Messages on leading from within resonates with workforce

For the first time, two Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime based organizations joined forces to bring a dynamic and immersive motivational experience to the agency's workforce Sept. 2 in the Operations Center Auditorium.

Headlined by former NFL offensive lineman and motivational speaker Shawn T. Harper, the event featured heartfelt speeches about discovering the leader within.

Sponsored by AGOISSI Toastmasters and the DLA Land and Maritime Leadership Development Council, the session promoted self-awareness and personal growth through adopting a positive mindset to drive individual and organizational success.

The session also aligned with Defense Department priorities of fostering resilient leadership and a warrior mindset through empowering personnel to lead with clarity and conviction.

"Our goal was to expand the narrative and show the workforce that each person exemplifies leadership values and it's up to each individual to discover the leader within," said LDC president Dayonna Ripress.

Ripress, who works as a customer account specialist at DLA Land and Maritime, said the collaboration between the two leadership-focused organizations was a natural congruence of shared ideas and goals of inspiring current and future leaders by hearing from those who exemplify leadership through their experiences, service and perseverance.

"We believed the partnership would demonstrate unity and commitment to the mission of both our organizations," she said, noting that both missions align with the "People" imperative of DLA's Strategic Plan by cultivating community leaders who inspire, motivate and elevate those around them.

Harper, a native of Columbus' South side, spun a tale of resilience and reinvention by doing one simple thing: changing his mindset from victim to winner.

By doing that consistently throughout the ebbs and flows of his life, he has emerged like a butterfly emerges from its chrysalis: transformed. Each trial, each setback, each negative influence he turned into diamonds, never looked back and moved on.

He defied the odds at every turn by overcoming a childhood marked by poor grades, stuttering and other learning disabilities. Rising from an unremarkable high school and junior college football career, he became a collegiate star athlete who ultimately was drafted into the NFL by the Los Angeles Rams.

And seven years later when he was cut from the Indianapolis Colts and his NFL journey ended, he didn't give up. Instead, he pivoted to NFL Europe where he said he had "a blast."

Today, he stands tall as a thriving entrepreneur and one of the nation's top motivational speakers, proving that the winning mindset is not just a strategy-but a way of life.

"Along the way, I realized that football is a game and a sport, but it is not who I am," he said.

When he stepped out onto the auditorium stage with microphone in hand, he didn't just share his story-he delivered a call to action for all in attendance to release the past and embrace the present by adopting a winning mindset that fuels personal and professional growth.

"I just took that 'win' concept and began applying it in every situation, every circumstance I was in," he explained. "I began to move because I saw that success could be something that's in the minds of people, but the winning comes from the heart. When a person has a winning energy and a winning heart, it transforms from the inside out."

He often spoke at a whisper with his hands hugging the microphone tightly, rising in cadence with each point he made. Everyone in the room was riveted, waiting expectantly for what he was going to say next.

"You must have a winning mindset to unlock your true potential," he told the audience noting that his life really got started when he "turned obstacles into opportunities and probably into possibilities."

He said winners are fully present, pouring all their energy into the moment rather than living in the past, and that moment generates the momentum they need to move forward.

"Winning isn't a result-it's a mindset," he said. "And when you live in it, you win again and again."

"Winners do not fail," he said, pausing to let that statement sink in to all those in attendance. "It's course correction. They are defined by living in the moment and are constantly pushing forward every single day. And when they learn from those course corrections and failure, it's no longer called failure, it's called intuition."

"Important to achieving the winning mindset is knowing who you are," he added. "As all actions stem from thoughts and all thoughts come from your belief system."

He said without self-awareness, an individual becomes a reflection of others' perceptions resulting in their potential being depleted by outside expectations.

He quoted one of his favorite books, Psycho-Cybernetics where the author, Maxwell Maltz stated, "Victims wait for something to happen. Winners make something happen."

He said the inner strength, fortitude and confidence needed to sustain a winning mindset comes from within and is defined by Maltz as the human self-concept.

A poor self-concept or victim mentality is where he found himself early on in his life, before he realized he was riding the hamster wheel to nowhere and consciously made a change.

"Victims focus on what they are going through and winners focus on what they are going to," he told the audience.

He said winners make things happen in a variety of ways. Winners mentor, lead and empower others. Winners also surround themselves with people who see their potential as winning requires collaboration and vulnerability, as the most successful people and organizations always collaborate with a team.

Harper concluded by tearing four phone books simultaneously to represent the collective release of the past, empowering everyone in the room to adopt a winning mindset.

"You can't live in your memory-you have to live in your moment, as the past is a place of reference, not a residence," Harper said.

"In the game of life, there is always a way to win," he concluded.

His speech was complemented by Robbins and Schulze who spoke about expanding your capacity to find and grow into your true potential and achieving success despite adversity, respectively.

Robbins said in her speech that harnessing each individual's capacity is key to fulfilling full potential, and Schulze painted a picture of resiliency and adaptability when facing obstacles both as a group and individually.

"Life is about failing," Schulze said. "And then realizing we are not a failure. We have to keep on moving, because it's only when we quit that we truly lose in life."

Toastmasters International is a worldwide nonprofit educational organization that empowers individuals to become more effective communicators and leaders. Headquartered in Englewood, Colorado, the organization's membership exceeds 352,000 in more than 16,400 clubs in 141 countries and was chartered in 1924. The AGOISSI club, which stands for A Group of Individuals Seeking Self Improvement, has been training future leaders on DSCC for more than 60 years.

The Leadership Development Council is committed to fostering leadership and critical decision-making skills by providing the DLA Land and Maritime workforce with continuous learning opportunities through education forums, networking and professional events.

A recording of Harper, Robbins and Schulze's full speeches may be viewed at https://dlaio.gcds.disa.mil/index.html?id=COL209022025 (CAC-enabled).