When the UT Institute for Public Service holds state government leadership and manager courses, some unlikely guests are called in to give the participants a pep talk.
For several years, IPS has worked with the UT athletic department to bring in women’s athletic director Joan Cronan, athletic trainer Jenny Moshak, softball coaches Ralph and Karen Weekly and men’s head basketball coach Bruce Pearl. They speak to attendees in the Tennessee Government Executive Institute (TGEI) and the Tennessee Government Management Institute (TGMI).
“Besides their notoriety, it’s effective to have members of the athletic department come to speak to our participants,” said Dr. Tom Kohntopp of the Jimmy Naifeh Center for Effective Leadership. “They convey a message compatible with what we are teaching. One of the people who has helped us the most is Joan Cronan. One of our facilitators credits her with being one of the top leaders within UT. She is a wonderful ambassador and really supports our programs.”
Most recently, Pearl was a surprise speaker at TGEI held at Natchez Trace
State Park.
“We didn’t tell anyone he was going to be there, and we brought him in, they were stunned,” Kohntopp said. “He is smart and a great motivator. The neat thing about him is he has a few notes, but he doesn’t give a speech. He uses anecdotes and tells stories. That fits in perfectly with what we were going to talk about in the next day’s class, which was how to communicate to employees.” ■
