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The final installment of the 18:83 Speaker Series was presented on May 1 by UND’s head football coach, Bubba Schweigert, on the Memorial Union social stairs. The North Dakota native gave an enjoyable 20-minute talk on the benefits of selflessness in leadership. Humility was a major theme throughout the presentation, and it was by no means phony. The coach’s dry humor and sincere delivery made one feel as though he were telling stories while flipping burgers at a Sunday cookout. He delivered three points of wisdom concerning leadership and then finished the talk with an exhortation to value every member of the team equally.
Schweigert has been the head coach at UND since 2013. Before his current position, he was an assistant coach for UND from 1989 to 2003, serving as defensive coordinator from 1997 to 2003. In 2000, he was named the American Football Coaches Association Division II Assistant Coach of the Year. The next year he helped UND win its first ever NCAA Division II national title. He spent the years between 2003 and 2013 coaching at the University of Minnesota Duluth and Southern Illinois University.
He introduced himself to the audience quite differently, however. He began by recalling his senior year in high school back in Zeeland, North Dakota, where he and his 16 other classmates learned valuable lessons in hard work from their dedicated coaches and teachers. He described his upbringing as simple and wholesome and noted that when he got to Jamestown for college, the Hardy’s and McDonald’s in town were “a big deal.” While in college, he earned an accounting degree and learned the difference between leadership and management.
He pointed out that being a leader often requires managerial tasks and even confessed that they are not usually his favorite part of the job. Planning, scheduling, budgeting, and mediating are all necessary functions of a leader who, above all, cares most for the wellbeing of the team.
“I believe leadership is touching the hearts of people because those people you’re leading better know you care about them,” Schweigert said earnestly. “They need to know that you love them and that what you’re doing for them is to help them improve and be their best.”
The coach continued by revealing how a team culture is created. He explained that there are natural differences between all of us that could potentially pull us apart. An important role of a good leader is to find common ground and motivate everyone toward a common cause.
Reminiscent of the famous John F. Kennedy line, his third point was titled, “what you can give, not what you can get.” He began with a touching homage to his mother, stating that she was the “best teammate ever.” She always put others’ needs before her own, and that selflessness became the model for his leadership style.” He strives to direct his team by praising acts of selflessness and leading by example. His final piece of advice was to respect every role on a team equally. The success of the whole depends on it.
Coach Bubba Schweigert left the audience smiling and clapping. It was an encouraging note to cap off the series with and a pleasant diversion at the end of a long semester.
Quindelynne Davis is a Dakota Student General Reporter. She can be reached at [email protected].
