Jones College prides itself on excellence and success and employs instructors and faculty who understand the value and importance of this mission. One such educator is Dr. Samuel Jones, who motivates others to become their best selves.
The Assistant to the President for Leadership Training has spent many years at Jones inspiring young minds, culminating with the Be One Leadership program in Fall 2022. The program is meant to help student-athletes understand three principles of “being one” with themselves, their team and the institution.
The program was designed to help student-athletes become more successful leaders, but Dr. Jones wants to expand his leadership program to cater to other students and eventually take it statewide to other colleges.
“I wanted to get at least a couple years of research with the curriculum to make sure what we’re teaching is pretty much compatible with needs across the entire board with regular students,” he said.
Required monthly meetings are an essential component of this program, which has grown since 2022. During these meetings, different speakers talk to the student-athletes about leadership themes. Speakers have included Jones College President Dr. Jesse Smith, several coaches with great stories and experience in leadership, and Dr. Jones, who was once a professional basketball player in the NBA and a basketball coach.
According to Dr. Jones, the student-athletes enrolled in the leadership course thoroughly enjoy the program. The students must complete assignments every week, and each month they have a speaker series. The meetings are intended to give a time when the athletes can build relationships with their teammates and with athletes who play different sports.
“The purpose of the meetings is to keep people engaged and have a formal in-person session where all the student-athletes can be in the room at the same time,” said Dr. Jones. “We just want to build that comradery.”
The ultimate goal is for students to begin habitually implementing the skills taught by the Be One Leadership Program. Dr. Jones said he hopes student-athletes transfer the leadership skills they learn into their sports, the classroom and into their everyday lives.
“The whole intent is to expose students to new ideas, new thought processes, new strategies and trying to challenge them to keep growing rather than be comfortable because that’s how we all grow,” he said.
Dr. Jones mentioned that all current freshmen are enrolled in a College Life class to cultivate leadership skills, saying that what he believes separates Jones College from other colleges is that this is a great place to grow one’s network, take on more responsibility and grow as a person.
He wants everyone in his leadership training program to remember these words of advice: we should ask ourselves how we can frame information in a way that our listeners will want to receive, and we should never underestimate the power of the influence we each possess. We all have the potential to be great leaders, and we must realize that potential and use it.
by Jaylynn Conner and Kyle Manseill
