Dr. Jeffrey Bogaczyk

Dr. Jeffrey Bogaczyk is a communication and leadership coach based in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin. Jeffrey is the founder of Mind For Life, a web and social media company helping professionals master the skills of communication, leadership, and persuasion. To date, he has helped over 10,000 students through his Mind For Life podcast, a digital ebook, 1:1 coaching, free tips through a weekly newsletter, and more. Jeffrey creates educational content on social media, with nearly 500k followers and 25 million views across platforms. He has served as a board member of the Media Ecology Association and is a book review editor for the academic journal Explorations in Media Ecology. In addition, he works in education as Head of School at Kenosha Christian Life School. Jeffrey has a PhD in Rhetoric and a Master’s in Leadership and Liberal Studies from Duquesne University.

Education

  • Ph.D. Rhetoric, Duquesne University

Professional Achievements

  • Communication scholar and practitioner with a Ph.D. in Rhetoric and extensive experience in leadership, education, and applied communication
  • Research and writing have appeared in academic journals and national publications, including The Review of Communication and Business Insider
  • Founder of Mind For Life and regularly teaches, writes, and speaks on communication, leadership, and human behavior

Certifications & Organizations

  • Member of multiple professional communication associations
  • Served as a Head of School, university instructor, academic journal book review editor, board member for the Media Ecology Association, and academic reviewer in the field of communication

Favorite Piece of Advice

Communication is the skill we use to negotiate every relationship, and it has the biggest influence on our confidence, success, and happiness. When you improve how you communicate, everything else tends to follow.

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Forum Comments (1)

How can you develop leadership skills?
My philosophy of leadership is that a leader is defined by someone who has followers. If you are leading and no one is following you, then you are just taking a walk.

The main aspects of leadership in my opinion are:
  • Credibility. Some questions to ask yourself are: Do people believe you are who you say you are? Do you have the degree or experience to back it up?
  • Competence. You should be good at what you’re doing. Can you do a good job leading the organization or taking care of the people within your team?
  • Charisma. You don’t have to be super extroverted, but you should be kind and likable, so your team feels like you care about them and respect them.
  • Communication. You should be able to communicate with a large group. Can you communicate a vision in a way that inspires others? Can you persuade them or be compelling so they want to get on board? A leader has to be able to motivate, and being able to share a compelling vision of the future is a marker of a great leader. You should also be able to communicate on an individual level. Those you are leading have to believe that you care about them.

John Maxwell outlined the 5 Levels of Leadership that I often think of.
1. Position - People follow you simply because you’re the boss.
2. Permission - People follow you because they feel like you care and they have a relationship with you. This isn’t necessarily a deep friendship, but some level of intimacy and respect.
3. Production - People follow you because you’ve done something for the organization and have established credibility through some level of success.
4. Personal Development - People follow you because you’re actually invested in their growth and development, and your support has led to some level of success for them.
5. Pinnacle/Personhood - This applies to people who are nationally or globally known, aspirational leaders like Gandhi or Jesus.

Co-authored Articles (10)