How Do We Change?

This question is a topic iBELIEVE focuses on everyday. That's why we were excited to receive an invitation to attend a conference at Yale University asking the same question. The conference is a combination of the country's top minds in medicine, psychology, law and philosophy.

The purpose of the conference is to examine how "human beings can act both habitually and reflectively, both automatically and in a controlled fashion. How can we harness these two components to increase well-being? How do we change maladaptive patterns of response? What enables us to choose better strategies for momentary regulation of emotion and action, and what enables us to sustain these changes over time? How do we break habits and act in accordance with our long-term goals?" These are exactly the types of issues we address in our educational programs and mental training sessions.

Stanford Psychologist James Gross kicked-off by eloquently discussing his modal model of emotion (Situation-Attention-Appraisal-Response). Regulating emotions is essential in long-term, sustainable change. This was a highlight for me as I referenced much of this work when I was a researcher at NIH. Another highlight was listening to esteemed philosopher Richard Holton speak with no formal presentation about finding space for an addict's self control. "Either addictive behavior is freely chosen, and addicts are free to resist and hence responsible. Or it is the result of a pathology, and they are not free to resist and hence not responsible." It was really cool to hear a philosopher discuss free will, self control and decision making.

Day 1 ended with Dr. Roy Baumeister who has published over 200 peer reviewed articles and 30 books on self-esteem, will-power, and ego. His most recent research results suggest that self-regulation (will-power) is in fact a limited resource.

We believe this conference is the beginning of something really great! Looking forward to Day 2

iBELIEVE Meets with Leaders at the University of Bridgeport

It has been one week since iBELIEVE traveled down to the University of Bridgeport. Little did we know we would be transformed after working with such incredible student leaders. Over the course of the last four years, we have had memorable experiences while presenting our workshops and educational programs all across this country. This was one for the books. Working with the enthusiastic and intellectual student leaders was an absolute pleasure! We are hopeful for another opportunity to engage in purposeful pauses, intentional actions, and mindful reactions with the UB student leaders. Thanks for your critical thinking and engaged participation!

Jonathan Kroll is an educator at Emerson College in Boston and is currently pursuing his Ph.D.

iBELIEVE Works with QU Men’s Soccer

Most say that Sunday is a day of rest. It should be a day that is typically spent, mentally, physically, and emotionally as far away from work as possible. A day that should be reserved for ‘YOU’. Doing only what you are passionate about and. Doing what you want to do, when you want to and at the pace that you want to. It’s a day that should be filled with no thoughts of suits, ties, deadlines and emails. It’s a perfect day to settle in at home and spend time with loved ones.

So with the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in the thoughts and hearts of everyone across the country, the start of the NFL season getting kicked off and the northeast air beginning to feel like fall, this past Sunday should have epitomized that Day of rest (and passions). Thankfully the iBELIEVE team does a great job of blurring the distinction between work and passion. We had the opportunity to work with the Quinnipiac Men's soccer team in Hamden, CT. So on Saturday night, 3 members of the team set our alarms for 5am to make the trek towards Connecticut to make some changes at QU. With 2 of the 3 members being QU alum and the third member (me) having attended school right around the corner at Sacred Heart University we were all excited about getting back to our roots.

After coming off 3 straight loses the QU soccer players seemed anxious to work on training the mental game. We spent 90 minutes clarifying the team's vision for this season and the future. This vision is not what they want to DO (we know and they know that what they want to do is win), we wanted to know what they want to BE as a collective group. We also spent time clarifying ideas of mental resiliency on and off the field. The group was fun to work with and seem to mesh very well together despite their diverse backgrounds. We look forward to the next training session in a few weeks.
In summary, the day was a success. As usual, the iBELIEVE team learned just as much as our participants in a day filled with purposeful pauses, intentional action, mindful reaction, house building, vision creating and attitude adjusting. We are thankful for the opportunity to work with these student-athletes and are inspired by their optimism.

To all those in favor of reserving Sunday for all that you are passionate about. I believe we did...
Until the next time, Stay believing!

Pete Athans is a strength and conditioning coach at West Point Military Academy and the director for Athletics programs for iBELIEVE. He received his masters degree in Sports Psychology from Boston University.

iBELIEVE Gives Keynote Address at A.L.E. Conference

From Sunday, July 10 – Tuesday, July 12 the iBELIEVE Team traveled out west to Denver, CO. This trip marked the furthest iBELIEVE has been out west in the USA. The trip was also the first time iBELIEVE ever participated and presented at the Association of Leadership Educators (A.L.E.) conference. The iBELIEVE Team attended a number of research poster presentations, round-table discussions, leadership presentations, and networking opportunities throughout the entire conference. During Tuesday’s luncheon, iBELIEVE Team Members Dan McCaffrey, Jon Kroll, and Drew Chin gave the keynote presentation to educate attendees about iBELIEVE’s history, teaching methods, and upcoming programs. A number of valuable contacts were gained from the A.L.E. Conference and iBELIEVE looks forward to participate in future A.L.E. Conferences. A special thank you to Nicole Stedman, A.L.E. President, for introducing us to this wonderful organization.

iB-LIEVE Visits Nicaragua: With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility

Jon Kroll shares with us about his time in Nicaragua.

Six years ago, after graduating with my master’s degree, I created an opportunity to volunteer in Leon, Nicaragua. Needless to say, the six-month experience was transformative. Because of the impact it has had on my life, I have gone back every year since to provide leadership development programs. For each of the trips, I’ve developed and presented leadership development programs that aim at unearthing misconceptions about leadership and providing tools to enhance leadership capabilities.

For my most recent visit, I delivered programs that focused on the Three C’s – clarity, connection, and compassion. Although I was seen as the educator, there was plenty for me to learn. The most glaring lesson for me was that with great power comes great responsibility. ‘Great power’, in this instance is synonymous with ‘great privilege’. Out of the ten days spent in Leon, Chinandega, and Jinotega, eight of which were filled with leadership development programs. I had the opportunity to work with high school students, university students, educators, business professionals, and others who are interested and invested in creating positive change.

For context, Nicaragua is the second poorest country in this hemisphere. People live in abject poverty and in a systemic culture of corruption. Needless to say, there are scarce opportunities for experiencing leadership like we have in the USA. Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts, nope. Youth sports programs, nada. Student Governance and extracurricular activities, absolutely not. In other words, practicing leadership, as youth, like we do in the United States of America is almost nonexistent in Nicaragua. It is for this reason that leadership programs like the ones I provided are so critical.

Because of the privilege I am accustomed to as an educated American, I have great responsibility. It is this privilege that encouraged me to share my knowledge. It was my responsibility to dig deep and find ways to share how cultural change (from that of corruption towards compassion) can happen through shifting our mental frames of leadership. A transformation of seeing Leadership, not as power, prestige, position, or the purse, but leadership centered on the person (who am I) and the purpose with which we lead. It is that transition that will lead to cultural transformation.



We had a chance to catch up with Jon and ask him some questions about his recent trip to Central America.

How do Nicaraguans students define leadership differently then the students you have worked with here in the US?
In Nicaragua, leadership is all about position, power, prestige, and the purse (money). Leadership is about getting what I want – it is about rising to the top and being the boss, at whatever costs. It is very self-centered. Leadership in Nicaragua is hand in hand with corruption.

Are local politician’s and other leaders attempting to establish these nonexistent programs?
At present, politicians and local leaders are not focusing on leadership development.

Do you have any future plans to continue your work down in Central America
Absolutely. I will continue to go to Nicaragua at least once a year, if not more often in the near future. My goal, is to create a master’s granting university in Nicaragua focusing on leadership and organizational development to continue this pursuit of shifting the culture of corruption to a culture of compassion. The young people in Nicaragua deeply desire this type of cultural change and I believe it can happen through a new leadership lens.

6 Degrees of Separation and Your Support Network

When I was younger one lesson my father taught me that still resonates today was the concept of 6 Degrees of Separation. From April 7th - April 10th, I lived this concept during LeaderShape's Lead Retreat & 25th Anniversary in Chicago, IL. As I was welcomed into a room full of members of LeaderShape's community, I quickly found out that I was connected to so many within one degree of separation! As I thought more about this both during the retreat and post retreat, I came to the realization that:

A group of people coming together + united by a common purpose + guided by a shared vision = COMMUNITY at it's best.

The LeaderShape community is currently 40,000+ and will continue to grow with more participants graduating from LeaderShape Institutes/Catalyst programs and an increase of new cluster facilitators to assist the Lead Facilitators, and on-site coordinators in teaching the vision of LeaderShape: "A just, caring, and thriving world that leads with integrity, and has a healthy disregard for the impossible." What was so special about being apart of this historic moment for LeaderShape was being amongst people who not only believe in this vision, but have already experienced it from their own LeaderShape experiences.

While iBELIEVE continues to develop its community, it's empowering to know that an organization such as LeaderShape is not only doing similar work to help others reach their potential, but recognizes that iBELIEVE is doing this work too. As iBELIEVE continues to evolve, there is no doubt our organization's paths will continue run beside each other, cross at certain points, and even become intertwined in the near future.

In leadership it is important to remind ourselves that our ability to create positive change enhances as we utilize more of our networks. When we find allies whom are bettering this world with their contributions, it not only significantly shrinks the degrees of separation, but it also grows our networks of support.

As iBELIEVE continues to reach out, searching for others that are putting their passion(s) into action, will you be one to answer our call to help? Want to join our CommuniTEAM? We'll see you (with)in 6 degrees.

The Puzzle

In this installment I want to give you a technique that I use to stay focused and motivated throughout a long training period. This is something that you can use during your training and season to help you stay on track working toward your individual and/or team goal. As we enter our pre season the air is filled with optimism and excitement and we all have a general idea of what we want to do personally and as a team but we rarely put down on paper the day to day things that will help us get there. This has led me to the “The Puzzle”. Think about putting together a really hard puzzle with a lot of pieces and of a picture with a lot of colors and shapes. That’s the type of puzzle we are putting together every season. But this puzzle is an everyday road map of your season starting from day 1 of training to the final game, match or race of the season. If done correctly the puzzle will put you and your team in the best position to achieve your goals.

Setting up The Puzzle: The way I set up my training periods of the 4.5 months before a marathon is by taking a calendar and literally writing out every run I have to do every day. Whether it’s a 20 mile run, a 12 mile Tempo or a day of rest, I put it down on paper and look at it every day so I know what I have to do and I can hold myself accountable to getting after it and getting it done. This can be applied to any sport. For example, Sunday- rest, Monday- hitting to the opposite field, Tuesday- glove side ground balls, Wednesday- turning 2 and BP, Thursday- Game vs. ___.

It is very important to be specific on the things that you want to work on from day to day. Don’t just write “Practice” because when you are done for the day you go back to the calendar and highlight the day if you accomplished that day’s task with purpose. And what I mean by purpose is that you set out that day to work on the thing that’s going to bring you and your team one step closer to the goal. It also helps to journal every day so you have personal feedback and reflection on how you are working. As the days go by you will be able to look at your calendar and see how you are progressing. So why is the calendar called the puzzle? Think of each day you complete with purpose as getting a piece to the puzzle. Then when it is time to put the puzzle together (tournament time) it will be clear what fits together and you will have all the pieces you need to achieve your goal. On the contrary, if you do not have all the pieces it becomes very difficult to put it together and there will be holes in it.

Here is a real example from my last 2 training logs for the Disney Marathon and the Boston Marathon.

Disney Marathon: Goal 3:10, 18 weeks of training, 92 scheduled work outs, 92 work outs made/highlighted, 678 total miles, 0 work outs missed, Goal Accomplished 3:09:34.

Boston Marathon: Goal 3:00, 18 weeks of training, 108 scheduled work outs, 91 work outs made/highlighted, 704 total miles, 17 work outs missed, Goal not realized 3:19:43.

I hope its clear how important each day is to the realization of your goals. So be consistent and commit to it one day, one step at a time and when the time comes to put your puzzle together you will have everything you need to achieve your goal.

Joe Villapiano. is an assistant football coach at Harvard University and the co-director for athletics programs for iBELIEVE. He received his masters degree in education from UCONN.