When it comes to being an effec­tive and con­ta­gious leader, Donté Hill has got it down. Just read it in his recently pub­lished book “Contagious Leadership: 13 Principles to Spreading a Winning Culture.”

Hill, a 2001 Ferris grad­u­ate, wrote this book to inspire and moti­vate peo­ple from all over to become a con­ta­gious leader and to shift their men­tal­ity to a pos­i­tive mindset.

“This book gives you the view­point of what it’s going to take to be suc­cess­ful in the busi­ness world,” Hill said. “It’s very prac­ti­cal and sim­plis­tic, but it’s con­crete infor­ma­tion that is going to help you become effec­tive imme­di­ately in your pro­fes­sional career.”

Some of the key points explained in the book, accord­ing to Hill, are cel­e­brat­ing vic­to­ries along the way, empow­er­ing your team to com­mu­ni­cate and nur­tur­ing your instincts. He expressed that even if a sit­u­a­tion may look neg­a­tive, it’s impor­tant to find the pos­i­tive in it.

“One of the biggest ways I excelled in being a leader was when I had to per­son­ally shift my men­tal­ity. I thought about pos­i­tive things and asso­ci­ated with pos­i­tive peo­ple,” Hill said.

“I wanted to help peo­ple accom­plish their goals– it’s not so much about ‘me’ as it is about ‘we.’ I can accom­plish things, but it feels great when every­one shines.”

While Hill was at Ferris, he earned an associate’s degree in pre-teaching sec­ondary edu­ca­tion. He was the cap­tain, and played guard, for the men’s bas­ket­ball team. Hill added that the “team phi­los­o­phy” has always been engrained into his mind.

After Hill’s time at Ferris, he went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in busi­ness admin­is­tra­tion from Brewton-Parker University in Mount Vernon, Ga.

Hill cur­rently is a sports broad­caster for the ABA’s Jacksonville Giants, as well as a moti­va­tional speaker. One of his desires is to visit Ferris State and be able to con­nect with stu­dents on a per­sonal level to help them learn how to be a con­ta­gious leader. He feels it is very impor­tant to cre­ate lead­ers for the next millennium.

Hill is also work­ing on cre­at­ing a sec­ond book to accom­pany the first. Currently, the book is planned to be called “The Fifth Quarter — Transitioning Athletes into the Professional World.” He even­tu­ally wants to make the con­ta­gious lead­er­ship idea a series of books for peo­ple to read and learn from. He added he wants to spread lead­er­ship one per­son at a time.

“Diversity is crit­i­cal, being a team player is crit­i­cal and hav­ing fun is crit­i­cal. It’s impor­tant for peo­ple to enjoy their lives. Some peo­ple say being suc­cess­ful is the key to being happy, but being happy is the key to being suc­cess­ful,” Hill said. “Being con­ta­gious will get you the
pro­mo­tion and open the doors.”

Want to know how to be con­ta­gious? Hill says you’ll have to read the book for that one.