Beamer, Others, Deliver Rousing Talk On Legendary Challenges

By Laura Sposato
April 26, 2009 

Enter Sandman blared from the speakers while the crowd was standing, anxiously awaiting the arrival of Virginia Tech head football coach, Frank Beamer, to the stage of room 64 in the Graduate Life Center. 

On Saturday, Beamer joined Christopher Neck, who holds a doctorate in management, and Eddie Royal, current Denver Broncos and former Virginia Tech wide receiver, as participants in the Legendary Challenge seminar. Hundreds of people, including camera crews from Roanoke TV stations, packed into the auditorium to learn about leadership and accomplishing goals, or "legendary challenges."

"A legendary challenge is any really important goal in your life, that you feel can make a difference, whether it's in your professional life, your personal life or to benefit your community," event host Michael
Woodhead said. 


Several different examples of legendary challenges were presented during the course of the program. Beamer talked about the football team's legendary challenge in 2008 to win an ACC Championship. Legendary challenges, such as "Teach for Jaime" and "VT Engage" that had grown out of the tragedies of April 16, were also introduced and honored at the end of the event. 


The blueprint, and repeated theme, for success presented by the Legendary Challenge speakers were the three steps they deemed most necessary. 
"[This] leadership development movement is about inspiring individuals to dream, mobilize and succeed," Woodhead said. 


Beamer and Neck both expanded on each of the three steps, giving definitions, examples and insight on each aspect. 


"Mobilize, when you look it up in the dictionary, it means to marshal, to prepare, to bring together," Neck said. "What they mean here is marshaling, preparing and bringing people together to achieve your goal or legendary challenge."


Beamer shared some of his leadership theories that have helped him throughout his career. Five aspects that Beamer highlighted were care, trust, honesty, loyalty and respect. 


"Honesty is a foundation," Beamer said. "You have to be loyal to them and be positive to be successful."


The crowd included several student organizations that had been invited for free to learn more about leadership. Both Beamer and Neck were sure to keep audience members on their toes, literally in Neck's case. Whenever he felt the he was losing people, he had a member of the audience from the first row lead everyone in the wave.

Beamer stuck to amusing the crowd through his words, such as this humorous explanation as to why Virginia Tech will face Alabama in the first game of the 2009
football season. 


"How many saw the video clip of Cory Holt hitting me in the head in the ACC Championship?" Beamer asked.  "[Well, it] left me a little dizzy. It was the next day I said, 'Let's go play Alabama'."

Even Woodhead got in on the action, leading a couple "Let's Go Hokiest" chants from his perch on the stage. 


Despite all of the laughs and jokes, including the revelation that Royal was sometimes referred to as "Eddie Beamer" in the locker room, attendees of the event left with new insight about leadership and goals.

"It was a motivational and inspirational experience that I thoroughly enjoyed," freshman Neil Allerton said. "Although the topics covered today were not new to me, hearing about them from the perspective of Coach Beamer put a different twist on the theories and brought added excitement to the experience."