Leadership is about taking calculated risks and challenging the status quo while motivating people to achieve something new and better. It can happen on a large scale ― like leading a company or an athletic team ― or it can be as small as wanting to help those you interact with every day.

Cole Heidelberger wanted to do just that when he reached out to a New York Times best-selling author and self-help expert to bring him to Fisher’s campus.

Drawing on lessons and experiences from his involvement in Ohio State’s Dean’s Leadership Academy (DLA) located at Fisher, Heidelberger leaned on skills like negotiation and navigating difficult conversations to bring Harlan Cohen to Ohio State for a student-focused event in October.

The event, “Embracing Risk in Campus Experience, Career and Life with Harlan Cohen,” connected dozens of students with Cohen and Fisher alumni to explore embracing risk in education, careers and beyond. It also marked a finish line in a months-long journey that helped Heidelberger, a third-year finance student, come to a realization.

“Bringing in Cohen was a great opportunity for me to be able to hone my leadership skills,” he said.

Taking a risk

Scrolling social media last spring, Heidelberger came across videos created by Cohen, author of “Win or Learn: The Naked Truth About Turning Every Rejection into Your Ultimate Success.” Heidelberger realized that the skills Cohen was teaching ― navigating change, taking risks, building resiliency and reducing stress ― were qualities he was learning as part of the DLA, a 15-credit hour experience that helps Ohio State students develop essential leadership skills.

To turn his idea into an event, Heidelberger utilized his experience as a member of the DLA’s Ambassador Team. The group helps grow enrollment in the program, promotes leadership in and out of the classroom, hosts professional development and networking events and helps build community within the program.

For six months, he and a committee of fellow DLA Ambassadors ― fourth-year marketing major Nicole Kuan and fourth-year finance major Nasser Tahat ― worked on everything from budgeting and logistics to bringing in additional speakers and the recruitment of volunteers. Their goal was to tailor the event to all students wanting to build their leadership and risk-taking abilities.

“As a committee, we helped book the event space, reviewed Cohen’s contract, ordered food and recruited volunteers for day-of-the-event logistics,” Heidelberger said.

To help tailor the event to make it even more meaningful to Fisher students, Heidelberger and the committee invited fourth-year students Karan Gaglani and Brian Lum, and alumnus Adam Othman (BSBA ’19) to participate in a panel discussion with Cohen.

“DLA provided me with the drive and courage to go out on a limb and reach out to a famous author,” Heidelberger said. “It also gave me the leadership skills I needed to help coordinate and present this first-of-its-kind presentation to the Ohio State community.”

The event ― and all the work that went into it ― drove home an important lesson that Heidelberger said he will carry with him.

“Harlan asked us why we don’t do things,” he said. “He said the only thing holding us back is ourselves. He helped me put in perspective that my first job is not my last job. He helped me see that if I am rejected for an internship or job that I should see it as an opportunity to do something else.”