Bold and Cold: Cultivating Leadership Skills

Bold and Cold, a new Winter Term 2020 workshop series sponsored by the Heisman Club, is designed to cultivate leadership skills and learn how to build a strong team culture.

The goal of the sessions is to enhance individual strengths and learn how to leverage them for success in the real world. The idea is to create a mind-body connection through mindfulness and exercise.

Class participants were instructed by Alan Kolp, a professor of religion at Baldwin Wallace University, in the areas of culture, engagement, and performance. Lisa Thuer, who works as Oberlin’s director of annual giving, conducted a series of “fit to lead” sessions covering exercise, mindfulness, and nutrition.

Katie Schrader, assistant director of career development, led students through an array of topics regarding value, team building, and planning; while former women’s basketball player and current vice president at oXYGen Financial, Cristina Briboneria ’05, talked about the importance of budgeting and negotiating in the workplace.

Melissa Donohue ’87 provided valuable professional skills through her presentation of “Bringing the Obie into the Corporate World.”

“Leadership isn’t about a title, it takes a dedicated person to achieve effective leadership and empower others to reach their highest potential,” Thuer says. “This course offered students the opportunity to learn, gather resources, develop and expand their holistic leadership philosophies, ultimately cultivating a collective energy to inspire and motivate others.”

After four weeks of a variety of workshops, each Bold and Cold participant walked away with the knowledge needed to enhance their leadership roles on campus as well as the empowerment to take risks, try new things, and go boldly into the real world.

“I really enjoyed the Bold and Cold leadership program,” says law and society major Ambia Elias ’21. “It taught me valuable skills that are applicable to my daily life and helped me prepare for my future. Through workshops and various forms of exercise, I learned mindfulness and how to be self-motivated to achieve my goals.”