The Kappa Alpha Psi® Journal: The Undergraduate Issue

LEAD KAPPA

From left: LEAD Kappa Director, 58th Junior Grand Vice Polemarch and 70th Guy L. Grant Awardee Kristerpher J. Smith. LEAD Kappa returns at the 86th Grand Chapter Meeting.

Leadership Enhancement and Devel- opment for Kappas or LEAD Kappa resumed in-person programming and instruction for the first time since 2019 and pre-pandemic. Tasked with lead- ing the charge after a global pandemic, Brother Kristerpher Smith executed the first in-person LEAD Kappa after being appointed Director in 2020. On Saturday, July 15th, the 2023 LEAD Kappa Program kicked off at the J.W. Marriott in Tampa, Florida, with 60 of the fraternity’s brightest undergrad- uates. Upon arrival, attendees were greeted with a conference room- turned-classroom with Nike backpacks for their time at LEAD Kappa. The week-long program began with a welcome luncheon where the brothers could fraternize and network. Brothers instantly bonded by adding each other

on social media platforms and having small battles over which chapter or province was the best, who had the best kane-work, or who was the most fly in the room. Transitioning into their first session, brothers and repre- sentatives from Capital One® hosted a Behavioral Interview Workshop focusing on interview skills to secure their dream job. The brothers learned how to use the STAR Method—Situa- tion, Task, Action Result— to display their skills consistently and profession- ally and picked up tips about telling compelling stories and communicating their abilities and talents. Next, the brothers gathered at the University of South Florida (USF) for a series of team-building exer- cises, including a ropes course and several other exercises to build trust,

intrapersonal communication, and teamwork. What began as a mini-game series evolved into skills training that encouraged the brothers to develop nonverbal communication skills, increase mobility as well as social and spatial awareness. Smiling faces loaded onto the buses at the end of the day, raving about how much they enjoyed the USF course because it required group coordination and cohesion after many had met only hours before. Those smiling faces quickly became well-fed, and many wanted a post-ex- cursion nap as they ended the day with a panel from Capitol One from their executive leadership team. The panel, led by Brother Terrance Bowman, spoke to the need for financial health in students, building wealth at an early age, and navigating the ever-shifting

50 THE JOURNAL ♦ FALL 2023

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