leaders in all different fields, and the service project, which required the students to volunteer eight hours of community service around Pike County,” said Poag. “It was a semester-long project that helped students give back to the community, build leadership skills, add to their resumes and be good stewards.” The speaker series explored leadership through stories and experiences shared by an impressive roster of guest speakers in various fields.
Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia Charlie Bethel focused on the importance of leading in oneʼs local community. His guidance to students was to focus on service, the future and others. He advised them to engage with the world and decide, “am I going to approach this by trying to get value” or “am I going to produce value?” 20
“Good leadership remains focused on service, the future, and puts others ahead of self.”
“Charlie is a phenomenal public speaker, but surprisingly it is not something he is always comfortable doing,” said Poag. “He spoke of imposter syndrome and the fear of failure. It was great for the students to see someone as successful as Charlie be vulnerable and open up about strengths and weaknesses.” Dancer and choreographer at The Juilliard School, Haley Winegarden, spoke to the students about adaptive leadership and shared her personal experiences as a young leader among seasoned professionals. Her key steps to leadership included staying connected with the team, being clear about a vision and expectations, reading the room, being aware, taking time to address matters in the moment and being prepared to take hits.
“I was so honored to have been invited by Preston to speak to his class,” said Winegarden. “I hope the students learned that leadership is not just about authority. Itʼs about serving the people you work with and valuing them.”
Jon Ralls
“A good leader leads with confidence and humility. It allows room for good judgement, adaptability and generosity. No product will ever outlast the relationships you build.”
It was exceptional for the athletes in the class to hear from former pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals and 2011 World Series Champion Mitchell Boggs. His talk stressed the importance of topdown leadership and communication. He shared his experiences being on championship teams in high school, college and professional sports and both good and poor examples of the leadership he experienced.
“Anytime you can share your story with a group of young people driven and striving to prepare themselves for success beyond the classroom, itʼs significant,” said Boggs. Featuring entre-leadership, where the passion of an entrepreneur meets the character of a leader, BrainSTEM University CEO Ricky Mason spoke on his entrepreneurial journey and past
UPIKE MAGAZINE | SPRING/SUMMER 2022
Mitchell Boggs
“Great teams are built around leaders with a mission they can believe in.”
