Teachers and Coaches: The Power of Personal Branding.

This past summer, I had the privilege of co-presenting with an impressive scholar from UNC-Chapel Hill. Dr. Coyte Cooper and I presented a session at the National Wrestling Coaches Association annual convention on the pros and cons of social media. This session, aimed toward high school and college coaches, was the beginning of a great professional relationship. While I “met” Coyte through social media we soon realized we had common friends through his and MacGyver’s backgrounds in wrestling. We just as quickly realized we share many interests and philosophies on youth sport and coaching.

Coyte recently had his book, Impressions: The Power of Personal Branding in Living an Extraordinary Life published. I spoke to him in Florida about his book, and listened intently as he shared pieces of his book during our presentation. It is amazing how much one can learn from this book! I think what I love most about it is its relevance for individuals of many ages.

I asked Coyte if I could feature an autographed book as a give a way on my blog. This is because I think the information within it is really helpful for teachers and/or coaches. It’s really important that we help our students and athletes understand how important it is that they have a vision for themselves and how they find their niche in the world. Given the digital community that we live in, it’s perhaps more important now more than ever that students and athletes understand the potential consequences for their behaviors and posts.

As my colleagues know, Move Live Learn was born by accident while I was taking time away from my career as a professor to be a full-time mom. While I didn’t formally focus on my personal brand at the time, many have assumed that I did. I think this is because I had a lot of experience in the school system and I already understood the importance of making positive impressions and strong connections with my students, their parent(s)/guardian(s), and colleagues. I knew that if I was going to continue taking on projects, I was only going to do so if each of them supported the health and well being (directly or indirectly) of those who need the support the most. MacGyver was insistent that I put myself out there and I recall a few conversations where we concluded the importance of me just being me - because authenticity rules. The name Move Live Learn definitely helps me stay focused on my vision for my company so that I stay low ego, forward thinking, and physically active throughout my life. The company was born in my pursuit of modeling health and happiness to my kids while pursuing my relentless need to work in the physical education and sport sectors. I definitely picked up tips in Dr. Cooper’s book that I’ll take with me as I move forward navigating Move Live Learn’s path.

An incredible amount of material in this book can help us help our students figure out what type of impression they want to make without them needing to necessarily choose a professional career path. The contents in this book are a good reminder for all of us! For example, at the end of each chapter, the book includes take home points as well as “impressions implementation exercises” for the reader to make sure the material is applicable and to encourage transfer of learning to daily practice.

Impressions - The Power of Personal Branding in Living an Extraordinary Life

I invited Dr. Cooper to share how he intended for this book to be used with teachers/coaches and the students/athletes that they serve. Here’s what he had to share:

1. As leaders, it is extremely important that teachers and coaches develop a brand that inspires the student-athletes and students that they are working with. It is so important to develop authenticity in relationships, and “Impressions” is designed to help people to understand their values and how to model them on a daily basis. I truly believe that teachers and coaches are responsible for inspiring their students and personal branding is a key part of this process.
2. It is so important for students and/or athletes to think about their futures and how their interactions impact this on a daily basis. “Impressions” is designed to help these youth and young adults get in touch with their vision, values, and interactions so they can make decisions to help build an extraordinary future!

Follow Dr. Cooper on Twitter: @coytecooper

I was initially invited to present on this topic as a result of this post called Social Media 101 for Athletes. I don’t know about Dr. Cooper, but I certainly hope our collaboration was the first of many! I have said it before and I’ll say it again, being married to MacGyver has resulted in me meeting a great deal of hard working and caring people. I consider Dr. Coyte Cooper high on this list! I am excited to share his excellent work with each of you.

How to win?
Let me know in the comments section below how you would use a book about personal branding and extraordinary living to positively impact children and youth in your life, OR why you are interested in reading the book to benefit yourself. Names of all people who comment will be placed in a hat for a random drawing. I will contact the winner for her/his address and send an autographed copy along!