Why Study Leadership

 

It was 2001.   An evening MBA class at a University of San Francisco.  I was invited to meet students who were scheduled to attend USF's first offering of The Samurai Game®.  Over the next few years the simulation would become part of the university's MBA core leadership course, and also offered within a special USF for-credit retreat.   But this night was simply introductory time.  

 

The professor needed time to cover the day's topic - The JoHari Window.  Then, turning her attention to me for the night's remaining minutes, we went round the room so everyone could answer a question I requested in order to help me prepare for what I'd bring to them in a couple of weeks.  "What are you gaining from your leadership studies here at USF?" 

 

A third of the way around the circle sat a student sprawled across his chair, feet out, head tossed back.  Everything about him said, "I don't want to be here."  His contribution started with a deep in breath and a sigh, and then, "Well leadership is an interesting topic.  But I'm only getting my MBA so I can more marketable.  I really don't care about leadership, and I don't' think it should be a required course in the MBA program.  Why should I have to study it?"

 

That was quite a poke.   My "what are you gaining" question was sincere.  I took the work seriously (still do).  I wanted know how to serve each candidate and their professor, and the university's mission.  I caught myself reacting.  Then I paused so his question could hang in the air for a while.  I recall thinking, "Well, at least he's being real."

 

I was an outsider that night.  No official standing within this system, just an invited guest.   I found myself wondering if other barbed surprises lurked.  Was this guy an anomaly?  Was he voicing what others wanted to say but were unwilling, embarrassed or afraid to admit?  Words like, "HEY, LET'S GET REAL ... I'M ONLY HERE AS A STEPPING STONE TO GET SOMEWHERE ELSE!" 

 

Today, 2015, we hear about this kind of thing all the time.  It's nothing new.  We read about Congressional representatives motivated to run for office with little thought given to serving a constituency; instead a lot of thought pointed at the lucrative business called being a lobbyist.   For how many people has election into a government position become today's MBA? 

 

Back to 2001 and USF.  I looked around the room.   Some were embarrassed.  I saw a few shocked faces and shaking heads.  ("Nope," I thought, "he's speaking for himself.  If others hold that opinion and are covering it up -- then that's just the way it is.")

 

My next words just kind of walked into the room's silence.   "I'm not certain I can do justice to your question, 'Why study leadership?.'  But once you have your MBA degree and you've marketed yourself well, and you have that great job, ask the people working for you why you should have studied leadership.  They'll probably have an answer.  Thanks.  Next?"

 

[Click here to read "On Principled Leadership: It's the Person, Not the Title"; L Giroux; USF Graduate Business Journal, September 2002.]

 

© Lance Giroux, August 2015

Stay Alert!

Is it important that teachers (academic, religious, personal growth, coaches, etc.) and leaders (organizational, business, non-profit, military, political, etc.) who espouse ethics and moral codes and constructive behavior be ardent students and practitioners of those codes?  As cliché as it sounds, it comes down to walking the talk.  Do the messengers have a responsibility to be on paths consistent with their messages?  And what of their products and services?  IF your answer is, "Yes, it is important" – then how important is it, in other words, to what degree?  And what to do about it?

In 1989 at a meeting I was attending a company CEO spoke with an employee prior to his (the employee's) testimony as a witness in a trial.  The employee was nervous about how his answers would be received.  Attorneys representing the company told him to simply tell the truth.  But concerned for how "the truth" might impact corporate image, the CEO said in the meeting, "I would never ask you to lie, but just tell the truth beautifully.  Know that I mean?"  I stopped doing business with that company and that CEO.  The employee?  He quit.

The general field I've been engaged in for four decades involves experiential leadership seminars and workshops.  Unfortunately this field has become quite industrialized, kind of "McDonald-ized".  Forty-one years ago only a handful of organizations did this kind of work, and it was pretty rough stuff.  Since that day a lot of improvements have been made.  Along the way, in no small measure thanks to the internet and social media and some slick marketing, thousands of wannabe groups have sprung up.  There are some sincere folks out there, but many of the groups are simply spin offs of spin offs started up by people unstudied and unpracticed in the messages they promote and the programs they facilitate.  Rather than grappling with the messages (appealing and attractive) some of these owners and facilitators get fixated on financial reward, "the bottom line".  Where are they when it comes to ethical or moral code they espouse?  Here's a viewpoint – "bottom lines" have nothing to do with money.  When all the money is gone, the bottom line is the guy or gal looking from the mirror… provided one has the moral courage to actually look into the mirror.   

The embodiment of an ideal takes time and effort and failure and falling off the wagon and getting back on the wagon and scraped knuckles and bruised ego and lost revenue and the willingness to look like a fool – and always being a new student every day.  It's not that the upstarts who fashion the spinoffs shouldn't make the effort to spread the idealistic word or engage in idealistic work.  But if the upstarts aren't interested in study and homework, in doing the "practice" of the ethical/moral codes they espouse enough to practice them, then they should seek a different path.

Being financially rewarded or compensated for service is one thing.  No argument there.  That one sells something he or she doesn't believe in enough to commit the sincere practice of it - ESPECIALLY important when times get tough and the manure is hitting the ventilator – well then, at best this is an insult and at worst it's a satire that leads to decay and ultimately undermines trust.

Lance Giroux

"There is more to life than increasing it's speed", M.K. Gandhi

Memorial Day 2015

A few years ago, on my first visit to Poland, I spent a day at Auschwitz –its Polish name being Oświęcim – to understand and remember.  This week I’m in Taiwan until May 31.  I won’t get to be at the annual Memorial Day ceremony back home, so the plan is to visit WWII POW camps on NE side Formosa where LTG Jonathan Wainwright and others were held captive following the surrender at Corregidor.  Yesterday I saw a FB posting commemorating Memorial Day.  It was the image of an American flag superimposed with a shadow of a cross.  It got me thinking that all who served need honoring, regardless of “brand” of belief and by what symbol their “brand” of belief is or was identified – including “brands” that some might label “lack of belief” or “non belief” or “not my belief”.  Apparently they “believed” enough in each other (regardless of “brand”) to take care of what I get to enjoy.  Tuesday’s memories will include my Dad, my brother, some relatives and close friends & classmates – and some recent acquaintances whose “brands” have been, at times, shunned, scoffed, mocked, jeered or otherwise marginalized.  But they all served.

Lance Giroux

"There is more to life than increasing it's speed", M.K. Gandhi

Hello, Are You There?

Hello, Are You There?

Thursday night - a weekend event - forty years ago. Drawing attention to how habitualized people have become to distractions the speaker asked us to remove our watches and place them in a basket kept at the podium. Sure enough as the evening unfolded people caught themselves glancing at empty wrists as thoughts related to time entered their thinking.

The simplicity of the exercise made it profound - at least for me. "How long have I been sitting here?" (a glance at my wrist). "I wonder what Charlotte's doing? (a glance at my wrist). "What time are we supposed to start tomorrow?" (a glance at my wrist) --- You get the picture. In short order the wristwatch thing drew awareness to the thoughts that otherwise I would not have realized were so frequent.

That weekend was about accepting responsibility as an adult regarding my thoughts, and what these thoughts produce in my daily life, and who the people are who surround me, and what they really are about. No doubt staying on schedule is important - but it's not the only thing that's important.

Saturday - a weekend event - one month ago. Drawing attention to how habitualized people are to distractions I asked folks to turn off their mobile phones during the program sessions I was conducting, and offered that they might soon begin to notice how much control their mobile phones have on behavior, mood and attitude. Then I suggested an experiment - for those who would be willing - put away the phone for two full days to see what functioning and communication and relationships would be like without a mobile phone. In other words, try to function without one for a while.

The result? Lots of chuckles at first. Most people turned them off. A few put them on vibrate. Some made no effort at all. The rest of us knew who was who in as "blings" and "beeps" and "jazz" and "whistles" played out a Pavlovian sideshow. Every couple hours we took our bathroom breaks, and less frequently our meal breaks. Hands darted to the pocketed phones. Feet carrying bodies dashed across the room and jittering fingers scrambled for purses and brief cases nurturing the prized devices. Within seconds folks had them plastered against their ears - some had one at each ear.
Interesting? Odd? Strange? Well maybe not - we see it all the time. Walk into any restaurant and count how many people are on their mobile phones, talking or texting or playing video games. We are a world distracted - and some would offer a world that is kept distracted. This is no small deal, in fact it's kind of scary. It's not a USA thing. It's not a China, Mexico, Russia thing. It's nearly everywhere, even in some of the most remote places on our planet.

Consider watching that couple sitting across from you in the restaurant while they're on a (what could have been romantic) date, and one of them stops mid conversation as the vibration or the bling of a Samsung or iPhone demands (yes ... DEMANDS) attention. And with that, the device holder (it's actually sitting on the table next to the salad fork) says, "Excuse me a moment, will you?" - then answers and has a chat. Actions speak loudly. Doubtful you'd hear the following said with words, "I'm sorry (well maybe not really) but my device here is telling me something more important than you (at least it could be?) is happening right now, so I've got to put you (miss or mister human being) on pause a bit because (after all) you're in second place right now." Sad? Yes, but it's just been said with a body in action.

The mobile phone (as with the wrist watch of forty years ago) isn't the issue. We are the issue ... or at least we could be and should be the issue. Our mental discipline. Our potential. Relating and connecting, even over seemingly mundane things that could be magnificent and terribly interesting when we slow enough to attend to them. 

There are lots of studies. But the studies will remain studies and our individual and collective human potential will remain unrealized potential as long as we don't act and practice something different.

More here --> here

And --> here

And then --> here as well.

Sunday - the end of that weekend program - one month ago. A young man (we'll call him Gustavo) walks up with a big grin and says, "I've been living totally distracted, and I'm a really smart guy. I didn't used to be that way. But, more and more I've gotten caught up in technology to a point that it feels like I can't relax, like time is getting away from me, like I'm on a coffee high all the time. It's to a point that I'm taking medication to slow me down. Thanks for asking me to put away my mobile phone."

Will it last for him? I don't know. I hope so.


© Lance Giroux, April 2015

Inspired In Shanghai (XieXie to Lyric Chan)

10:00 am Friday, March 13. Room 513, Building #2, 505 South Zhongshan Road, Shanghai.  Lyric Chan, Founder of Aspire Space, arranged the meeting.  Claire Kong sits across the conference table for our pre-workshop interview.  She's the weekend translator.  Nervous, somewhat apologetic, she wants to do a good job. Understandable.  Her English is great but she's never attended an experiential personal growth workshop and she's never before translated professionally. Appreciative that her friend asked her to do this, she's done her homework, read the materials in advance on her own. Her poise is what one would expect of a University of San Diego MBA graduate (she is).  All that said, she's still nervous.  Lyric assures her today's meeting is NOT a screening, it's a done deal, "I'm confident you'll do great.  Don't worry. You can't mess this up. We're here to support you."   7:15 pm Friday, March 13. PuXi side of HuangPu, The Bund, Shanghai.   The last time I walked on this beautiful stretch of riverfront was 2011.  That was with Paul Marshall the weekend we delivered my aikido-based program (The Art of Practice & Organizational Dojo) - an adventurous undertaking, given the China VS Japan cultural and political sensitivities.  Tonight I'm alone... well not actually.  I'm surrounded by who knows how many people everywhere.  It's obvious the skyline has changed on the PuDong side.  I had a similar reaction in 2011, comparing the skyline then with prior Shanghai visits.  China is always growing.  But then again I heard today that the population is stabilizing.  What hits me tonight?  Brilliant lights transforming skyscrapers into massive advertisement towers. What hits me tonight?  Little kids scrambling to run in front of parents and then, like kids back home, turn and laugh and make faces.  What hits me tonight?  Party boats with filled with celebration.  My friends, Roy and Ania, were married on a similar boat last November in Santa Monica, California.  What hits me tonight? Memories of Ray, Arizona, and the adjacent towns Sonora and Barcelona that formed the community I was born into.  The people walking the Bund at this very moment number more than all of the people who ever lived in and visited Ray, Sonora and Barcelona during their entire lifespans.  Yet, insignificant these tiny towns were not.  From them came musicians (Joe Corral) and cardiologists (Bethesda's Dr. Norman Rich) and artists, and entrepreneurs and public servants and down home people, and teachers who inspired and made life good for others.  Lots to reflect on. 10:08 am, Saturday, March 14.  Room 511, Building #2, 505 South Zhongshan Road, Shanghai.  Lyric has welcomed the members of "Aspired Space" here for the weekend - 23 women and 9 men - all eager - some HR executives, some consultants. One of the women here today served in the Chinese army.  Also today we have a police officer who was curious and came because of his wife.  Claire and I walk to the front of the room.  She introduces herself, admitting that she's never translated before but is here to do her best.  We launch into the program and we never look back.  By meal break she's relaxed.  As the afternoon simulation unfolds you'd swear she's already translated scores of programs.  When the day ends, and after witnessing the trust and expression and intensity of the participants, she turns and says, "I'm about ready to cry. I had no idea what to expect.  This was profound.  I just love it." 4:15 pm, Sunday, March 15. Room 511, Building #2, 505 South Zhongshan Road, Shanghai.  Lyric Chan wraps up the weekend program. I decided to add in the short TED video (complete with Chinese subtitles) of Benjamin Zander's "Shining Eyes".  Why?  Because Zander reinforces all of the weekend's learning and lessons.  He just uses a different metaphor.  I feel it's important for folks to understand the universality of what the weekend has been about, and I realize that I may never see them again.  So ... Why Not?!? 5:12 pm, Sunday, March 15.  505 South Zhongshan Road, Shanghai. Lyric has completed his training and certification, and is now qualified to lead this simulation anywhere the world.  But, he's accomplished something larger.  He's effectively introduced the idea of embodied education - thought, emotion, integrated physical movement and expression, reflection, dialogue, and practice - to 32 colleagues.  Yesterday he said this was his objective.  He told them that there's much more to learning than the accumulation of data. His words have captured their attention and have taken root.  Claire Kong could well be back for more translator opportunities.  I hope so.  Her parting words, "I thought I was coming here to do some translation and help a friend.  But this is life changing.  I will remember what I've learned for the rest of my life.  You'll see me again." XieXie (thank you) Lyric Chan © March 2015, Lance Giroux

Gray Skies And Storms Today Normal This Time Of Year

   

Gray Skies And Storms Today

Normal This Time Of Year

Communication.

Have you been reading or listening to or watching the news?  On the US East Coast big storms lay down mounds of snow.  Normal, the storms are, but not with this intensity.  Around the globe - more storms.  Storms - not of weather only - that ravage populations.  Storms of revenge, storms of religious fervor, storms of oligarchies east and west. Political squabble storms: parties uniting (so they say) to continue a divide that generates their power (or appearances thereof).  Then there are the storms of pipelines and oil and gasoline, and the whose-water-is-it-anyway-mine-not-yours storms.  You know these storms, yes?  Storms that scream loudly and then trickle down to run along local sidewalks to murmur, "Hold your tongue because your neighbor (or your brother) might not like what you say (or think!), and you won't be welcome in this (my, his, our, their) neighborhood".  These storms, we read and hear about them by the bucket loads.  Well, yes - so long as we're not caught up in the storms of under inflated footballs.  After all, in the grand scheme of things, the NFL and the Lombardi Trophy really are what's important. 

Communication.

On a recent morning walk I telephoned someone very dear to me.  During the conversation she said, "Education that creates debate is the best kind of education."  I wondered about that (still do).  I think I know what she meant, but I'm not so certain about that word debate. Often debate is geared solely at who will win and who will lose. Generally creating thicker walls, walls that obstruct communication, rarely does debate as we know it today generate commitments that resolve problems or establish common ground or learning or understanding or respect.   On the other hand, education that creates DIALOGUE - now, that's something worth considering.

Communication.

It's getting close to springtime here in the western Northern Hemisphere.  Even with these gray skies.  The plumb tree outside my back yard poked forth its first white blossom two days ago, and communicated, "Change is always happening."  I'll soon be on a trip to the other side of the planet.  When I return the entire tree will look to be a giant cotton ball.  Nice, this blossoming!  No matter the winter, nature has its way of waking things up to remind us that life goes on - if we're present enough to notice.  In a few weeks a buddy of mine and I will head off to latitude 64o50'37" N to capture (hopefully) a glimpse of the aurora borealis.  Another of nature's communications: reminding that something is more profound and more important than the squabbling, positioning and battling over pandered points of view. As grand as we human beings are, we really are quite small though not as small as a plumb tree blossom, or the bee that will soon come to service it. 

Communication.

Last month my granddaughter and I stole away for a few hours and took a ferryboat across San Francisco Bay: birthday celebration for her, just the two of us on a cold gray January afternoon.   The Bay was ours to enjoy, as were her burger and my crab sandwich at the waiting Ferry Building.  Before catching the boat home we stopped and stood in front of Mahatma Gandhi's statue.  I asked her, "Do you know who this person is?" "Nope," she replied.  Ah hah ... an opportunity to communicate anew ... and such fun this potpourri! 

Communication.

Today, this afternoon, early into February 2015, I sit with a worn copy of a favorite book.  Gandhi's autobiography, "The Story Of My Experiments With Truth".  It pops open to page 287 and the words of a small frail bodied person who became revered and known as "Bapu" by scores of millions (though not with that as a goal in mind).  For a time, amidst many storms, he changed a wintered world into a springtime:

"I realized that the sole aim of journalism should be service.  The newspaper press is a great power, but just as an unchained torrent of water submerges whole countrysides and devastates crops, even so an uncontrolled serves but to destroy.  If the control is from without, it proves more poisonous than want of control.  It can be profitable only when exercised from within.  If this line of reasoning is correct, how many of the journals in the world would stand the test?  But who would stop those that are useless?  And who should be the judge?  The useful and the useless must, like good and evil generally, go on together, and [MANKIND] must make his choice."

Can we, will we, communicate?

© Lance Giroux, February 2015

Glancing Back at 2014

Glancing Back At 2014  2014 was a full year of near non-stop travel - PR China, Canada, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Mexico, Russia, Poland, the Netherlands, Minnesota, Arizona, Washington, Texas and Oklahoma.  Many hundreds of people were my teachers.  They provided learning and lessons that continue to unfold.  Among these I am particularly grateful for having had the opportunity to be deeply moved by the perseverance displayed by: - Tom Osborne, Keganin No Senshi Aikido, for dedicating his life to healing the scars held by all men, women and children who have ever been affected by Combat Related Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. - Susan Adams, for her focus on service to others through Two Cranes Institute, all the while setting aside trials of personal sorrow. - Timothy Locke, for his steadfastness and positive attitude while successfully rebuilding Four Springs Retreat Center, against what at times appeared to be near impossible odds. - Caroline Su, of Enlightening Coaching, for her commitment to responsible paths of long-term practice while training life coaches, midst an industry that has become increasingly dominated and sidetracked by quick fix programs and promises of instant learning. - Miranda Yen, of Hong Kong, for her integrity when it comes to leading her company, for her commitment as a parent, and for the choice she makes to always look for good in others. - Steve Parker, my friend, for allowing me to walk with him into the world of his final days ... there to witness honesty, service to others and gratitude as the basis for his last actions.   "Life is an opportunity, benefit from it. Life is beauty, admire it. Life is a dream, realize it. Life is a challenge, meet it. Life is a duty, complete it. Life is a game, play it. Life is a promise, fulfill it. Life is sorrow, overcome it. Life is a song, sing it. Life is a struggle, accept it. Life is a tragedy, confront it. Life is an adventure, dare it. Life is luck, make it. Life is too precious, do not destroy it. Life is life, fight for it."  -  Mother Teresa

CONGRATULATIONS SARA GERHART SNELL AND SUSAN ADAMS

CONGRATULATIONS SARA GERHART SNELL AND SUSAN ADAMS

On November 15 & 16 Sara Gerhard Snell and Susan Adams - of Two Cranes Institute - received their certifications to be authorized facilitators of The Samurai Game®.

Two Cranes Institute, a 501(c)3 non profit organization,provides educational programs for children, teens and adults.  All programs promote nonviolence and cultivate peaceful solutions to conflict.

The Institute's objective is to build resilient communities by providing strategies for compassionate leadership and empowerment within the Puget Sound community and beyond. The Institute focuses on schools, community organizations and at-risk groups, and serves as a resource for training and educational materials that promote healthy living awareness, cultivate interpersonal skills for conflict resolution and catalyze efforts to accelerate positive societal change.

Susan directs the Leadership Education Programs and can be contacted at sadams@twocranesinstitute.org.  Sara is Youth Program Director and can be contacted atsgsnell@twocranesinstitute.org.  

What Does It Mean - To Learn?

What Does It Mean - To Learn?

  by Lance Giroux

What does it mean - To Learn?

Depending on the circumstances, it's really up to you.

But then again, what does it mean - to Learn?

About this I believe Robert Frost had some insight when he penned:

Something there is that doesn't love a wall,

That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,

And spills the upper boulders in the sun;

And makes gaps even two can pass abreast.

Some years ago my aikido sensei, Richard Strozzi-Heckler, mentioned his being at a program that ended with participants articulating what they had learned.  A New Guinea fellow responded, "I'm not sure.  Where I come from we have a saying, 'Knowledge is only a rumor until it lives in the muscle.'"

Again - what does it mean - To Learn?

I've just returned from a whirlwind six-week adventure.  From Oct 13 to Oct 17, it was my fortune to again work with Grayson James - supporting three candidates in training become certified facilitators of  The Samurai Game® (TSG) - Francisco Szasz and Pablo Ramirez Bellini of Mexico, and Cynthia Wu of Hong Kong.  Oct 18-20 saw me in Oklahoma City to deliver TSG for Devon Energy Corporation.  Then on to Wichita Falls, Texas, for a three-day visit with my mom and sister and nephew.  Oct 28 to Nov 2 had me traveling to The Hague, Netherlands, to support Lawrence Warry as we facilitated TSG.  From there it was Krakow, Poland for a business meeting and a few days of fun and aikido training with Pawel Olesiak and Pawel Bernas.  That stop was immediately followed by a week in Samara, Russia with TSG.  Finally (Nov 10) home in time to re-pack and head out for Seattle (Nov 13-17) in support of Two Cranes Institute.

If you were to ask, "What did you learn in all of that?" I'd have to reply that I'm not so sure yet.  It's swirling still inside me.  But definitely there was a lot to experience and absorb these past six weeks. 

Here's one thing - the similarity of people. I've written about this before; and yes, it's cliché.  But really, regardless of spoken languages and nationalities and geographies and politics, the people I encountered were strikingly similar.  Their wants and needs were basically the same.  In them I saw a marked desire to live, move and express free from control and coercion.  At every stop along the way, there were desires to laugh openly.  People showed a need to feel as deeply as they wished, accompanied by a desire to be respected no matter what.

Here's another - there are differences in perspectives.  Regardless of similarities, people are shaped differently by life.  The spoken language, a sense of nationalism, geography, the printed and broadcast word (i.e. stories in the news), these create environments that shape human responses - especially responses to control or change or conflict.  As we landed in Samara a lot of folks were up and out of their seats well before the plane had even reached the taxi ramp.  The standard announcements were there, "Ladies and gentlemen, please remain seated until the plane has come to a complete stop."  But so what?  On the other hand, the landing in Seattle was marked by everyone sitting calmly the way to the gate, and then everyone remained seated and waited while folks in front of them stood, retrieved bags and quietly walked off.

Everyone wanted to get off the planes.  They just had different ways of going about it - often shaped by outside influences, many of the influences forgotten ... except by the body.

On November 8th I sat in my Samara hotel (The Patio) and watched BBC news - the Berlin Wall, the day's incursions into the Ukraine and Vladimir Putin.  A Facebook friend of mine from Tyumen, Russia, texted me, "Good evening!  Worried about the lack of understanding between our two countries.  Want peace."  I wrote back, "Yes, I want peace also."  She replied, "(heart)".

Again, I consider Robert Frost as he continues:

 

There where it is we do not need the wall:

[My neighbor] is all pine and I am apple orchard.

My apple trees will never get across

And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.

He only says, 'Good fences make good neighbors.'

Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder

If I could put a notion in his head:

'Why do they make good neighbors? 

What does it mean - To Learn - and how is learning made possible?

Be present.  Relax. 

Invest in the now. 

Be open to the notion that learning is always a possibility. 

Suspend judgments - all of them.  Be curious. 

Act with courage, enough to return into inquiry - no matter what. 

Never stop asking.  Listen for the multitude of responses. 

Notice what you hear.  Feel all of the responses. 

Observe the self in response to the responses. 

Risk.

On November 10th I spent a few hours in the Lufthansa Lounge in Moscow's DME airport waiting a flight to Munich, writing and watching TV.  What was showing?  The 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.  For me it was a surreal recalling of nightly news episodes beginning with when I was 11 years old.  The CBS, NBC, ABC reports (the only TV networks at that time) with images (only black & white) and voices (heavy and weathered) of Chet, David and Walter (Huntley, Brinkley, Cronkite).  I recalled the reports of shootings when people would attempt to scramble over the Berlin Wall. The images - bodies hanging from barbed wire and surrounding voices (muffled).

As with November 8, it was surreal sitting there in Moscow and looking at a flat screen plasma color TV.   On this November day some young model-ish commentator (not reporter) commented (not reported) about "The Wall's Coming Down" a quarter century ago.

When I was in my twenties and a "Cold War soldier", all Russians were "the enemy'.  Being in Moscow was an impossibility.  But a few November days ago, I stood inside an old Soviet schoolhouse in Samara ... darkened halls, wooden floors, steam radiator heating.  There I listened to a young college teacher talk about the absurdity of politicians (regardless of nationality) who must garner or maintain power with armed might.  He said, "And for what reason?"  His wondering - "Why not wage peace?"   This man's father could well have been "my enemy" when I was a "Cold War soldier".

One more time - Robert Frost:

 

Before I built a wall I'd ask to know

What I was walling in or walling out,

And to whom I was like to give offense.

Something there is that doesn't love a wall,

That wants it down.'  I could say 'Elves' to [my neighbor],

But it's not elves exactly, and I'd rather

He said it for himself. 

What Does It Mean - To Learn?

© Lance Giroux, November 2014

Nov 10, 2014. Define “surreal”. 
Having the disorienting, hallucinatory quality of a dream; unreal; fantastic.

As in: Being born 1950 in an isolated desert town (Ray) of 1500, a “village” by today’s standards; no longer in existence, having been replaced by gigantic hole in the ground – and knowing that to show this to your children (rather grandchildren) you have to stand and point to a spot in the air “where the hospital used to be”; yet living today in mega cities: Hong Kong, Mexico DF, Shanghai and with frequent visits to Amsterdam, Krakow, and other smaller spots. 

As in: Sitting (right now) in Moscow’s DME airport lounge today waiting a flight to Munich - and recalling nightly news of CBS, NBC, ABC (the only TV networks) with images (black & white) and voices (weathered) of Chet, David and Walter (Huntley, Brinkley, Cronkite) - as they report this afternoon’s shooting of someone attempting to scramble over the Berlin wall; body dangles from barbed wire; more images (black & white) and voices (muffled). Then, looking across the room at flat screen plasma TV as some young model-ish commentator (not reporter) comments (not reports) about The Wall’s “coming down” some 25 years ago today.

As in: Standing in an old Soviet school house (two days ago) with darkened halls, wooden floors and steam/radiator heating - listing to a young man, college teacher, talk about the absurdity of politicians who must garner power with armed might “and for what reason?” rather than wage peace; this man who’s father could well have been “my enemy” when I was a Cold War soldier.

As in: Watching TV (again flat screen plasma) as broadcast on BBC last night into my small Togliatty (Russian “Federation”) hostel room – the image (color) and voice (gruff) of Mikhail (Gorbachev) now old (weathered beyond Chet) warning possibilities of a New Cold War. 

Define “surreal”. Nov 10, 2014.

Great News About "Mastery"

是好消息

  by Lance Giroux

July 27.  Scottsdale AZ.  Spent the afternoon with Emily Fraim, George Leonard's daughter and Trustee of the Leonard Family Trust.  Surprise!  She handed me two copies of George's book Mastery.  So?  They're written in Chinese.  Wow!  She followed that gift with, "I think it's also now being printed other languages too." Double wow.  (More about that next time.)

Mastery, now in Chinese (simplified); thank you Sterling Lord - George's publishing agent who continues to serve the Trust, owners of the copyrights to all George's written works, including his scripted simulation many readers here have personally encountered: The Samurai Game® (TSG).

While George and Annie, his wife, were alive I pushed them to have Mastery published in languages beyond English and German, especially Chinese.  To me it seemed natural and paramount, having walked neighborhood parks these past years, morning and night throughout PR China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and SE Asia to witness thousands of people engaged in embodied mindfulness practices - tai chi, walking meditations, sword work, breath work, etc.  These practices directly reflect what Mastery brings to the surface and promotes. 

Think "people": 1.35 billion in PR China, add 618 million in SE Asia, plus 24 million in Taiwan, and another 7 million in Honk Kong.  That's a big bunch of folks.  Even if only a small percentage of them were to have the opportunity to gain from this book, that small percentage is significant.  Mastery has never gone out of print and has never been absent from brick and mortar bookstores since it was first published in 1991.  Twenty-three years in continuous publication is an exceptionally long time for a paperback of this nature.

A special smile to Keith Bentz, who, to my knowledge, was the first individual to legally produce The Samurai Game® (TSG) in Hong Kong and Taipei - and with that effort the work of George Leonard was introduced into the greater Asia region.

Legally deliver?  Yes.  Why say this, because illegal TSG knock-offs have sprung up throughout Asia, Mexico, and elsewhere - even in the USA.  Read my blog about shenanigans of this type.  In this regard Mastery in Chinese is again great news; and a definite boon to the legacy of George Leonard.  Those who read Mastery, even if they attended a rip-off, will make the connections for themselves.  People are smart.  They know the difference between what's real and what's fake.  Sad though, given TSG revolves around a code of honor - Bushido in Japansese / Wushitao in Chinese / The Way of the Warriorin English / Camino del Guerrero in Spanish.

Large populations are now being served with TSG, and stand to benefit with Mastery.  Twenty-one of the current sixty-some authorized facilitators live along an arc that stretches from Chengdu, China to Taipei to Hong Kong to Kuala Lumpur to Singapore and then continues south to Brisbane, Australia.  Having Mastery available in both English and Chinese allows for a significant impact.  Think "lessons learned and lessons applied".  Who gains?  Families, companies, universities, elementary schools, training organizations.

Mastery. The Samurai Game®.  Yin.  Yang.  Connection.  One body.  It doesn't matter the starting gate; all one needs to do is step on the path.  Read Mastery and you deepen an intellectual understanding of what is expressed through TSG.  Participate in TSG and you vault into action to embody what is articulated through Mastery.  

Mastery has been promoted in every TSG event that I've been involved with throughout Asia and SE Asia over these past eleven years.  People ask, "When can we get it in our language?"  Now they can. 

Same thing is true multiple time zones away.  The word is spreading in Mexico City, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Puebla and on.  The demand continues.  Inquiries for TSG andMastery are now coming from Colombia, Ecuador and Argentina - thanks to diligence and unselfishness of some really good people, e.g. Jenaro Pleigo of Mexico City and the others living in Mexico who have followed his footsteps.

Back to Asia.  Caroline Su wanted to get Masterytranslated to Chinese so bad she began hammering me about it every time I traveled to Taipei.  Likewise, Lyric Chan of PR China.  A few months ago, when he visited Petaluma for facilitator training, what did he grill us for to compliment his work?  Mastery.  Was it Caroline or was it Lyric who lit the final fuse that eventually burned a path to light a fire under some publisher in the region.  We don't yet know, and that doesn't matter.  What matters: it has happened.

Hopefully Sterling Lord's efforts will expand to translations in other languages, and assist the expansion of George's work through TSG now underway in Russia; well launched and spreading thanks to Konstantin Volzhan and Marina Klimova.  Numerous TSG's have been conducted in Tyumen, Moscow, and Rostov-on-Don over the past year.  This November I go to Samara.  A journey continues. 

Knock on a door long enough, it opens.  

A good and important thing, and something worth sharing.

Mastery.  Published in Chinese. 

J  是好消息(This is GREAT news)

© Lance Giroux, August 2014