J. Chad Mitchell is the author of the new book Change Your Game: Empowering Young Leaders to Ditch Doubt, Find Their Voice, and Impact the World. He is also a lawyer, and he lives in Richland, Washington.
Q: What inspired you to write Change Your Game?
A: Kids!
For 30+ years, I’ve worked with young people as a coach, teacher, mentor, brother, father, and community leader. I saw the impact teens had on their friends. I saw youngsters welcome the new kid. I watched youth transform team culture. I saw simple conversations change the trajectory of someone’s life; young people influencing each other in ways adults can’t.
I realized the leadership book I wanted young people to have, and wished I had had, didn’t exist. So, I wrote it.
A key message of Change Your Game: Hope is power. When young people know someone believes in them, they’re capable of extraordinary things.
I wrote this book because young people don’t have to wait to lead. They already have great influence with their peers. My hope is that they use it, and wield it with integrity, courage, and kindness.
Q: How was the book’s title chosen, and what does it signify for you?
A: Lots of reps. I originally titled it Youth. Truth. And leadership. Eventually, based on lots of feedback, I shifted to something more descriptive and outcome-oriented. The full title reflects what I hope happens after someone explores the book: Change Your Game: Empowering Young Leaders to Ditch Doubt, Find Their Voice, and Impact the World.
When people hear “change your game,” they often think about sports, which certainly influenced me. But I’m talking about something much bigger than athletics. We all have patterns of thinking, habits, and ways of treating other people – our game, our vibe, our leadership. When we change, we change the direction of our lives.
One of the book’s central ideas is that leadership begins by leading yourself. Before we can positively influence others, we have to examine our own choices, habits, integrity, and attitudes. That’s changing your game. As we improve ourselves, we improve how we influence our friends and, ultimately, our “enemies.”
The title is also intentionally hopeful. I don’t believe young people are stuck. I don’t believe mistakes define them. Every day gives us another opportunity to make a different choice, become a better listener, show more empathy, or encourage someone who needs a lift.
Q: How would you define leadership as it relates to young people?
A: Leadership is using your influence to help others.
Research and experience tell us that young people have enormous influence over one another. Teenagers often listen to their friends long before they’ll listen to adults. This is an underutilized resource, which creates opportunity.
Young people influence others every day. The question is not whether they’re leading. It’s what direction they’re leading others and how do we make them aware of their power to influence others for good.
A smile. Including someone who feels left out. Encouraging someone who is dragging.
The world doesn’t just need future leaders. It needs young people who recognize they’re already leading, and who choose to use that influence for good.
Q: What do you hope readers take away from the book?
A: More than anything, I hope readers close the book believing what they do matters.
Young people hear enough voices telling them what they can’t do. I wanted this book to be one voice reminding them what they can do.
I also hope they understand that leadership isn’t something you simply read about. That’s why I encourage readers to write in the book, highlight it, argue with it, answer questions, complete challenges, and do leadership.
Reading about leadership doesn’t make someone a leader any more than reading about Bulgarian split squats makes your legs stronger. Do the work.
One of my favorite stories from the book captures this perfectly. When my daughter Chloe arrived at college, she was overwhelmed and wondering if she’d made a mistake moving across the country. A young woman named Lauren recognized her, smiled, welcomed her, and invited her to sit with them for lunch.
Years later, I thanked Lauren for what she’d done. She didn’t even remember it. For Chloe, though, that simple act changed everything.
That’s what I hope readers remember. Your small act of kindness may be someone’s spark of hope.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: High school lacrosse season just finished up, so I am turning back to getting Change Your Game into the hands of as many young people and their mentors as possible.
I’m speaking with schools, youth organizations, coaches, educators, and parents, because I believe leadership development shouldn’t begin after graduation. It should begin while young people are discovering who they are and have great influence with their peers.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: This is a book about people and relationships.
It’s about helping young people discover who they are, that they matter, that their choices matter, and that they have power to make someone else’s life better. Leadership is these beliefs in action.
Despite the criticism today’s young people sometimes receive, I have enormous confidence in them. I see compassion. I see courage. I see creativity. I see young people who genuinely want to make the world better.
I believe one encouraging teenager can influence a few. Those few can influence many more. That’s how our schools, neighborhoods, and communities become stronger. That’s how the world changes.
That’s why I remain incredibly hopeful.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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