Follow the Leader
Jeremy Grev
Department of Exercise Physiology
The College of St. Scholastica
Duluth, MN 55811
 

I REMEMBER A GAME that I used to play when I was in preschool, called “follow the leader.”  We would play it in the classroom or on the way to the cafeteria.  It seemed like a pretty easy game because we always had our teacher at the head of the line.  As I’ve grown up I’ve noticed that the game is still played, but at higher levels. 

In business the CEO is the one who leads the way.  In the operating room, the surgeon is the one calling the shots.  Everyone else seems to fall in line.  Sometimes that is okay but, in the case of an emerging profession, there needs to be more leadership. 

Students, in particular, can’t simply sit at the back of the line and follow the red-head in front of the line.  We need to step out of the line and become leaders ourselves.  The world desperately needs leadership in many different areas. With respect to exercise physiology, the need for leadership is at an all time high. 

The founders of the American Society of Exercise Physiologists (ASEP) and the current leaders within it have set the framework for the professionalization of exercise physiology.  We must not allow physical therapy and other fields give the public the idea that exercise physiologists are not needed.

We must take control of our emerging profession and make it our own.  We must have a hand in the process so as not to be shut out from changes that have been on our behalf and will continue to be made down the road.  It’s time to be leaders ourselves. 

Leadership is important in many facets of life.  It takes a certain type of person to be a leader.  That type of person is one who is willing to go against the norm.  A person who is able to take criticism, but stand for what he or she believes is a leader.  It takes courage, caring, and commitment to be a leader [1].  There are many other traits that make up a leader as well [2]:

As you look at the list of traits, keep in mind that they are the traits of effective leaders.  Also realize that there is no asterisk at the bottom of this list stating that a leader must have a PhD or even a master’s degree.  We all lead at some point.  Sure, when we know the situation, we can display better leadership skills than in environments that are more foreign to us. 

The fact is that no matter what the situation, we can all be better leaders.  We just have to believe in ourselves, and that we have what it takes to be a leader.  Exercise physiologists must communicate this reality to their colleagues.  They have the right to access control over their emerging profession. 

Changing behaviors and attitudes is important in making the transition from the old leadership style to the new leadership that is driven to bring about a new beginning.  Exercise physiologists at all levels of education are part of this new leadership to move away from the old, traditional hierarchy of sports medicine overseeing exercise physiology to a new reality of exercise physiologists working on behalf of exercise physiology [1]. 

In order for anyone to be a leader, he or she must be willing to grow, improve, and change.  ASEP and the direction it is going is changing the field.  Of course it is  not easy.  Change is never easy.  Being a leader is not easy.  Starting an ASEP state chapter is not easy.  Frankly, I see it as a lot of work.  But, it is possible to do and more exercise physiologists should do it. 

Boone [1] said:  “Leadership is learned primarily by leading and by doing what is necessary to get the job done.”  ASEP needs people to step out of their shell and to have the courage, caring, and commitment to be leaders for this growing profession.

By thinking as a leader, exercise physiologists will be in a better position to communicate a vision that is both flexible and helpful not only for themselves but for others too.  It is the hope of the members of ASEP that changes will benefit college graduates, and thereby foster greater professionalism and leadership among all exercise physiologists [1]. 

Troubling times may come when finding an exercise physiology job may be difficult, but there is hope with an organization of leaders to back the struggling exercise physiologists.  Just knowing that the organization is there gives me hope that not all is lost.  Leaders know what must be done, and I appreciate their dedication and hard work. 

ASEP is about a vision of what the profession ought to be, what it can be, what it will be [1].  The only way we will find out what this profession will be is to stay the course.  Leaders in exercise physiology need to stick with it and keep pushing the envelope.  We need new leaders to emerge, to collaborate with the current leaders, and to come up with fresh new ideas how to improve the way the public looks at the profession. 

 “When nothing seems to help, I go and look at a stonecutter, hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it.  Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that blow that did it – but all that had gone before.” – Jacob Riis 
 

References

1. Boone, T. (2004). The “3-Cs” of Leadership: Courage, Caring, and Commitment. Professionalization of Exercise Physiologyonline, Vol. 7, No. 5
2. Boone, T. (2001). Professional Development of Exercise Physiology. The Edwin Mellen Press. 57,58,65, 145-158.