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Editor-in-Chief
Tommy Boone, PhD, MPH, MA, FASEP, EPC
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Change is Possible: Ask
the ASEP President – Steve Jungbauer
Tommy Boone, PhD, MPH, MA, FASEP, EPC
Professor and Chair
Director, Exercise Physiology Laboratories
Department of Exercise Physiology
The College of St. Scholastica
Duluth, MN 55811
“We must stand firm between two
kinds of madness: the belief that we can do anything; and the belief that
we can do nothing.” -- Alain, Alain on Happiness, Translated by Robert
D. and Jane E. Cottrell, 1989
Until we believe that anything is possible,
we are prone to doing nothing. Desire itself is not enough.
Change is something we must fully engage. We must believe that change
is possible. Ideas can incubate but change begins with the commitment
to change. It requires heart and hard work. People do change.
What people think can change. It is never too late to begin something
worth doing. Others have done it. We are doing it, too.
Even if change seems impossible at times or friends say that it cannot
be done, stand up, draw the line in the sand, and do what is necessary.
The ASEP President, Mr. Steve Jungbauer [1] understands this truth.
From the beginning of his Presidency, his commitment to ASEP has moved
the organization closer to achieving its goals. He is not the kind
of person to drift, to procrastinate, to dodge issues, or to put limits
on change.
Mr. Jungbauer understands that change is
possible, especially when selectively working on one major goal like licensure.
He understands that change takes time. He knows that change requires
persistence. His devotion to staying the course is awesome, even
when faced with recent setbacks on the ASEP Board. Choosing to act
in accordance with the ASEP vision [2] as the professional organization
of exercise physiologists is not always easy, but it is worth the price.
Christopher Reeve may have said it best in a speech given at the 1996 Democratic
Party National Convention, “At first our dreams seem impossible, then they
seem improbable, but when we summon the will, they become inevitable.”
Unlike many exercise physiologists, Mr.
Jungbauer has an MBA degree (i.e., Master of Business Administration).
In our society, the MBA is an excellent professional business degree.
It illustrates the inner ambition of someone who ultimately is not shaken
by a challenge; a person who understand business ethics and politics.
In addition, in the professional world of cardiac rehabilitation, he is
a “Fellow” of the American Association of Cardiovascular Pulmonary Rehabilitation
[3] organization. The truth is, his heart has always been linked
to “Exercise Physiology” since his earlier days in Minnesota. Through
determined and disciplined thinking, he reached the understanding that
his allegiance to ASEP and communication with exercise physiologists was
the only path to a perspective that made sense. The consequence of
his chosen path led him to the American Society of Exercise Physiologists
[4].
His energy and willingness to take risks
is defined by the upcoming 6th annual meeting of ASEP in Indianapolis
in April 2004 [5]. Few exercise physiologists understand:
“…if you’re not willing to be wrong you’ll never experience the exhilaration
of being right.” [6] The truth is that President Jungbauer
disagrees with the traditional sports medicine view of exercise physiology.
He also understands that a healthcare profession cannot be defined by “acute
and chronic changes to exercise”. If most of us would take
just a minute to think about it, we would agree too. The definition
of a profession defines its role in the public sector. Exercise physiology
is more than research articles about acute and chronic changes to regular
exercise. The groundbreaking ASEP definition of exercise physiology
guides his thinking. Therefore, he is not restrained by institutional
thinking that has existed for decades, or even habits or practices make
us ineffectual.
“The first step toward change
is to refuse to be deployed by others and to choose to deploy yourself.”
-- Warren Bennis [7]
Steve Jungbauer chooses to deploy himself
through being guided by the ASEP vision. His passion for students
who feel disconnected, abandoned, and estranged from work guides his thinking.
His concerns about potential employees for cardiopulmonary rehabilitation
jobs are consistent with the ASEP perspective. There are too many
applicants with less than the desired or appropriate academic credentials.
Neither the applicants nor the employers benefit from the unstable picture
of exercise science. His thinking serves as an important symbol of
professional unity of the ASEP society. This is no doubt an important
reason why the Indiana Association of Exercise Physiologist [8]
is recognized as the first ASEP state affiliated organization of exercise
physiologists. Members of the INASEP (presently, IAEP) organization
recognize that ASEP is a professional opportunity for cooperation, creativity,
and expression of ideas to capitalize on the ASEP promise of independence
and control. Capitalizing on the new exercise physiology is a continued
effort to “know thyself”.
As Warren Bennis [7] put it, “When you
know what you consist of and what you want to make of it, then you can
invent yourself.” Steve Jungbauer’s self-knowledge of “what is exercise
physiology” is based on an honest analysis of learning from others while
trusting in his own basic instinct. His leadership in Indiana has
moved exercise physiology into the future of authenticity and possibilities.
As a leader, he understands the nature of politics whereby he does what
has to be done for exercise physiologists “…despite an unwitting conspiracy
of people and events against…” [7, p. 42] him. It’s vitally
important that exercise physiologists determine their own future, however
youthful their dreams. It is the only way to break from limits that
have been placed on exercise physiologists.
As President, Steve Jungbauer is helping
members replace the exercise science limits on exercise physiology with
possibility thinking. He is transforming exercise physiology by helping
exercise physiologists learn from themselves, accept responsibility for
their education, and deal with failure as part of the learning process.
Steve Jungbauer is as Warren Bennis wrote, in On Becoming a Leader,
“Leaders begin, then, by backing themselves, inspiring themselves, trusting
themselves, and ultimately inspire others by being trustworthy.” [7, p.
58] There is ample evidence that exercise physiologists can
trust Steve Jungbauer. The more exercise physiologists trust the
ASEP leaders and themselves, the freer they will be to unlearn past wisdom
in order to proceed with the ASEP vision. President Jungbauer and
his trustworthy staff have outlined the way to Indianapolis [5].
There, at the 6th Annual National Meeting and Conference, he will
continue to define the ASEP reality [9]. His optimism, faith in ASEP,
and his hope of a better future for students throughout the United States
are changing the face of the exercise physiology profession. To sum
up, as Steve would say, “Have patience. ASEP is in the business
of change for a long, long time. It is not going away. It’s
precisely that simple.”
“Whatever you can do, or dream
you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin
it now.” -- Goethe, Faust
References
1. Jungbauer, S. (2004). [Online]. http://www.jungbauer.org/Steve.htm
2. American Society of Exercise Physiologists.
(2004). The ASEP Vision. [Online]. http://www.asep.org/asep/asep/vision.htm
3. American Association of Cardiovascular
Pulmonary Rehabilitation. (2004). [Online] . http://www.aacvpr.org/
4. American Society of Exercise Physiologists.
(2004). [Online]. http://www.asep.org/
5. American Society of Exercise Physiologists.
(2004). 6th Annual National Meeting and Conference. [Online]. http://www.jungbauer.org/ASEP%20Annual%20Meeting/ASEP.htm
6. LaBella, A. and Leach, D. (1983). Personal
Power: The Guide for Today’s Working Woman. Boulder, Colorado: Newview
Press, p. 57.
7. Bennis, W. (2003). On Becoming a Leader.
Cambridge, MA: Basic Books. p. 30.
8. Indiana Association of Exercise Physiologists.
(2004). [Online]. http://www.indianaep.org/
9. Boone, T. (2003). Leaving the
Old Reality Requires New Thinking. Professionalization of Exercise
Physiologyonline. Vol 6, No. 4 [Online].
http://www.asep.org/asep/asep/LeavingTHEoldREALITY.html
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