Values based. Impact driven. Leadership focused.
Catchy phrases all, but what does it really mean to be values based or impact driven? What impact? What values?
“For me, that’s what gets me up in the morning: my values,” says Ryan Chandler, a third-year finance major from Savannah. “It’s what I hold dearest to me.”
What Chandler holds dearest includes his family and friends. What he doesn’t list as a value is getting rich.
“Values can seem like a very abstract concept, but I try to think about it in terms of ‘why?’ Why am I doing the things I’m doing?” says Kiefer Adams, a third-year finance and political science double major from Whitefish, Montana. “Why are we in this program? Why are we wanting to go into these career paths? Why do we value these relationships? The answers get you to that deeper level.”
Exploring that deeper level is what Chandler, Adams, and 29 other third-year Terry College of Business students (ILA Leonard Scholars) as well as another 120 Terry and non-Terry students (ILA Leadership Fellows) are doing every year through the college’s Institute for Leadership Advancement (ILA).
The ILA is a privately funded institute that offers a certificate program blending coursework and real-world experience to train the next generation of leaders, not just in business but across a spectrum of disciplines.
Responsibility, stewardship, excellence, integrity, and purpose. These are the core leadership values that the ILA looks for in students. Now, are these qualities innate or learned?
“For sure, some people are born with skills that predispose them to be great leaders,” says Stacy Campbell, PhD ’07, Synovus Director of the ILA. “But leadership is something you can teach.”
Campbell and the rest of the ILA team are dedicated to teaching those skills to students who go through their program. Not just the hard business skills but the so-called “soft” skills of relationship-building. Lesson one? Good leaders know themselves and know how to work with others.
“You’ve got to be able to motivate people, you’ve got to influence them to get results, and you’ve got to develop them. That’s what leadership is about,” Campbell says.
Origin Story
In the 1990s, when Earl Leonard ABJ ’58, LLB ’61 was in his last decade at The Coca-Cola Company, he found himself unimpressed by the job candidates coming straight out of college. They lacked leadership skills. It made him think about how higher education might train future generations to be better leaders.
Leonard, a Double Dawg and former faculty member in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, naturally thought of the University of Georgia. He’d been president of the Alumni Association, helped start the Presidents Club giving society, and served on the Foundation board of trustees, as well as a host of other roles with the institution.
Upon retiring in 1999 as the company’s senior vice president for corporate affairs, Leonard and his wife, Bebe ABJ ’63, established the Bebe and Earl Leonard Leadership Scholars Program in the Terry College. The ILA program came about two years later.
“I wanted to do something to give back to the University of Georgia, which I credit with making me a successful person,” Leonard told Georgia Magazine in 2014 as part of a cover story on the ILA.
In the 25 years since its founding, the ILA’s leadership development programs have graduated more than 2,300 UGA students. And the bonds among ILA alumni are strong.
ILA Scholar alumnus Michael Lage BBA ’05, chief marketing officer at Chick-fil-A, is part of a steering team that keeps Chick-fil-A connected to ILA leadership.
His experience with the ILA as a student is one that has guided his steps ever since he earned his certificate. And it’s a path that current students can follow. In their own way.
“The No. 1 realization of great leadership is that it’s not about you. It’s about others,” Lage says. “One of the most important questions ILA posed to us—and I still think about it today—is: Why would anyone want to be led by you? Essentially, what are you bringing to the table that will create value for others? It’s this others-focused, servant-based perspective on leadership that shapes how I try to lead today.”
Just Asking Questions
The first semester of the ILA experience focuses on the students themselves.
“My favorite part is getting to know the students and seeing them gain confidence through self-discovery and relationship building,” says Courtney Aldrich MEd ’05, the ILA’s associate director.
The students also get to know each other. One exercise Aldrich created is kind of an advanced ice breaker. Students sit across from partners and receive a color-coded chart. They’re given M&Ms. The color of the M&M corresponds to which question they ask. The practice of asking good questions and actively listening helps the students develop confidence in networking. Getting to eat the candy is a happy bonus.
“We get to learn about each other on a much deeper level throughout the semester,” says Emma Golota, a third-year marketing major from Gainesville, Georgia. “We talk about deeper topics and that makes us open up about the things that matter to us. ‘What’s your favorite book? What do you love to learn about?’ These may seem simple, but these are things we don’t already know about each other.”
At the end of their first semester, both scholars and fellows put together a personal development and leadership plan (PDLP) that articulates their personal values, develops a leadership vision, assesses strengths and weaknesses, and creates an action plan.
“It’s really important to know where you excel,” says Asal Montazer, a third-year finance major from Marietta. “You can lean into your strengths and work on your weaknesses. Being able to know yourself at that level is important.”
That’s something Campbell likes to see.
“We give students time to reflect,” she says. “That’s one of the ways we teach values. Give someone time to think.”
Making an Impact in the Community
The second year of the ILA experience focuses on organizational leadership and service-learning. Students take what they have learned about themselves and work in teams on real challenges of a nonprofit or rural Georgia community. With this project they get to practice the skills they are learning but also begin to understand the importance of servant leadership. In working on these service-learning projects, ILA students are making a real impact in their community.
One of the strengths of the ILA program is its longstanding network of alumni who continue to invest in students long after graduation. With more than 2,300 alumni who stay actively engaged—mentoring current students, offering site visits, speaking in classes, and serving as professional resources—the program benefits from a built-in support system that reinforces student learning and opens doors to real-world opportunities. This consistent involvement ensures that leadership development is not confined to the classroom but is reinforced through meaningful, ongoing relationships.
According to Samantha Brodrick, public relations specialist for the ILA, the steady flow of alumni and corporate partners returning to connect with students reflects something deeper than routine engagement.
“People come back because the relationships they build here matter,” she says. “There’s a sense of community—students want to hang out in the ILA suite with their faculty, graduates want to stay involved, students become alumni who do the same, and the cycle keeps strengthening the program.”