From My Neck of the Woods TO Your Neck of the Woods.

Often the The Ronin Post articles are long. But for this month, we’ll keep things short.

First. Spotlighting two Allied Ronin Associates - Madeline Wade www.MadelineWade.com and Susan Hammond www.EaseIntoAwareness.com. Madeline, a Master Somatic Coach, has years of training and work with Richard Strozzi-Heckler, Ph.D. Susan is a Feldenkrais Method® practitioner with extensive experience. She too sports a Strozzi-Heckler connection. She holds third degree black belt in aikido and we train together at Richard’s dojo. Madeline and Susan have added greatly to the past success of the Allied Ronin Leaders’ Retreat. Susan is also instrumental in the delivery of The Art of Practice & the Organizational Dojo™ (AOPOD). In January we traveled to Wenzhou, China, and delivered the program there. On March 14^th we will conduct our third annual offering of AOPOD to Environmental Chemical Corporation’s leadership conference hosted for their executives, managers and engineers coming in from around the world.

I strongly encourage you to sign up to receive Madeliine’s and Susan’s monthly newsletters. How? Visit their websites and sign up. Through both newsletters you will find practical techniques and insights on how to keep yourself on track. Both will help you move through life (including physically) with less stress and less pain. You can’t lose with Madeline and Susan. Your body, your mind and your spirit will thank you. Plus, if you are in search of a good life coach, someone who will be spot on and connect beyond a cookie-cutter approach that (sadly) the coaching industry is fast becoming known for – then contact Madeline and see if she has space available on her schedule for you.

Second. The Allied Ronin Leaders’ Retreat. YES, there will definitely be more in the future - most likely shifting to a Spring & Fall schedule rather than winter & summer.

The Leaders’ Retreat has been off my menu since last year because the lodge at Four Springs Retreat Center (our desired venue) burned to the ground in May. Four Springs and its director, Tim Locke, have gone a long way to support the Leaders’ Retreat to make it something special and unique over the years. I want to retain the venue whenever possible.

Dr. Derick Tagawa, a past and frequent Leaders’ Retreat attendee, once described the Retreat as follows: “The Japanese have a word which summarizes all the best in life, yet has no explanation and cannot be translated. It is the word shibui. A person is said to be shibui when he or she contributes to the overall success of others without doing anything to make him/herself stand out individually. The Allied Ronin Leaders’ Retreat is VERY shibui!”

Third. I just returned from spending five days in the forest lands of the Pacific Northwest. There I had the opportunity to connect with some great folks. At the end of the trip I went fishing. Alas, the only bite to be had on the Skoocumchuck River was the one I took from my sandwich. That’s why it’s called “fishing” and not “catching”!

Two Cranes Institute www.TwoCranesInstitute.org was first on my list of visits. I had a wonderful meeting with the institute’s founder, Kimberly Richardson. Kimberly is keen for

the Samurai Game® to be offered in support their outreach to businesses, universities, and individuals in the greater Seattle region. It looks like this may materialize in September. Nothing yet guaranteed – but Stay Tuned!

BJ’s Enterprises was the second visit. BJ’s is the company that put legs under Allied Ronin back in 1995. They have repeatedly used our programs for their entire employee base. I’m forever grateful to Bertha Jane (BJ) Turnipseed and her family. Because of her and her staff, hundreds of people focus on and daily practice great customer service. Thousands of people receive that service, and they acknowledge that. Eighteen months ago BJ spoke on behalf of Allied Ronin. Her voice and the voice of her relative, Toni McConnell, were listened to by the Puyallup Tribal Council. As a result, Susan Hammond and I began delivery last year for the Tribe with two rounds of The Art of Practice and the Organizational Dojo™. Now, an aggressive proposal is on the table to continue for the future. Like anything in business, there is no guarantee that they will move forward. But, it is something worth sharing.

My third visit was to be an all-business-aside-ninety-minute-lunch with a good friend, John Pace. We’ve known each other about thirty years. We flown airplanes together, taken hikes together, talked deep issues together, and shared some of life’s joy and pain together.

You can read about John’s love for and dedication to his wife, Rashmi, in the Ronin Post’s article “Perseverance Part II” http://www.alliedronin.blogspot.com/2010/08/perseverance-pt-ii.html. The April 2011 Ronin Post article “Paragraphs: Life Lessons in Bite Size Pieces” http://www.alliedronin.blogspot.com/2011/04/paragraphs-life-lessons-in-bite-size.html spoke to John’s diligent efforts in correcting problems facing Boeing’s 787 aircraft, and the ramifications regarding managers who would put a financial bottom line ahead of safety and the well being of the public they are charged to serve.

On January 26^th in the middle of lunch, we found ourselves talking about leadership, public service and corporate governance, and of what we as a nation find ourselves listening to on the radio and watching on TV. We both agreed that our “news” in the US is lacking when compared to what we both have found when venturing across borders - whether that be to Canada, Mexico, India, China, Europe or elsewhere.

At one point John said, “You know, I believe that many, if not most, of our companies, organizations and institutions really don’t screen for leaders any more.”

“What do you mean?”, I asked. “Well,” he answered, “I think they are looking for are people who can best bully and push others around in order to increase a short-term bottom line or to just get some pre-determined way that’s already been interpreted as being ‘right’. I think the American mindset has mistakenly begun interpreting bullying as leadership. Yes, it’s important to have a strong voice. But bullying and leadership are two very different and distinct things. We’re walking on some dangerous ground here.”

John’s a thoughtful guy. He takes care in assessing problems and situations. He’s dealt with some intense issues, including - keeping his bride alive in the face of opposition from doctors who told him there was no hope, and doggedly persisting to correct issues facing the 787; refusing to allow management teams in their drive to push ideas that could have had disastrous consequences.

He continued, “If this continues, we’re in for some rude awakenings here in the U.S. Even politically. We’re not engaging in, or practicing, or expecting meaningful dialogue. We are missing the respectful exchange of ideas for the purpose of finding common ground for a better future. Very few conversations actually exist to solve problems. What’s become commonplace? Loud voices that just need be right in order to win. People dig in just to keep their opinions alive and profitable. Nothing gets accomplished. Nothing gets created. Nothing moves forward. It’s short-term thinking. There was a day when we in the US led the world with creativity. Now it seems we’ve become greatly invested in being polarized and being right.”

Hmmmm.

I suppose I could have written about something else this month. Like maybe, why I didn’t catch a fish. But given our current national discourse (and posturing), I’d rather us stew for a while on what John Pace had to say over lunch on January 26^th.

A gnawing (and disturbing) thought of mine for quite some time has been that we in the US have developed such a fascination with entertainment that we’ve developed some weird interpretation for what “reality” is. Entertainment and politics and business have all become enmeshed. We don’t get “the news” any more. We get “the repeats” with a slightly new spin. We live by and inside of sound bites. We don’t investigate or research what we find on the internet, or what we read in some passed-along email, or what we hear on the radio, or what we see on the TV. We are so used to being hearing some talking head (regardless of industry) say, “what you really need is” that we begin to think we really do need it! We are used to hearing questions asked by reporters that are never answered. And then the reporter just lets that slip on by. Why? We don’t have time for the answer because we’ve got to get to the commercial. And what happens when someone lies and actually gets caught on record? He or she justifies the lie, and gets away with skillful re-language, saying, “I misspoke.”

As a child I used to read Al Capp’s comic strip called Li’l Abner. Therein was a character named General Bullmoose. His motto was: “What’s good for General Bullmoose is good for the USA.” Of course, General Bullmoose was a fictional character. Just ink and color in the Sunday morning cartoon section. Turn the page.

Like it or not, John Pace’s voice struck chord at lunch on January 26^th.

What he said has merit.

It is something worth thinking about. Isn’t it?

My question is – what to do about it?

Nidan (Part II)

On May 1, 2000, I stepped onto an aikido mat for the first time. Some years later I began including aikido demonstrations and simple exercises into training programs for businesses and universities, and started bringing in qualified aikido practitioners and teachers to assist delivery. Why? Some of my clients had been requesting the Samurai Game®, but were asking for it to be delivered outside of design parameters. Their groups were either too small or too large, or they wanted delivery completed in less than the required time, or the situation was not appropriate for the Game. As a result The Art of Practice and the Organizational Dojo™ (AOPOD) was created.

This past June I separated my right shoulder days before my initially scheduled nidan (2^nd degree black belt) exam. The test was postponed until December 1^st. California Aikido Association rules require that an essay accompany the challenge. Last month's issue of The Ronin Post contained the first half of that essay, "On the Eve of Nidan". The remainder follows. It chronicles reflections I had on November 30^th, the day before the test. Aikido principles are transferable to personal and professional effectiveness for daily life outside the dojo and off the mat. The following principles and terms most occupied my period of reflection:

* Ai - Ki - Do = Harmony - Energy - Way, i.e. the way of harmonious energy

* Irimi = to enter into a situation

* Tenkan = to turn and look at a situation from the opposite direction

* Zanshien = the maintaining of a connection with all that is around you

* Onegai shimasu = a greeting or offer made to assist another learning

* Sensei = teacher

* Randori = being under multiple attack (i.e., all hell breaks loose)

* Kyu = any aikido rank below the rank of black belt, with 5^th Kyu being lowest and 1^st Kyu being highest

* Katate dore, irimi nage, kaiten nage, and kata dore = names of various techniques

* Uke = the "attacker" in a paired partner aikido training situation

* Gi = martial art training uniform

* Hara = body center point, about two inches below the navel

* Seiza = a formal way of sitting on one's knees

* Aikidoka = those who practice and study aikido

November 30, 2011

On The Eve of Nidan

Reflecting back to January 10, 1997. Mid-afternoon.

I am sitting legs sprawled, on Capitola Beach south of Santa Cruz. The sunlight is striking my face, as is a brisk sea breeze. The wet sand soaks through my trousers and puddles of water surround me. The tide is coming in. An hour ago my friend, John Gallagher, and I were walking over boulders and I slipped and fell. A horrible pain shot up and down the left side of my body. I heard my left femur split. John turned to ask, "Are you OK?" In hopeful denial I replied, "I think I've dislocated my hip." Broken the hip was, but broken I didn't want it to be.

John has gone to fetch help, leaving me alone. Down the stretch of beach a disheveled man with dreadlocks is ambling towards me. As he approaches I tense. I am helpless. Easy prey. Two things have kept me conscious the past half hour: deep breathing, and my incessant humming "Think of Me", a song from Phantom of the Opera. The man now stands over me. "Are you OK?" I respond," No, I'm not. I think my left hip is broken." He then acts differently than my fear has guarded me tense against. He extends an offer and asks, "Is there anything I can do to help you?" I accept his offer, "Can you hold my hand and help keep me from passing out?" He reaches out and we begin to talk. A little while later the police and paramedics arrive. My helper (training partner?) vanishes.

The paramedics assess the situation. They say the only way to safely get me off the beach is: first, carry me directly into the on-coming waves and beyond the boulders; second, move sideways parallel to both waves and beach; and third, turn and walk directly with the flow of the waves back toward to the beach. It's a painful journey full of twists, turns, bumps, jolts, laughter, screams, but it works. We get to where we're going. The next morning a surgeon skillfully aligns and joins together my split femur, wraps it with wire, screws a plate to it and then bolts the whole contraption into my hip. I live five days in a hospital and go home.

Three years later Richard (by now I'm calling him "sensei") introduces me to strange words which unfold into profound ideas: "uke" - a would-be attacker who ultimately becomes an ally to a life of growth (my stranger with the ragged hair); "onegai shimasu" - an offer made and replied to by training partners ("Is there anything I can do to help you?" "You can hold my hand"); "randori" - when we find ourselves in the midst of forces (waves and incoming tide) beyond our control, "aiki" when we blend with those forces; "get off the line" when we allow those forces to have their way, yet we remain in connection with our own needs and sensibilities and core values. Paramedics, I discover, know the importance of "irimi", and "get off the line", and "tenkan". And they get it that life is randori.

On a January day fifteen years ago, I sat broken and helpless on a beach, and was carried to an ambulance and was then pieced back together. I didn't think of that episode when it happened in the ways just described above - but I do now.

Reflecting back to May 1, 2000.

About a year or so ago I started bringing my younger two sons to Richard's dojo. He invited me to come here in the evenings to find refuge. The futon in the back is my perch from which I watch his classes. My sons snuggle and sleep on my lap. It's a peaceful place, yet filled with swirling energy and falling bodies. I like it here. Outside this building mine is a world of anger, disgust, judgment and disillusion - the residue of my second divorce.

Tonight, on May Day, I put on a gi and take my first official step onto the mat. I come face-to-face with a truth about me: I put ten units of effort into achieving one unit of result. How do I know? Within five minutes I am sweating and exhausted. No one else around me will break a sweat for another half hour, and some wont' even sweat at all.

Over the next few months it becomes clear (not because anyone tells me) that the anger, disgust, judgment and disillusion is a world I carry within. Who tells me so? I hear it in the same voice that told me three years ago to distrust a vagabond walking towards me on Capitola Beach. I've noticed that Richard Sensei has been weaving a discourse regarding life learning outside the dojo. He speaks of it as "to embody an ability to relax under increasing amounts of pressure." I begin to realize that in all the years we have been friends, he has never defined effectiveness as mastering ways to avoid life's pressures and problems. He's only spoken of effectiveness as an ability to enter well into conflict.

I didn't think of my life struggles that way on May 1^st, 2000 - but I do now.

Reflecting back to June 2001. The day arrives for my 5^th Kyu exam.

My youngest son is here to watch. He's a 10 year-old forth-grader and he has only just now learned to read. For him school is an exasperating and frustrating place. He knows of my education and he is aware of how smart his older brother is. Within him is a world of self-judgment and comparison is held. Himself vs. me. Himself vs. his brother.

During tonight's 5^th Kyu exam I find it difficult to remember the meaning of certain Japanese aikido terms. My front rolls look like falling timber. There are moments when I freeze. My back rolls look like tumbling cardboard boxes. Richard Sensei has to call out some techniques using English words. When my short span on the mat is complete I find myself in the midst of personal judgment and comparison - me vs. other aikidoka. But sensei declares with a grin, "You passed." Later that night as I tuck Alex into bed I'm curious to know his thoughts of my test. "Wow, Dad," he says, "You did great!" I reply, "Well thanks. But I barely got a D." From that day Alex begins to see his father and himself differently. Coming to my Fifth Kyu exam is part of a foundation from which, ten years later, he will stand and walk taller as a man. Though he's never stepped onto the aikido mat himself, a seed is planted that night from which he and I will appreciate each other and ourselves differently.

In 2001, I didn't think of a 5^th Kyu exam in this way when I stepped out onto the mat that night - but I do now.

Tonight - November 30, 2011. On the eve of Nidan.

Tomorrow is my exam; but it's also just another training day. Every day is a training day. Something uncertain happens. Every day is the test. No matter who one is, or what one does, or where one lives. What will I learn? I'm not sure. But I trust that my practice will be zanshien, so that I can learn from life's sensei - teachers that live in everything around me. I trust that I will irimi so that I can tenkan. I trust I will keep my base. I trust that I will move from my center, my core values, my true hara, and that when and if I don't that I will return to my center very soon. I trust that I will love life's ukes, in whatever form they take because through them what is (and will be) here for me to learn from will be revealed.

I may see things differently in the future than I do now. And I hope and trust I will.

© Lance Giroux, January 2012

Nidan

Richard Strozzi-Heckler at Two Rock Aikido dojo www.tworockaikido.com

Twenty of my past thirty-seven years have been generally influenced by the martial art aikido (www.aikido.com) with the most recent twelve being directly influenced by it. Many Samurai Game® www.SamuraiGame.org facilitators use aikido-based movements to prepare participants for the Game's play. By 2000, I knew that to best understudy George Leonard (www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Leonard) and his Game I should engage in aikido. He practiced it, eventually held 5^th degree black belt rank in it, and wrote extensively about it. So, in May of that year I stepped onto the mat and began my own path of practice.

Some years later I began delivering a training/learning program using aikido demonstrations and simple exercises, and started bringing in qualified aikido practitioners and teachers to assist delivery. Why? Numerous organizations and schools had been requesting the Game, but were asking for delivery outside its design parameters. Their groups were either too small or too large, or they wanted delivery completed in less than the required time, or the situation was not appropriate for the Game. Out of this need I designed The Art of Practice and the Organizational Dojo™ (AOPOD).

AOPOD, now delivered internationally, provides clients and participants a powerful platform for enhanced awareness and practices regarding service, communication, leadership, teamwork and successful conflict resolution. Users, some on a recurring basis, include: Event Network Inc., Environmental Chemical Corporation, The Emerald Queen Casino/Hotel, personnel of the USS John C Stennis aircraft carrier, Bond University, Top Human International, Transcendence and Ju Hong HR Services Ltd in PR China, etc. Skillfully playing a major part in its delivery are Allied Ronin Associates Susan Hammond www.EaseIntoAwareness.com, Lisa Ludwigsen www.SchoolGardenCo.com, and Dr. Paul Marshall www.cdrs.com.au.

This past June I suffered a shoulder separation four days before my initially scheduled nidan (2^nd degree black belt) exam, and needed to delay the test for six months. The Ronin Post's July and August 2011 issues contain my article "Testing Time", dedicated to mountain climber Carlos Buhler www.carlosbuhler.com and how meeting him carried me through my injury and test postponement. On December 1^st, a few days ago, the rescheduled exam happened. At this level of testing an essay accompanies the challenge. Here, for this month and next, my essay is provided - completed November 30^th as I reflected on certain aiki principles directly transferable to personal and professional effectiveness in the world that exists off the mat.

A few definitions (some loosely translated) to assist your read:

* Ai - Ki - Do = Harmony - Energy - Way, i.e. the way of harmonious energy

* Irimi = to enter into a situation

* Tenkan = to turn and look at a situation from the opposite direction

* Zanshien = the maintaining of a connection with all that is around you

* Onegai shimasu = a greeting or offer made to assist another's learning

* Sensei = teacher

* Randori = being under multiple attack (i.e., all hell breaks loose)

* Kyu = any aikido rank below the rank of black belt, with 5^th Kyu being lowest and 1^st Kyu being highest

* Katate dore, irimi nage, kaiten nage, and kata dore = names of various techniques

* Uke = the "attacker" in a paired partner aikido training situation

* Gi = martial art training uniform

* Hara = body center point, about two inches below the navel

* Seiza = a formal way of sitting on one's knees

* Aikidoka = those who practice and study aikido

On The Eve of Nidan

November 30, 2011.

Now I go within to reach back and touch memories: things I have noticed along the way. Tomorrow is my exam; but tomorrow is also another training day - not only in the dojo. In life every day is a training day, and every day is also a test. No matter who one is, or what one does, or where one lives. Some reflections I'm having today on the eve of nidan.

June 14, 2011.

It's 11pm at Petaluma hospital ER. My nidan exam was to be this coming weekend; the operative word is "was". Four hours ago I took a fall on the mat and separated my shoulder. Outside the dojo in pain, I sat on a wood bench and looked up. My sensei is standing there. "Well, no test for me," I say. He softly replied, "Maybe this is the test." Moments ago the ER doc had good news. The injury is not major and I will heal. She says it's a matter of patience and time. Isn't that the truth - she, the doctor - could be sensei's best friend, showing up here tonight to remind me that aikido, like life, is something we live within. Tonight begins my entry into six-months from which I can turn and look back so I might move forward again. Tonight is irimi tenkan.

At the moment I landed on my shoulder and it separated I didn't take it as an opportunity to irimi and tenkan - but I do now.

September 30, 2011.

I'm sitting seiza at the recreation center gym in Incline Village, NV. The weekend seminar hosted by Truckee Aikido www.TruckeeAikido.org has just opened. It's an annual gathering for aikidoka from Two Rock Aikido www.TwoRockAikido.com (Petaluma) and North Bay Aikido www.aikidosantacruz.org (Santa Cruz). Richard Sensei, bows in and turns, "Let's practice Aikido". A wave of hot energy surges within me because these three words ("let's practice aikido" is his standard opening to every class) sound so differently in this moment. Prior to tonight I've interpreted this greeting as an invitation to engage in a martial art full of techniques: katate dore and irimi nage and kaiten nage and kata dore, etc. Tonight I'm struck that my journey these past eleven years stretches far beyond a martial art, or taking a sit fall or doing a soft front roll or learning to knee walk. Tonight I hear his invitation as "let's practice living in accordance with life's principles" - principles of mastery important to all: martial artists, musicians, lawyers, teachers, physicists, carpenters, farmers, soldiers, politicians, priests, rabbis, casino floor workers, sports coaches, workers on the floor of a stock exchange, bankers, prison guards, etc. Yes, tonight, "let's practice aikido" invites that I will perform certain martial art movements; but this shrinks in comparison to how I engage with people outside the dojo: how I listen, how I walk through an airport, how I comport myself when passing through immigration in some far off land, how I pay my bills and file my taxes, how I engage with my ex-wife, etc. All of this is suddenly included into possibility of "ai " and "ki" and "do" as a practice.

Before this night I didn't think of Richard Sensei's class greeting this way - but I do now.

1992. A late Spring day at 4pm

I am walking aside a pond in Lake County, California. Two government-issue general purpose medium tents stand before me; butted together they form the classroom for an intense seminar that I'm conducting. A few months ago I hired Richard Strozzi-Heckler to come here today and facilitate a leadership simulation, The Samurai Game®. Richard is fast becoming a friend and colleague. The Game is an aikido-based invention of his friend, George Leonard. I don't realize it at this time, how much Richard and George have contributed to the world as aikido sensei as well as through their individual and collective teachings based on aikido.

About a half hour ago the men I was in charge of followed Richard outside the tents for some grounding and centering exercises and "two-step", plus something he calls walking into empty spaces. Now on our way back to the tent Richard turns and asks me a simple question, "What is your practice?" I haven't a clue what he is talking about, and in that moment I'm tongue-tied, though my internal mental chatter is running non-stop. I look around me. A vivid world explodes and settles like dust: the sounds of birds and frogs, the warmth of sunlight striking my left cheek, the texture of the air stirring my hair, the smell of pond water, the crunch of my boots on rocks beneath my feet. Richard's exercises and his question have caused me to lift my head and reach out with my senses to connect with all that surrounds me.

Inside the tent he quotes Taisen Deshimaru, "You must concentrate upon and consecrate yourself wholly to each day, as though a fire were raging in your hair." In the moment it's impossible for me to know that in eight years in addition to the word "friend", I will associate "zanshien" and "sensei" when thinking and speaking of him.

Mindful connection. Teachers. Both are important, regardless of one's profession or study or occupation or position in life. All of us, whether walking to tent or walking through life, no matter who we are, if we look we will find many sensei. If we truly commit to connect we understand zanshien.

I didn't think about teachers and present mindedness in this context in 1992 - but I do now.

January 10, 1997. Mid-afternoon.

I am sitting legs sprawled, on Capitola Beach south of Santa Cruz. The sunlight is striking my face, as is a brisk sea breeze. The wet sand soaks through my trousers and puddles of water surround me. The tide is coming in. An hour ago my friend, John Gallagher, and I were walking over boulders and I slipped and fell. A horrible pain shot ...

(to be continued in January 2012 issue of The Ronin Post)

© Lance Giroux, November 2011

Insights with Eric T. Olson (part II)

October's issue of The Ronin Post contained part one of an interview with Eric T. "Rick" Olson, the 67^th Commandant of the US Military Academy, West Point, and former Commanding General of the 25^th Infantry Division. As mentioned there, Rick has been a servant leader for more than forty years. He retired from the Army in 2005, but continues to serve what he believes in, particularly regarding ideas, ideals, and human beings. At the present time he directs strategic communication for the Child, Adolescent, and Family Behavioral Health Office (CAF-BHO), which manages and develops programs supporting military kids and families for the US Army. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/health/supporting-military-families-the-child-adolescent-and-family-behavioral-health-office/11354/

We now continue

"Insights with Eric T. Olson"

Rick: ... Leaders who respect those who work for them and who will have their back in cases where events don't go as planned are the ones who achieve the most success and for whom people want to work. There is no room in the military for "harsh or tyrannical treatment". The same can be said for leadership in the office, boardroom, the halls of academe or wherever teamwork is a requirement.

Allied Ronin. I think it would be an understatement to say that, Vicki, your bride now of thirty-nine years, is a powerful leader. What have you seen in her? What have you learned from her, the examples she has set and the stands she has taken over her lifetime?

Rick: She is an interesting example of a special type of leader. In most instances she had to lead fairly large and complex organizations and groups without any specific mandate. What has been critical to her success has been a tremendous set of interpersonal skills, a natural enthusiasm for everything that she takes on, and the kind of fierce determination to make good things happen that inspires others to get on board. She has also shown herself to be totally selfless in her efforts-her work on behalf of Army children and families is a prime example of where she sacrificed much of herself to the greater good of the community. She also is extremely organized and disciplined in her thinking and in her approach to problem solving.

Allied Ronin. What was it like being the Commandant at West Point? What challenges did you face? What moved you the most about that time in your life? What surprises did you find upon coming into that job?

Rick: Those who have been privileged to serve as Commandant of Cadets at West Point will tell you that it is one of the best assignments that you can have as a general officer in the Army. The unbridled energy of the cadets (sometimes too unbridled) is inspiring, and the quality of the young men and women who attend the Academy says great things about the youth of America. West Point is a superb way to ensure that great people are drawn to the service of the Nation, and the systems, programs, and institutions at the Academy tend to make good people better.

My greatest challenge as the Commandant was the day that four airliners were hijacked and suicide attacks launched at New York and Washington, DC. At that moment the 4000 cadets of the Corps knew that their lives would be changed forever in a very direct and personal way. That day it became incumbent upon us as leaders at the Academy to ensure that graduates of USMA had the best possible preparation to lead soldiers in battle, in some cases within months of graduation.

Allied Ronin. Sometimes I hear people who have never been in the military talk about "the military mind", and often as an expression of something rigid or having a particular political perspective. But in my own life I've found the opposite. In other words, I have found a divergence of life perspectives across the spectrum from people who have served - not only during our time, but before and after. What have you found? How have you dealt with the struggle that sometimes comes with bringing alternative perspectives into an alignment for action that can serve a larger or common good?

Rick: It is true that men and women in uniform think about things and approach issues and problems in a manner that might be loosely classified as "military". Any group of individuals who have a relatively common background, have lived and worked together over time, and have been trained and developed as part of the same system are going to have similar characterizing traits and will react to situations in a similar manner. A "military mind" is correctly viewed by those who see it in leaders who take a disciplined and organized approach to management and problem solving. But that does not mean that such leaders-or any individuals with military experience-should be expected to have a uniform set of views on social, societal, or political matters. Nor should one equate having a "military mind" with a rigid or unyielding approach to problem solving. The best military leaders at all ranks are those who are innovative and, within certain boundaries, prone to do the unexpected. After all, surprise is one of the classic military principles of war.

Allied Ronin. What matters to you? If your voice could be heard by people young and old, of our nation and the world at large, what would you want people to pay attention to?

Rick: That's a weighty question, and one that is hard to answer without lapsing into some pretty tired saws that sound right but don't serve any real useful purpose or function. But, OK, I'll try this: don't make too much out of anything.

Allied Ronin: You currently direct strategic communication for CAF-BHO based in Tacoma, Washington. What can you tell us about this organization - what it does, its importance, the need it fills and why - and your personal reasons for deciding to do this now?

Rick: The Child, Adolescent, and Family Behavioral Health Office (CAF-BHO) was established in 2008 to coordinate the efforts of the United States Army Medical Command on behalf of better behavioral health for military kids and families who are suffering from the effects of multiple and long term deployments of a dad or a mom. The statistics are pretty clear -- about a third of military children have exhibited some sort of stress related behavioral health issue that can be tied directly to the deployment of a parent. The CAF-BHO manages 3 primary programs that support the accomplishment of this mission: Child and Family Assistance Centers that provide and coordinate care for family members at the installation level; the School Behavioral Health program that puts care providers in schools with large concentrations of military kids; and a series of training packages that target primary care providers, parents, teachers and others who experience first-hand the issues that family members are experiencing. My personal involvement in the program dates back the time that I served as the commanding general of the 25th Infantry Division when Vicki and I were involved in the setting up some of the first programs specifically designed to care for family members while soldiers were deployed.

Allied Ronin: In what ways can average people from the general public, business leaders, and organizations from outside of the military support or help your efforts, and/or the efforts of CAF-BHO?

Rick: Community leaders -- be they business executives, school administrators, local government officials and the like -- can be of tremendous assistance to the efforts on behalf of military families simply by making an effort to reach out to the installations that are part of their respective communities. There are always activities and events that are designed to help kids and families that installations are conducting. Community support can be instrumental in making these activities a success. In locations where there is no installation nearby, look for the families that include National Guardsmen or Reservists who are serving. Their families need support too. In most cases the problems being encountered by military family members can be solved without a huge expenditure of money or other resources. Understanding and reaching out to military communities and members can go a long way!

Allied Ronin. Looking back over the last forty years of your life, what one or two things in particular do you feel is important that a person should understand about self?

Rick: Develop the ability to bounce back, and everybody does this differently. Know what works best for you, and practice it. Also, in the grand scheme very few of us is as important as we think we are, but we should never underestimate the impact that we have on the ones who love us.

Allied Ronin. Thank you for the time you've given this interview, and thank you very much for the service you've given over all these years. Is there anything else you would like to add?

Rick: Thanks Lance, and good luck as you continue the important work that you do.

© Lance Giroux, November 2011

Insights with Eric T. Olson (Part 1)

Ours are revolutionary times. Not so much for the extent of turbulence

and disruption as because of the emergence of a significant number of thoughtful and aware people who see more clearly the world as it is and are not satisfied with it. - Robert Greenlean, (The Servant as Leader, 1970)

Eric "Rick" Olson has been a servant leader for more than forty years. Most of these years have been in the military and in places such as Germany, Bosnia, Somalia, Afghanistan and Iraq. In 2000, as a brigadier general, he became the 67th Commandant of the US Military Academy, West Point. Two years later he received his second star and moved on to command the 25th Infantry Division and all Army forces in Afghanistan. He was selected for promotion to Lieutenant General, but in a surprising move, he opted to end his career and move into civilian life. He served as Vice President MPEG LA (China) where he was responsible for the initiation of the first-ever effort to promote intellectual property rights and a patent license model in China. August 2006 to August 2007 found him at the US Embassy, Baghdad providing guidance and coordinating activities for provincial reconstruction. He then served as Chief of Staff and Special Advisor to the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction. Currently he is the director of strategic communication for the Child, Adolescent, and Family Behavioral Health Office (CAF-BHO), which manages and develops programs supporting military kids and families for the US Army.

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/health/supporting-military-families-the-child-adolescent-and-family-behavioral-health-office/11354/

Our path's first crossed in 1968, when we stood above the Hudson River and were sworn in as new cadets (plebes) at West Point. Following a three-month initiation (then called Beast Barracks) to the rigors of the Academy we were assigned as company mates. Over the next four years we became friends, and ever since then we've stayed in touch. Recently, I asked Rick if he'd be willing to be interviewed for The Ronin Post. His reply, "I'd be honored."

He should write his autobiography, a sentiment shared by a number of our classmates. If there's a stand-up guy, a person who is not only solid and smart but someone who takes time to examine the practicality of principles and perspectives, including those vastly divergent from his own, a person who cares about people and at the same time understands how to move decisively forward in the face of fear - then this is Rick Olson.

Join me now for Insights with Eric T. Olson.

Allied Ronin: You've had an incredible career. My guess is that there is still plenty in your future. But to begin with I'd like you to look back through the formative years that were your 1950's and 1960's. What was it like for you as a young person growing up and living in the family, the school and the community that you did?

Rick: I grew up in a "normal" community and had little exposure to the Army or any kind of military way of life until attending West Point. That said, my family was a stable one, I was the beneficiary of a solid public school education, and the whole community where I spent my formative years was characterized by a commitment to the importance of values and the notion that each individual had a responsibility to make a contribution to society-- that "growing up" involved embracing that responsibility and preparing to meet it.

Allied Ronin: On July 1, 1968 you stood on a grassy field, swore an oath, and became part of the West Point Class of 1972. What other college options had you considered? What influenced you to eventually decide on attending the Academy?

Rick: In high school, I ran in a circle of high achievers, and when it came to applying to colleges we all pretty much targeted the same small circle of schools-the Ivies as a first pick and local state universities as our "safe choices". Our high school had a few alumni who had attended the military academies, so it occurred to some of us (two in my HS graduating class) to take a shot at West Point.

In the end a high school classmate (who was also a lacrosse and soccer teammate and a good friend) and I chose West Point for pretty much the same reason: we wanted a challenge that went above and beyond the normal college experience. Speaking for myself, I had also begun to formulate in my own mind some vague notion of what selfless service to the Nation entailed and a belief that fulfillment would involve more than just rising in the corporate world, starting my own business, or making money. West Point just seemed like the right thing to do.

Allied Ronin: How would you describe cadet life of the late 60's and early 70's? On the one hand as one guy living inside a very peculiar system; and on the other hand as a young man living during a unique time of the United States - Woodstock, Apollo 11, Watergate, the resignations of Spiro Agnew and Richard Nixon, and what is known as "The Cold War" - how would you summarize this for you? What lessons did you learn about life and leadership from the experiences of this time?

Rick: I think too much can be made of the contrast between the life we lived at West Point in the late 60's and early 70's and what was going on "outside the gates". True, we didn't grow out our hair and put on bell bottoms, but we were not isolated from the ideas, political or societal trends, or spirit that characterized the larger American society at the time, and isn't that what that era was really all about? However, many of us who had chosen to attend the Academy at that time were probably naturally predisposed to challenge and question the direction that our civilian counterparts seemed to be choosing. Our view was that much of what was happening seemed negative and destructive-perhaps long on highlighting problems but short on solutions. If anything being at West Point at the time seemed to harden our resolve to look for constructive ways to solve problems, and perhaps to lead for positive change.

Allied Ronin: I believe that if we look we find that we all have had profound personal experiences, some large and others small, that we could call "most influential." What were a few of yours in your early career? Why were these so influential? And now, looking back, what would you say about these experiences and what they have meant to your life and the lives of others?

Rick: Rather than citing a specific incident let me give a brief description of a general situation. My first assignment as a young second lieutenant shaped an attitude and underscored a set of principles that prevailed through my entire career. The early 70's were hard years for the Army. The "hollow force" presented a wide range of challenges that we young officers and noncommissioned officers had to deal with: the shadow of Vietnam, draftee soldiers who wanted nothing more than to finish their careers and get home, broken and worn equipment, inadequate budgets that resulted in scarce training opportunities and the like. The lesson that we learned as we dealt with these challenges was that strong leadership and teamwork were essential to overcoming even the most difficult obstacles. Innovative and dedicated leaders who built, motivated, and led strong teams proved to be successful in even the toughest situations. That lesson proved to be useful to me at every level as my career continued over subsequent years.

Allied Ronin: There was a time when you had a horrible bicycle accident. I heard that during surgery you flat-lined. Is this so? Can you talk about that, how the accident happened, what your experiences were at the time and the hospitalization, and during your recovery afterward? What you've learned as a result about yourself, about life, about people and about relationships.

Rick: Well, not exactly flat-lined, though that makes for a better story! Nonetheless, there were periods of difficulty during the surgery after the accident and the subsequent recovery that the doctors considered life threatening. One lesson I learned from the experience is that you should always wear a helmet while bike riding! In all seriousness, the principal remembrance that I have from this experience is the care and concern that poured out from relatives (especially from my wife, Vicki), friends, colleagues, and West Point classmates (you were one, Lance). Times like these tend to remind you that you are not alone in the world-that people out there care about you, what happens to you, and what you do. There are lots of implications that flow from that realization.

Allied Ronin. When we were new cadets we had to memorize a lot of stuff called "plebe knowledge". One item in particular, "Battalion Orders" addressed the need to take a stand against favoritism. Another was "Schofield's Definition of Discipline". I remember being eighteen and reciting these to keep upperclassmen off my back. But then years later, as my life unfolded, these two became beacons that guided many of my decisions and actions. I've seen conflict, but never to the extreme that you have. I've had to make decisions, but never with the obvious immediacy of life and death consequences that you have. Can you speak to Schofield's Definition, its relevance to your life as a leader, and then to your understanding as to how it could be good advice for the average woman or man, boss or employee, father or mother? So that our readers can view this one themselves, here is a

link: http://freepages.military.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nuri/schofiel.htm

Rick: Thanks for the link-I had to refresh my memory (you were always a better Plebe than me!) It's actually kind of ironic that this definition was such an important part of cadet life at West Point in our time there because we saw up close and personally several examples of how NOT to do things. Really Schofield was writing about respect. Respect from a leader for subordinates inspires respect from them for that leader. In combat these days, respect for a junior officer's or non-commissioned officer's abilities, knowledge, and skill is essential because leaders at the lowest level must be empowered to make decisions that can have strategic impact. Leaders who respect those who work for them and who will have their back in cases where events don't go as planned are the ones who achieve the most success and for whom people want to work. There is no room in the military for "harsh or tyrannical treatment". The same can be said for leadership in the office, boardroom, the halls of academe or wherever teamwork is a requirement.

Allied Ronin. I think it would be an understatement to say that, Vicki, your bride now of thirty-nine years, is a powerful leader. What have you seen in her? What have you learned from her, the examples she has set and the stands she has taken over her lifetime?

Rick: She is an interesting example of a special type of leader. In most instances she had to ...

© Lance Giroux, September 2011