DeSean Jackson

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=6120346

I initially read about this story on Yahoo the day DeSean was on The View.  I then came across this story on ESPN.  A will give a little background info on the story first.  A 13 year old kid, Nadin Khoury, was the new kid in school.  While walking home one day a group of older kids ambushed him and beat him up very badly.  The whole thing was caught on tape and published on the web (YouTube I believe).  Once it was published, his mom and Nadin went public with the story.  Not long after that they got a call to be on The View to discuss the situation and talk about bullying in schools.  While on The View they discussed what happened and showed the video.  The people on The View got word that Nadin is a huge Philadelphia Eagles fan and Desean is his favorite player.  So the day before Nadin was scheduled to be on the show, they called DeSean to see if he would be interested in coming on the show as a surprise.  Without hesitation DeSean flew from LA to New York to be on the show and show his support.  DeSean grew up in in South Central LA so he knows all too much about bullying.  DeSean is now setting up a foundation to help stop bullying in schools.  DeSean is a transformational leader because he used people's emotions, values, and ethics to connect with them.  After watching the clip of The View many people were moved to do more than what they would normally do on an average day.  They felt compelled to do something they would not usually do.  DeSean is connected with the ichoose2live foundation.  By going on The View and expressing what it is like to be bullied and what we as human beings need to do to stop this, he helped open people's eyes.  He took on this task on a national stage, which can be often difficult, but with topics like this it is very hard to ignore.  DeSean used inspirational motivation which the leader inspires their followers through motivation to be committed to a cause.  He used emotions to appeal to those who tuned in to that episode.  As DeSean came on The View just about every on stage began to cry.  People were very emotional at this point.  As DeSean sat next to Nadin, DeSean took his jersey off his back, signed it, and gave it to Nadin.  He also got Nadin tickets to Eagles games next year, Philadelphia 76ers games, memorabilia, and his own cell phone number in case Nadin ever needed someone to talk to.  While the cause was for a good reason, DeSean definetly pulled on people's heartstrings to make a difference in their community and to people everywhere.  By promoting ichoose2live on both the show and on his Twitter account he gave his "followers" the resources needed to do something should they choose to.  Overall, DeSean used emotions to get his point across on a subject that really needs to be addressed because millions of kids are bullied and unless people do something to stop it, bullying will never stop.  Do you think that transformational leadership and pulling on people's hearstrings is really an effective way to get things accomplished in most instances?

Posted by Jason Svela