Editorial
You Can’t Blow an Uncertain Trumpet
Tommy Boone
Professor and Chair
Department of Exercise Physiology
Director, Exercise Physiology Laboratories
The College of St. Scholastica
Duluth, MN 55811
RECENTLY, I parked my car on the North
shore 61 highway of Lake Superior and got out to look at the men rowing
in unison. It isn’t often that you see rowers on the “big” lake.
The water is 48 degrees year round. In minutes, it can take on characteristics
of an ocean. This particular day it was unusually calm. The
rowers appeared to own the water. I’ve seen others work together
and pull for each other. That is exactly the purpose of belonging
to a team. Every member of the team is responsible to each other.
And, there it was before me that day: Each member of the rowing team
had a job to do and, collectively, they were something to see. It
was all there in that moment that I realized both the honor and the responsibility
of being a leader among other leaders of the ASEP organization.
I walked back to my car shaking my head
wondering if I had given everything to build, lead, and help my colleagues
in the professional development of exercise physiology. I drove away
analyzing the articles that I publish on PEPonline,
the presentations that I’ve made on behalf of students, ASEP, and exercise
physiology. I should have known this all along, for many years ago
a football coach, who I have great respect for, challenged me to hold up
my side of the defense. It was his way of saying, “Tommy, you have
a responsibility to every member on the team.” Call it what you will,
but an inner sense of what is expected of each member of a Board of Directors
is the willingness to support each other and the organization they collectively
represent. It dawned on me that the work of each member of the rowing
team was vital if they were to complete their mission. I could almost
sense the condition that I was in and what had to be done for all the obvious
reasons.
Hence, the question: “What do you see when
you look at an ASEP member of the Board of Directors?” Talk about
reality hitting home. That moment of reflection of what the rowers
were doing collectively explained everything to me. Not one of the
rowers was standing up and doing something different. Not one was
sitting or doing something that distracted from the work that other members
were doing in unison. Their greatness was defined by their understanding
of each person’s contribution to the total effort. It was transforming,
if not remarkable to see the truth in action before my eyes. I knew
that I was responsible for doing the right thing on behalf of the members
of ASEP. I knew instantly that my membership on the board was not
something to take lightly. For certain, it was not an expression
of my greatness or the final chapter to my life, but it was transforming.
I realized that my membership was an opportunity and a responsibility to
bring ASEP to life but only if each member is speaking the same language.
Naturally, board members will have different perspectives of how to achieve
the ASEP vision. And, of course, members must openly discuss their
views and come to a consensus on behalf of the membership. They may
not all agree with the consensus, but should be willing to accept the collective
view of the board. That isn’t always easy.
The former president of Notre Dame, Father
Hesburg, said it best: “The very essence of leadership is you have
to have a vision. It’s got to be a vision you articulate clearly
and forcefully on every occasion. You can’t blow an uncertain trumpet”
[1]. The last thing a person wants to do is empower another organization
(a competitor if you will) that has quite the opposite vision and, very
likely, a different kind of leadership. Intrigued by the idea that
it could even happen, I put aside some time to think about the unlikely
occurrence. After all, I’m still learning how to be a leader.
Leadership is critical to success, and we can’t afford not to be successful.
Many students of need our guidance to help them achieve their goals.
Others need our support to keep their vision for the future alive.
Still others need encouragement that they are on the right track.
Laugh if you will, but I’m a teacher and
my job is to help students become exercise physiologists. I’ve been
around long enough to see the frustration and hurt in the eyes of my students
when they realize that they don’t have a future. The emotions that
result from others saying “You are not a professional. You don’t
have licensure.” are hurtful and they are real. Eventually, they
come to understand that even their teachers failed them. Some even
come to believe that their teachers lied to them. Others wish they
had gone into physical therapy or nursing in the first place. As
a teacher, I can’t get their feelings of disappointment out of mind.
I guess that is why I write, why I hope and expect change to take place,
and why each of us must never give up in our quest to become a full recognized
profession.
It’s been five years now, and I’ve witnessed
hard work by exercise physiologists who are serious about the professional
development of exercise physiology. My firsthand knowledge of Dr.
Robert Robergs and Mr.
Steve Jungbauer tells me that they are 100% committed to the ASEP organization.
They understand the ASEP vision and the challenges to professionalize exercise
physiology. They have made very personal and profound decisions on
behalf of exercise physiologists. I’m convinced that their inner
strengths and organizational abilities have set the stage for a new roadmap
to the future. I think also that they have learned something about
young people in the field by asking questions and by engaging in conversations
with young professionals. They understand what is really going on,
what the non-doctorate exercise physiologists are worried about, and the
challenges they are up against.
Matt Wattles also understands the nature
of change. He believes that the biggest mistake we could make is
to continue with exactly what we have been doing for decades. He
cares about the future of the ASEP organization and exercise physiologists
who believe they are professionals, too. In time, his efforts will
transform exercise physiology in Idaho. Have you looked at the website
for the Idaho Association of Exercise Physiologists?
You should. Change lies ahead and the majority of the academic exercise
physiologists don’t have a clue. His view of what should be done
in Idaho is a forecast into the future. Read his articles in PEPonline
and, in particular, read the one about certifications [2]. I can
only imagine that it must have been written at the speed of light.
Matt’s insights are an epic shift from the inadequacies of the false assumptions
and flaws that govern the thinking of most academic exercise physiologists.
The ASEP restructuring of exercise physiology
is the 21st century breakthrough that has resulted in a set of shared assumptions
nourished by wanting something better. Probably nothing has influenced
me more than wanting for my students what other students in health sciences
already have. It has removed me physically, mentally, and emotionally
from the traditional views and assumptions of what I thought were true
about exercise physiology and how it should be handled with my students.
Drs. Robert Robergs, LaGary Carter, and Richard
Kreider, all past-presidents of ASEP, have helped to invent a world
of exercise physiology radically different from the one I knew for nearly
25 years. They are to be commended for their work on behalf of ASEP
and the changes that have taken place (particularly, accreditation and
certification). Their views are consistent with the idea that “…the
level of commitment…to our values provides the single most powerful foundation
for our organization….” [3]
Nobody said it was going to be easy to
build a professional organization, much less a new profession of healthcare
practitioners. It takes work. It involves mistakes. It’s
all about sharing and being vulnerable at any moment in time. It
isn’t easy. Organizational building is a 24/7 commitment. It
requires the understanding that we are in this together; that we are the
heart of the organization from which our members derive their sense of
comfort and confidence that everything is going to be okay. We must,
therefore, seize the courage to preserve who we are. This is exactly
what we must do! We are called upon to do the impossible, something
new, and something no one has done before. It is a matter of expressing
new and original ideas. It is a matter of courage that gives reality
to a commitment.
Stand up for your students. Show
them that you care about them; that you trust the individual efforts of
the board members to take care of the ASEP organization. When you
overhear another colleague putting down the ASEP leadership, speak up and
share your beliefs that the board’s true motivation comes from taking risks
to help their students. Our students are our customers. They
pay for an education (or a product) that we must help them feel satisfied
with the result. It is this kind of thinking that is unheard of in
most academic settings. This is exactly our responsibility, however.
Our students need our support as we have envisioned it, not a compromise.
We need to stand tall and determined in our beliefs. In this way,
our students will know that we believe in them and that the professionalization
of exercise physiology is seriously underway on their behalf.
None of this is new. None of us is
a rocket scientist. We are ordinary people who believe we can make
a difference. We can’t expect that we will be in agreement with every
issue before us. We can expect that each member of the Board of Directors
is 100% working on behalf of the ASEP organization. Dr. Robergs said
it best to the ASEP Board
of Directors: “ASEP needs a strong and unified voice.” This is
one of the most basic facts of organizational development. Members
of other organizations must appreciate that it is time that they look at
ASEP from the ASEP perspective. It’s the single most important key
to a mutual relationship at some point in the future. The era of
sports medicine overseeing exercise physiology has finally begun to pass.
Some (not enough) academic exercise physiologists have said it is time
to change from the old to the new ways. Students are ready for the
change, too. Organizations that don’t adapt to the new view of exercise
physiology will not have the influence they once had.
In closing, ASEP is about our students,
their future, and their hopes and dreams as exercise physiologists (not
as fitness professionals per se). It not about the doctorate-prepared
exercise physiologist and his/her research publications, although important
and has a place in the organization. Like the rowers on Lake Superior
who shared a sense of purpose, the ASEP Board of Directors realizes the
importance of working together. Together we have what it takes
to leave behind in those who come after us the conviction and the will
to carry on the ASEP spirit.
References
1. Boone, T. (2003). A Shared Vision Precedes
Reality: A Personal Perspective. Professionalization of Exercise Physiology-online.
Vol 6 No 6 [Online]. http://www.asep.org/asep/asep/SharedVisionPrecedesReality.html
2. Wattles, M.G. (2002). The Dissection
Of Exercise Certifications. Professionalization of Exercise Physiologists-online.
Vol 5 No 3 [Online]. http://www.asep.org/asep/asep/DissectionExerciseCertifications.html
3. Land, G. and Jarman, B. (1992). Breakpoint
and Beyond: Mastering the Future – Today. New York, NY: HarperBusiness,
p. 187.
