Leadership in
Exercise Physiology
Tommy
Boone, PhD, MPH, FASEP
Professor
and Chair
Department
of Exercise Physiology
College
of St. Scholastica
Duluth,
MN
For nearly
thirty years now, I have been studying exercise physiology.
My focus has been on a broad range of questions: Who are exercise
physiologists? What are the courses exercise physiologists take?
What are the key challenges they face in their work? What do they actually
do? Why are some much more popular and successful than others? How
and why is exercise physiology changing? This thinking has led me
to be increasingly interested in the subject of professionalism.
This article explores a useful way of thinking about the professionalization
of exercise physiology by examining the question of leadership.
More
specifically, I shall argue that exercise physiologists cry out for leadership.
Lack of leadership is the biggest problem we have in making exercise physiology
professionally competitive. By saying “ the biggest problem,”
some may argue that I am overlooking the obvious leaders of exercise physiology.
I am not. Most of us know that we have men and women in exercise
physiology who have worked hard and have been successful in shaping exercise
physiology. They have moved us without coercive means. But,
have they produced the right circumstances by which exercise physiologists
are certain of benefiting in the long-term.
To
improve exercise physiologists’ ability to compete in the public sector,
there is the growing need for leadership. Today, we need exercise
physiologists who are willing to find new ways of doing things, sometimes
even approaches that have no precedent. We need leaders who are put
off by the image of and posturing of those who assert that sports medicine
is exercise physiology or that sports medicine is the gateway to the future
of exercise physiology. We need more leaders at every level of the
profession, from bachelor’s through doctorate.
This
idea in itself is radical, especially the shift from just the Ph.D. with
leadership skills to the exercise physiology leader with the undergraduate
degree. Rarely is the undergraduate considered in the steps towards
professionalism. It is one thing to have an undergraduate degree,
yet another to have the doctorate. Trying to communicate to others
is often met with a competitive intensity among doctorates much less across
degrees.
However,
there are Ph.D. exercise physiologists, including myself, who think that
leadership is learned primarily by leading. This is not to say that
the Ph.D. is worthless or unnecessary to the profession. But, anyone
with or without the Ph.D. can and should seek out leadership positions
early in their career. A first step in understanding who should lead
is the person’s genuine interest in the long-term welfare of the profession
of exercise physiology.
Leaders
create impressive possibilities for those they lead. They understand
the importance of turning around “what is” to “what can be”.
They understand the importance of keeping exercise physiologists working
on an exercise physiology agenda and that it is relentlessly pursued.
In other words, they understand that a vision of what should be, a vision
which takes into account the professional interest of all exercise physiologists,
is consistent with an ever-changing world and public sector.
Non-Ph.D.
exercise physiology leadership is necessary to the continued growth of
ASEP. As an encouragement to get involved with a better way, consider
the credo by Bassett (1986).
If
you think you can’t, you won’t.
-
If you
think you can, there is a good chance you will.
-
Making
the effort is exhilarating.
-
Reputations
are made by searching for things that can’t be done, and doing them.
In light
of what has been said, one might conclude that this article is presented
only because discussing leadership has become the "in" word in the last
10 years. Books, articles from all fields, and hundreds, if not,
thousands of seminars on leadership have either been published or presented.
So, what is new with this article? The answer "You can be leader."
You can communicate to your exercise physiology friends. You can
help increase control over our emerging profession. You can collaborate
and coach others to understand the importance of having their own professional
organization.
Your
help in changing behaviors and attitudes is important in making the transition
from the old leadership style involving sports medicine to the new leadership
that is driven to bring about your beginning as a recognized professional.
You 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 behalf of exercise physiologists.
Exercise
physiologists must confront their knowledge, ideas, and information about
how they will continue to exist in an increasingly more culturally diverse
society. The American society or "pubic sector" is changing, and
exercise physiologists will need to become more responsive to leading and
managing society's health, fitness, rehabilitation, and athletic needs.
This new leadership will consists of a sharing of leadership at all levels,
including the undergraduate and master prepared exercise physiologists
as well as doctorate prepared.
According
to Abramson (1997), "The new leader will be a communicator, articulating
what and why something is happening. The new leader will be a collaborator,
working with others to make something happen. The new leader will be a
coach, developing others so that they can make things happen." Imagine,
from my point of view, as an academic professional (i.e., someone with
the Ph.D. degree) , graduating exercise physiologists, as leaders, who
will inaddition to their job related skills and responsibilities, foster
change in the profession by acting as change agents, as entrepreneurs,
and as counselors as their work takes on an even more impressive role in
focusing on the public sector.
If
the reader of this article is an ASEP non-Ph.D. member, it is important
for you to step forward and request the opportunity to share the responsibility
of professionalism. You should be willing to work on behalf of the
organization's goals and objectives, and you should assume greater leadership
responsibility for yourself, your professional career, and your professional
organization. No longer can anyone accept the notion that the Ph.D.
exercise physiologist is working on behalf of all exercise physiologists.
By
thinking as a leader, you will be in a better position to communicate a
vision and strategy that is both flexible and yet specific for you.
The good old days are gone. Now, all of us must learn to embrace
a world of ambitious goals by essentially everyone around us. Let
us learn how to work together, as exercise physiology leaders, to fine-tune
ASEP to realize our new power to make the impossible happen.
References/Suggested
Readings
Abramson,
M. A. (1977). Leadership for the Future: New Behaviors, New Roles, and
New Attitudes. [Online] http://www.leadership.com/leader.htm
Abramson,
M. A. (1966). Watch Out for Change Busters. [Online] http://www.govexec.com/archdoc/0796/0796book.htm
Bassett
L, Metzger N. (1986). Achieving Excellence: A Prescription for Health
Care Manager. Rockville, MD: Aspen Publishers, p. 94.
Copyright
©1997-2000 American Society of Exercise Physiologists. All Rights
Reserved.
ASEP
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