Leadership Symposiums

As part of a commitment to student-athlete personal growth and development, the Athletics Department collaborates with renowned sports psychologist Dr. Greg Shelley to provide cutting-edge leadership symposiums for freshman and sophomore students. Additionally, talented alumni and community members also provide leadership sessions for student-athletes throughout the year to help develop skills on the field, in the classroom and in the workplace.

With over 18 years of experience working with high-level coaches and student-athletes, Greg is one of the nation's top speakers and consultants in the areas of leadership development, team building, motivation, communication, conflict resolution, and peak performance.

In addition to working with college athletes, Greg is an associate professor in the Ithaca College Department of Exercise and Sport Sciences and teaches undergraduate courses in sport and exercise psychology, leadership and team building, and sport and exercise counseling. He also teaches graduate-level courses in psychological, motivational and leadership issues related to sport participation and training. He has served as a peak-performance consultant for over 18 years and has published numerous journal and online articles.

He is the co-author of Moving Toward Your Potential: The Athlete's Guide to Peak Performance and Coach Up: 50 Rules for Building Committed, Confident, and Motivated Athletes and Teams.

Greg earned his doctorate from the University of Utah in Sport Psychology (1997). He is passionate about developing student-athletes and coaches into highly effective leaders.

Greg visits campus during the first month of classes to speak with all freshman athletes and instills in them what legacy they can leave as students and athletes at Carnegie Mellon.

“Our Leadership Symposium is a unique program aimed at providing our students with the resources and skills they need to get the most out of their experience as students and athletes. It is always inspiring to spend time together discussing leadership and commitment.” - Director of Athletics, Josh Centor

"Dr. Shelley is an incredible resource for our student-athletes and staff. Learning new ways to enhance individual leadership and to develop positive team culture has a strong influence on each of our teams. These team concepts and leadership ideas will have a lasting impact on our student-athletes well beyond the years spent at Carnegie Mellon University." - Head Men's Soccer Coach, Brandon Bowman

Greg returns to campus in the early spring to visit with sophomore students and expand upon his session with the group from the previous year. The sophomore session is geared towards the next level of leadership within the team atmosphere and gets to the heart of what commitment is.

 "I really enjoyed Greg Shelley's session because I came out of it feeling inspired to become a better leader. We talked a lot about establishing a competitive and supportive team climate, which I think is absolutely crucial for athletic success. His use of anecdotes, demonstrations, and group discussions allowed us to take a step back to think more about how we can become stronger leaders. He encouraged us to feel confident in our ability to have a positive impact on our teams through both vocal leadership and leading by example." - Women's Basketball athlete, Lisa Murphy

Following the broad-based freshman and sophomore Leadership Symposium programming with Dr. Shelley, there are Rising Junior and Rising Senior programs conducted each spring for select student-atheltes that have been nominated by their coaches to participate in continued and specialized leadership training.