How to be a Leader: Taught By a Veteran Himself

By Jodi Hutchinson (SMBA '11)

I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle - victorious. - Vince Lombardi

This week wrapped up our second week of leadership class with special guest lecturer Steve Gera. Steve is an SMBA 2007 alumnus and is currently working as a Football Analyst/Assistant Coach for the San Diego Chargers. Before Steve enrolled in the SMBA program he was a Platoon Commander for the United States Marine Corps and served in Iraq. Steve’s leadership class is a great addition to our current class schedule of finance and statistics. Not only is this class going to help us all become more effective leaders, but it is also challenging us to take an honest look at who we are and who we aspire to become. In our first class session with Steve, he reminded us all why we are here. He stressed that not only are we here to learn the business of sports, but in order to be successful in life and in business, we must have the courage and desire to be a leader.

Class sessions are structured around learning the core principles of leadership, discussion of current leadership issues in sports, and discussion of outside readings. Leadership class is teaching us skills that will help us prepare to lead ourselves and each other to battle in the business of sports. The sports industry is considered to be more competitive than other areas of business because what we all learn quickly in this industry is that everyone wants to work in sports! Steve’s class is providing the SMBA '11 students with our own offensive playbook about how to prepare, plan, and execute our core mission: At the end of this year all 34 of us will come out of battle victorious with the job of our dreams!