Matt Paknis Leadership Development

"Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:32 Berean Study Bible Happy Sunday! And Congratulations to Maggie Nichols, crowned yesterday as 2018's NCAA Gymnastics Champion! Ms. Nichols began the year by revealing she was the first gymnast to report abuse by Dr. Larry Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics team physician convicted of serial sexual abuse, to USA Gymnastics’ leadership three years ago. She ended the championship meet in triumph, with a string of performances that stamped her as one of the greatest collegiate gymnasts in history! Below please find the five steps regarded by experts to help abuse victims and targets recover from trauma. These include: a. Sharing all abusive experiences and secrets with a trusted, licensed / certified, recognized, and proven trauma counselor and, when ready, ultimately going public to expose the abuse and to protect potential targets. b. Identifying cognitive distortions and irrational mental filt...

Last night HBO aired a movie about Paterno's fall from grace as Penn State's admired football coach . It failed to reveal the Paterno I experienced when coaching with him and Sandusky as an assistant Penn State football coach in 1987 and 1988 and how Paterno's true colors facilitated Sandusky's rampant pedophilia. I experienced Paterno as a bully who demanded bizarre player witch hunts and staff behaviors. These contradicted his win the right way mantra. He also threatened staff and players with personal violence, he made racist statements, and he isolated, belittled, disenfranchised, and demeaned decent players and staff with tyrannical rage while projecting a calm and concerned public persona in the media. His true self so contradicted his beloved public image to this day people refuse to acknowledge Sandusky's crimes and Paterno's culpability. Paterno's ruse and permission set the tone for Sandusky to model and create a sham of a charity where Sandus...

This weekend, HBO will release " Paterno" , and Simon & Schuster announced the September release date for my book, "Successful Leaders Aren't Bullies". The film stars Al Pacino as Paterno and chronicles Paterno's fall from grace in November 2011 when he eclipsed the NCAA's all time coaching wins record AND was fired from PSU for his culpability in allowing Sandusky to sexually molest young boys. I worked as an offensive line coach at Penn State with Paterno and Sandusky in 1987 and 1988 and their bizarre power dynamics and narcissism turned me off to coaching. It also motivated me to earn an MBA and help organizations rid themselves of bullies and bad management practices. The film appears to allow the viewer to decide whether Paterno was complicit and knowingly allowed Sandusky to molest boys for the sake of Paterno's drive to become college football's all time most winning football coach and to protect his and Penn State's reput...