Leadership Academy Recap

The Maryland Made Leadership Academy is dedicated to enhancing the leadership skills of its cohort members and guiding students to dive deeper into what leadership means to them. 

Nineteen student-athletes emerged triumphant, having completed the five-week program. Armand Papaziani and Ali Berker are among them and are distinguished men's golf team members. They showcased unwavering dedication to their journey toward continued success outside their sport. 

The student-athletes first gained profound insights into their personality colors through the Real Colors Assessment, laying the foundation for their transformative leadership development journey over the following four academy sessions.  

Their heightened emotional intelligence empowered them to foster meaningful connections and navigate challenging conversations with a greater understanding and new ways to embrace empathy.

Session two went over the importance of having and understanding core values. Students went through an exercise to identify their top core values and had the opportunity to discuss with their peers how their values hold significance in their lives.

Session three was about emotional intelligence. The group learned about the four main quadrants: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management. Students discussed their preferences when receiving both negative and positive feedback, efficient ways to build relationships and how to handle talking about sensitive content.

Session four was about having crucial conversations. Students identified the three pillars of facilitating a crucial conversation: emotions are high, stakes are high and opinions vary. The group navigated scenarios of realistic crucial conversation situations with step-by-step instruction to ensure proper handling of difficult conversations. Input and feedback from peers allowed students to see different perspectives on how to approach having a crucial conversation. 

The academy concluded with an inclusive leadership session focusing on fostering diversity, equity and belonging in all environments. Papaziani and Berker shared similar experiences of connecting with individuals from different cultural backgrounds as international student-athletes.

Student-athletes who participated in the Maryland Made Leadership Academy gained skills that will prepare them for potential leadership opportunities across Maryland Athletics through student leadership groups. 

“As the program director of the Maryland Made Leadership Academy, I've had the privilege of witnessing the remarkable enthusiasm and engagement of our student-athletes, regardless of their sport or class. It's been truly rewarding to see how eagerly they embraced the opportunity to develop and apply their leadership skills within their respective teams. Their excitement and dedication to taking what they've learned back to their peers is not only inspiring but also a testament to the impact of our program. Watching them grow and flourish in their roles as leaders has been one of the most fulfilling aspects of my role.” - Lonnie Mulligan, Big Ten Diversity Fellow at Maryland

What did you learn about yourself from the Real Colors Assessment, and how do your top three values show up every day?

“The program helped me discover more insights about my personality and it helped me develop some communication skills. My three values: self-direction, family and honesty show up every day as I like to organize my daily life and take care of my personal development. Family shows up every day as being abroad and keeping contact with my family is something I value. Finally, honesty is something that really matters to me, as I think you can only base a relationship on trust.” - Armand Papaziani, Men’s Golf, Second Year

“My core values are family, balance and trust. Family, including close friends, gives me support through communicating on a daily basis. Trust is important to me as it forms the basis of all relationships. Balancing various responsibilities as a student-athlete has taught me the importance of time management and dividing my day effectively. Because of the academy, I've gained a better understanding of these values and how they shape my life every day. Also, I learned more about different communication styles and experiences from my encounters with other student-athletes cohort members, which I want to take back to my team.” - Ali Berker, Men’s Golf, First Year

How did the Leadership Academy prepare you to take the next step in your holistic development by applying for the Kubasik First Impact Program? 

"Through the academy, I've learned a lot about different ways people communicate, especially with the other athletes. It's given me a better understanding of what my teammates might be going through. I enjoyed getting to know other athletes and how they like to receive information. I'll definitely use this insight when working with my team. It's great that Maryland offers these opportunities for us to learn and grow together. I ultimately decided to apply because of the encouragement from two of my teammates who completed the program.” - Ali Berker

“Our team is very international. We have three Americans, four Europeans, one Chinese and one Japanese. That makes it sometimes difficult to interact and communicate with each other. The leadership program gave me specific tools to communicate better on a team with different personality types. Now, our communication within the team has improved and it definitely helps us get better as a team.”- Armand Papaziani