Baseball agent hits home for Laconia High students that character matters

LACONIA — Major League Baseball agent Mark Leinweaver may be a successful professional today, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t subjected to bullying in high school.

Leinweaver spoke to students at Laconia High School on Wednesday, about social issues like bullying, social media, and racism in a presentation called “Why Character Matters.”

An agent who represents more than 75 MLB players on all 30 teams, Leinweaver has spoken with thousands of students from 20 states. What started with virtual presentations during the COVID pandemic have continued for the last five years.

A sports agent gives advice, Leinweaver said, and must have strong character. Strong character is important not only for professional athletes or celebrities, but students like those in the city.

Leinweaver showed photographs on a slide of musicians Chris Stapleton, Taylor Swift and Kendrick Lamar, and said his message to the students was the exact same one those superstars get.

“It’s really up to you if you want to hop in and try to learn something in the next 20 minutes,” Leinweaver said. “While I am an agent, I think you’re an agent, too. The only difference is that I have 75 clients, and you have one. Who’s your one client? It’s yourself.”

Leinweaver said someone doesn't know the pros, cons, strengths, weaknesses, likes and dislikes of themselves, there will be a struggle.

“You always have to be honest with yourselves first,” Leinweaver said. “That can be hard to do.”

Leinweaver told the students they give themselves advice every day. He then dove into the ABCs of his presentation: Accountability, Balance and Character.

He separated the word "accountability" into “account” and “ability.” He asked what students' favorite subject was, and what they like to do outside of school.

“Every single one of you is a superstar at something,” Leinweaver said.

He told the students he won superlatives in high school for "most talkative.” He said he was kicked out of class all the time for talking too much, and while that wasn’t great, at least he was the best at it.

“For the last 30 years, I’ve used that skill, that ability of talking, to make a living,” he said. “That’s mine, what’s yours?"

He said whether it is in high school, college, or a job, each person's unique ability will give them an advantage. Leinweaver told the students to think about an ability which separates them from the rest.

He then asked who of the students like to play video games or watch TikTok videos, who was involved in clubs and activities, and who had a list of chores to do outside of school. The bottom line, he said, is that everyone is busy with things they enjoy doing, and also some they don’t enjoy so much.

“There are 24 hours in a day, but you don’t get all of those,” he said. “You get about 16, because eight of those hours are spent here, whether you like it or not.”

This was where balance comes in, and he stressed the importance of being your own client.

Character comes in next, as it is vital to “the client,” whoever that may be. This is especially important to recognize when it comes to social media and bullying.

Leinweaver said social media can be fun, and also an extremely dangerous weapon. He said people must be aware of what they post, like, dislike and comment on, because it can come back to bite them. An example he used was rap music, saying that if you repost lyrics with “the ‘n’ word,” it is no longer a song lyric, but a personal thought broadcast to the world.

Another example about how social media can determine the outcome of someone’s life was about a student from the University of Tennessee, who years earlier sent a private Snapchat using a racial slur. The message circulated and during her last year of college, the message re-surfaced and derailed her life, when she became a Black Lives Matter supporter and was called out for her hypocrisy in using slurs. She dropped out of college, her job search was affected, and she moved back in with her parents.

“It is your future that is on the line,” Leinweaver said.

He also said it's important to be brave, and if you see something to say something. He said being brave isn’t easy, and sometimes it means sharing information with a trusted adult.

Leinweaver moved onto being selfless and kind, rather than being selfish and mean. He also said it is every student's job to lead, not follow, when it comes to anti-bullying initiatives. He said bullying is an unacceptable behavior that has become a real and tragic epidemic.

“The only person who can decide what you want to be is you.”

Leinweaver ended his presentation showing pictures of a young student, and asked the audience if they looked like someone who might be called “fat,” “dork,” or “loser.” He told them the photographs were of him when he was young. He said it is important to treat people with kindness and respect, and to also use courage, confidence, and demonstrate the ability to persevere.

“I am living proof,” Leinweaver said. “It’s not about how you start, it’s about how and where you go.”

While Leinweaver admits sometimes the students aren’t always engaged in his presentations, at Laconia High, there were students who spoke to him about their own experiences.

A student told Leinweaver she and her mother have personally experienced racism, not only from high school students but also adults. She said more needs to be done in the school to combat racism and homophobia, which she said she witnesses regularly. Another student apologized to Leinweaver about a remark a friend made to him on the way into the assembly, which made the student feel embarrassed.

This type of engagement is why he makes these presentations in the first place, he said. Leinweaver said he was impressed with students as young as ninth and 10th grade who had the courage and confidence to come to him following the presentation.

“That is the future right there,” Leinweaver said. “There is no real value in having a speaker come in, if it is not going to create that ability for the student to want to lead, to create change or improvement. That is truly my favorite part: engaging with students, having leadership meetings and talking about how the responsibilities are genuinely on them. Hopefully when they come back a decade from now, they can see how their work here can lead to improvement.”