In my life before Collegewise, I worked for a local office of The Princeton Review, best known as an SAT prep company. But they prepare students for other exams, too, and for a two year stretch that immediately preceded my time there, the Princeton Review office where I worked enjoyed record-breaking enrollments in their LSAT course (the LSAT is the entrance exam for law school).
But the enrollments never returned to those record highs. Not even close So I asked my boss what he thought had changed, and I never forgot his answer.
“Because The Princeton Review had an LSAT champion in Ian.”
Ian was in charge of running the LSAT courses during their heyday at The Princeton Review. He knew everything about the exam and loved teaching students how to beat it. You could feel that energy when he would do free seminars for pre-law students. Teachers he hired caught his contagious enthusiasm and passed it on to the students. When Ian would write letters home to students about course details (yes, this was 1991 before everyone had email), he would always inject humor and spirit into his communication. He wasn’t just phoning it in. He loved what he was doing and he was exceptionally good at it.
During Ian’s tenure, everyone involved with the LSAT courses could sense they were getting involved in something special, something they couldn’t find from the competition. You can’t fake that kind of enthusiasm Ian displayed. That’s why students enrolled in record numbers.
As my boss put it, “Once Ian took over the courses, the students just kept coming.”
What project, organization, class, club or team in your life needs a champion? What do you think would happen if you took it on the way that Ian took on the LSAT courses? And most importantly, what would people be saying about you when your tenure as the champion was over?
If you want to make an impact that people will appreciate, find something or someone who needs champion.