LEADING THE LEADERS

Athlete Leadership Development Program

Build the next generation of athlete leaders with a proven, practical, and tailored program.

Develop athletes who can lead themselves and others with the self-awareness, communication, and leadership behaviors that translate directly to sport performance and life beyond it.

Leadership isn't a 'nice to have' — it's a necessity. Yet many of today's athletes are stepping into elite environments unprepared for the leadership demands of captaincy, team culture, and performance under pressure. The Leading the Leaders Program is Team8 People's structured athlete leadership development program — designed by four-time Olympian and Team8 People Founder Bo Hanson, drawn from three decades of applied practice with athlete leadership groups across high school, collegiate, professional, national, and Olympic programs worldwide.

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Why leadership development for athletes matters

Leadership isn’t a ‘nice to have’ in elite sport — it’s what separates teams that hold together under pressure from those that fracture. Yet many of today’s athletes are stepping into leadership roles unprepared.

They’ve grown up in a different era, with fewer opportunities to develop leadership through unstructured team environments and peer-led development. The result: a growing leadership gap in sport. Teams thrive when athlete leaders step up — not just with talent, but with the people skills, communication, and self-awareness needed to lead from within.

2008 Own The Podium Canadian Olympic Study

The 2008 Own The Podium Canadian Olympic Study revealed that athlete self-awareness was the second most important factor in achieving a personal best or winning a medal — second only to the coach-athlete relationship. That’s why the Leading the Leaders Program starts from within.

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Athlete leadership development needs a new approach

Today’s athletes learn differently. They’re constantly stimulated, digitally native, and require engaging, action-oriented learning experiences. Traditional lecture-based leadership development doesn’t land the way it once did.

At the same time, most athletic departments, universities, professional teams, and sport programs don’t have the time or internal capacity to build a comprehensive athlete leadership program from scratch — one that’s engaging enough for modern athletes, rigorous enough to actually change behavior, and delivered credibly enough to have athletes buy in.

That’s where Team8 People comes in. The Leading the Leaders Program delivers a complete athlete leadership development framework that is proven, practical, and can be tailored to your context.

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Introducing the Leading the Leaders Program

A structured athlete leadership development program that combines behavioral self-awareness (through the AthleteDISC Profile), engaging digital learning content (Athlete Leadership Learning Dashboard), live workshop delivery with Bo Hanson, and comprehensive workbook and practical materials. Designed to be bring learning off the page and into action.

Built on years of applied practice, research-backed frameworks, and modern learning strategies. Designed to empower your athletes to lead themselves and others — both on and off the field.

Key topics covered in Leading the Leaders

Self-awareness and behavioral self-mastery
Adapting communication for different teammates and coaches
Leadership behavior under pressure
Building relationships across behavioral difference
Attributes of effective leaders — what they do consistently
Vision setting and goal-driven leadership
Accountability and ownership
Team culture and leading from within
Reflection as a leadership habit
Applying leadership beyond sport

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What's included in Leading the Leaders

Every element of the Leading the Leaders Program is designed to support effective athlete leadership development. Structured for delivery over a set program period — flexible to fit your season, semester, or academic year. All included at an economic per-athlete rate.

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AthleteDISC Profile for Each Athlete

The AthleteDISC Profile is a behavioral assessment purpose-built for athletes — building self-awareness, communication skills, and leadership foundation. Each participant receives a 40-page personalized report, with optional Observer Feedback and Team Dynamics insights available for deeper integration.

Athlete Leadership Online Learning Dashboard

Access to the Athlete Leadership Learning Dashboard — a digital learning platform with videos, workbooks, and interactive activities spaced across a series of modules. Designed to support effective program delivery by internal coordinators or athlete advisers, integration, and pace over the program duration.

Live Workshop with Bo Hanson

A live leadership workshop delivered via video conference by Bo Hanson — four-time Olympian, three-time Olympic medalist, and Founder of Team8 People. Provides the credibility, applied context, and interactive engagement that elite athletes respond to.

Comprehensive 125+ Page Leading the Leaders Workbook

A comprehensive workbook filled with theory, reflection prompts, and applied practice. Athletes work through the workbook alongside the digital dashboard and live workshop — turning insight into applied leadership behavior.

Full Administration Support

Complete program administration including AthleteDISC Profile distribution, dashboard access setup, workshop scheduling, and progress support. Plus before we get started we include a complimentary program review to support effective integration into your existing athlete development framework, or recommendations on how other initiatives can be linked.

Optional Add-On: Coach Leadership Workshop

Coaches play a pivotal role in reinforcing athlete leadership development. Ask us about our specialized workshop for coaches to help them support their athletes through the program and beyond — reinforcing what athletes are learning through their own coaching interactions.

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The LEAD Model

The LEAD Model underpins the Leading the Leaders Program. It describes the critical elements of leadership and supports each athlete in understanding their AthleteDISC Profile, applying it to lead themselves, and extending it to lead others effectively.

Lead Yourself

The foundation of leadership is self-mastery. Athletes develop the self-awareness to know how to be consistently at their best — recognizing their behavioral defaults, stress responses, and adaptation strategies.

Engage Others

Building relationships with diverse people is fundamental to leadership effectiveness. Athletes learn to adapt their communication and connection style to teammates, coaches, and support staff who bring different behavioral preferences.

Attributes of Leaders

‘Leadership is, as leadership does.’ The A-quadrant focuses on the behaviors of leaders — what they do and how they act consistently. Athletes explore the applied attributes of leaders they admire and identify what to build in themselves.

Direction and Action

Setting vision, goals, and taking ownership. Athletes learn to drive accountability in themselves and their peers — staying on track when the pressure is on and translating leadership intent into consistent action.

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Who Leading the Leaders is for

Programs, teams, and institutions ready to formally develop their athlete leaders.

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NCAA Athletic Departments and Collegiate Programs

Athletic departments and individual sport programs deploying athlete leadership development for team captains, leadership groups, and full squads. Program can be deployed sport-by-sport, across the full department, or as part of a leadership class or athletic advising initiative.

Professional Sport Teams and Franchises

Professional teams building athlete leadership capability in captains, vice-captains, veteran leaders, and rising leaders across their leagues.

Olympic and National Sport Programs

Olympic committees, national governing bodies, and elite pathway programs developing athlete leadership across their pathway — from junior through senior representative levels.

High Schools and Independent Schools with Sport Programs

Schools with strong sport programs deploying Leading the Leaders across athletic captains, sport prefects, or student-athlete leadership groups. Complements broader school leadership development.

Sport Psychologists, MPCs, and Consulting Practices

Sport psychologists and mental performance consultants delivering the program to athlete clients — either as facilitators of the program directly, or as part of their broader consulting work with sport programs.

What our clients say

Hear from a program using Leading the Leaders

“The #1 thing about leadership is that each person leads in their own unique way. We work with each of our student-athletes to develop their self-awareness and emotional intelligence early in our program. “It’s really about strengths, not deficits. We allow time for them to each understand their own beliefs and values to help them develop an authentic style of leadership.”

Brian Townsend | Director of Student-Athlete Leadership Development, University of Michigan.

Founder of Team8 People

Designed & Delivered by Bo Hanson

The live workshop component of Leading the Leaders is delivered directly by Bo Hanson, four-time Olympic representative and three-time Olympic medalist for Australia, and Founder of Team8 People (also formerly known as Athlete Assessments prior to the companies merging in July 2026).

Bo has spent the past three decades applying leadership, coach, and team development across professional, collegiate, national, and Olympic sport programs worldwide, as well as in business and education. He was the winner of the Australian Institute of Training and Development (AITD) 2023 Award for L&D Professional of the Year, recognizing his dedication to applied leadership development and transformational work across contexts.

It is this high performance philosophy and approach to developing performance through people that underpins Bo and Team8 People’s work across sport, business, education, and tactical environments.

How to get started

1

Request Your Free Program Pack

Get a behind-the-scenes look at the program content, pricing, and process. Includes program overview, module structure, sample workbook content, and case studies. Talk to one of our Sport Specialists about how the program can be tailored to your context.

2

Select Your Program Lead

Identify a team member: coach, athletic staff member, sport psychologist, or L&D professional, to guide your athlete group through the program and champion integration alongside their broader development.

3

Choose Your Participants

From current team captains, emerging leaders, aspiring captains, or full squads — choose who will benefit most from participating in the program. Options for cohort-based delivery or full-team deployment.

4

Plan Your Program Delivery

Decide on your program delivery timeframe, whether season-long, semester-based, off-season intensive, or annual pathway integration. Our team maps the program content to your timeframe, administers AthleteDISC Profiles, and schedules your live workshop with Bo Hanson.

5

Access Full Resources and Ongoing Support

We take care of administration, reporting, dashboard access, and provide ongoing assistance throughout the program. Program review at completion supports next-cycle refinement and continued development beyond the formal program period.

Ready to develop your athlete leaders?

Whether you’re enhancing your current leadership curriculum or launching something new, the Leading the Leaders Program provides the credibility, flexibility, and proven impact your athletes need. Available with a cost-effective per-athlete rate for athletic departments, teams, and pathway programs.

Athlete Leadership Program FAQs

Who is the Leading the Leaders Program for?

Athlete leadership groups — team captains, vice-captains, aspiring leaders, and full squads — across NCAA athletic departments, professional teams, Olympic and national programs, high schools with sport programs, and sport psychology/MPC consulting practices delivering to athlete clients.

How long does the program run?

The program is designed to be flexible to your calendar. Standard delivery runs across a season, semester, or academic year with structured modules spaced across the timeframe. Our team maps the content to your specific timeframe as part of program setup.

Do all athletes need to complete AthleteDISC?

Yes — AthleteDISC completion is foundational to the program. Each participating athlete receives their own 40-page AthleteDISC report, which grounds the leadership development content in their personal behavioral context.

Is Bo Hanson always the workshop facilitator?

Yes — the live workshop component is delivered directly by Bo Hanson. This is a deliberate design choice: Bo's Olympic experience and three decades of applied practice provide the credibility and applied context that athlete leaders respond to.

Can this be integrated into an existing athlete development framework?

Yes — the program is designed to integrate with existing coach development, athlete pathway, and student-athlete development frameworks. Our team's program review is specifically designed to support this integration.

Is the program suitable for youth or developmental athletes?

The core program is calibrated for elite, collegiate, professional, and pathway athletes. Youth-specific applications are possible — talk to a sport specialist about tailoring for younger participants.

How does the program cost compare to building leadership development in-house?

The program is intentionally priced to be more cost-effective than building an equivalent leadership program from scratch. Per-athlete rates make it accessible at scale for athletic departments, teams, and pathway programs. Contact us for specific pricing based on your program size and delivery scope.

Can coaches be involved in the program?

Yes. The optional Coach Leadership Workshop add-on trains coaches to support their athletes through the program and reinforce leadership development in their coaching interactions. Highly recommended for teams and programs where coaches will be actively championing the program alongside athletes.

How do we get started?

Download the Free Program Pack for a behind-the-scenes look at content, pricing, and process. A Team8 People Sport Specialist will follow up within two business days to discuss how the program can be tailored to your context.