Being a leader in a voluntary association can be challenging in many areas. Because it is voluntary, it does not mean that it is easier to be a leader there than it is in relation to the business world. When something is voluntary, it is precisely voluntary and not something you get paid for - therefore it is extremely important that as a leader in a voluntary association you really are a leader in action and not just in words. As a leader, you must think that you are appointed to guide and lead other people in a direction that is beneficial for themselves and the association you lead.
In Shindenkan, the direction is set against the black belt and personal, like association development. This means that you start with yourself and look at the person who leads you to the black belt. When you get there, you may have to take over and lead others to the same point, while at the same time you have to move on and develop as a person. It can also be put together so that you actually lead many to the black belt through association management and at the same time use it to also lead and develop yourself - but still away under the guidance of other leaders who are further ahead than yourself, so that you time has a guiding star to follow. How far you want to go is up to you. But you just have to remember that if you stop and no longer want to take part in the development journey, it's not just you who stops. You will also act as a stumbling block for those you lead, and thus it will be a cascade of lack of development and management, which can have major consequences for many people.
In Shindenkan there is room for everyone, and we meet people where they are and take them on a journey – the length of this journey is entirely up to the people themselves. It is a journey that goes through many fantastic layers. Technical training – physical training – psychological training – spiritual training and leadership training. This means that we equip people to carry out tasks in the organization which at the same time enable them to also carry out the same types of tasks in their private life – concretely speaking, it is about taking responsibility for themselves and gradually also for others. RRCamps are about development in both theory/philosophy which is subsequently tested in practice. This RRCamp did not hold back at all. Shindenkan's Honbu Competence and Development Center had taken care of that to that extent.
The participants were trained to be able to maintain the leadership roles and ambassador roles they have in the individual local Shindenkan schools. The dressing in part no. 1 was about reviewing the concepts that enable us to take the students on a journey, regardless of who they are and regardless of the challenges they struggle with. Because someone has a permanent injury or a mental diagnosis, there is no reason why neither they themselves nor Shindenkan as an organization cannot take them on a journey that can develop absolutely fantastically for everyone.
There are no organizations that, like Shindenkan, really have room for everyone – elites such as exercisers, and the experience we have gradually gained is written down and structured so that all managers and instructors can advise and include everyone who wants to join the journey. There are concepts for the fit and active, for children, for young people and, of course, for adults. There are concepts for those who, despite physical challenges, still have the will in their heart and brain, and who see the cheese instead of seeing the holes in the cheese. There are concepts for those with diagnoses who, despite this, just really want to join the journey and all this is to that extent supported by concepts for how everyone is graduated right up to the point where they want to join.
There are also concepts that mean that even if you want to stop for a while and even if the train continues on the journey, there is an opportunity to join again when the time is right. This means that there is no obstacle other than one's own will to come along again or not.
After the review of the various concepts, the participants were led through a historical part which dealt with what happens when you, as a high-level practitioner, are not clear with yourself or others. This also means that it was a historic trip in "BURT" land where people say one thing and do another. Their real "I" was hidden away and they looked at a world that at some point cracked and left them with nothing but themselves and their own illusions and self-deception. This despite the fact that they have received help and been pointed in a direction where they could save themselves and those they love.
But that's how there are people who want to live and that's perfectly fine, except that those who are left behind in certain cases are left with an empty feeling and the feeling of having lost a friend.
Throughout the last 30 years, there have been many reasons why highly educated people get off the train - but there is also a common reason, namely that they are unclear about themselves and thus not responsible enough to want to see the help they get. Then there are also some who are so different from Shindenkan's value set and their own that they use all the knowledge they have from Shindenkan to trade belt degrees with. Yes, dear reader, that is correct.
There are some who use the knowledge they have to negotiate new and higher belt degrees - these are typically belt degrees at the high end, i.e. dangrads. But ok, a black belt costs approx. DKK 50 in a shop and as we know in Shindenkan, there really is no international standard for either kyu or dangrad - if you are cunning enough, they can be achieved in many ways.
The trip on this RRCampL1 had reached the point where all knowledge now had to be translated into practical exercise. The team was divided into two, each of which was led through a case dealing with a real situation with all that was involved. Each case was divided into four parts, so that everyone was led through a story with different content and yet not. Each team was divided into a main character and a team that had to get the main character and his areas of responsibility right.
For each case part there was a well-described task that had to be solved for the team, and a task that had to be solved for the protagonist. So the case was to see if the main character and the team could finish together, or if something more drastic happened.
When you, as a leader or helper, are in such a situation, it is really important that you see reality as it is, and are 100 % aware of the consequences it can have if everything goes wrong. If you imagine a ship with crew and passengers, where it turns out that the captain does not take his responsibility and perform his duties as he should, what consequences can this have for the crew as well as for the passengers. There is no difference between that situation and a situation in a company or for that matter a voluntary association - it has consequences everywhere. Some consequences are major and some are minor, but the bottom line is that there are consequences for everyone. The question in such a case is simply whether the director, the captain or the leader of the voluntary association can see beyond the tip of his own nose or not.
The same applies to those who have to save the situation, regardless of whether it is a crew or a board of directors. Can they see reality as it is and can they see what the consequences are if they don't win this battle and thus get their task solved, which was about saving people from a disaster.
As a leader, you have power regardless of whether it is in a company or a voluntary association. You also get attention from the people you have to lead. It can be both positive attention, as many look up to one, but it can also be negative attention, which causes you to come into conflict with the people you have to lead. If you, as a manager, are conflict-averse, it typically happens that the conflicts get bigger and bigger, and if you are also subject to something bigger, such as e.g. an organization, then as a leader you have to take the conflict and get it all on the right course, or you can be close to yourself and hope that everything will pass again.
The problem is simply that if you don't deal with the conflict, you give power to the people who create the conflict, and then everything can go completely wrong. The pressure becomes even greater, and as a manager you typically start making excuses for yourself and others, and thus you create a different agenda than the one you are responsible for and are subject to through e.g. An organization.
In our case, which dealt with a voluntary association, the whole theme together, that is to say the leading instructor and the entire board, had agreed on which direction they should go and how it should be done. Everything was joy and fun and gold and green forests were promised from the leading director. It is great that everyone agrees on who does what and how it is done - but is this also the way it is going to go?
In part no. 2, everything was still good, you thought, and yet it wasn't. Our main character was starting to fall behind and needed help with his tasks. It also turns out that things have happened that have consequences for other people, and at the same time the lead instructor has received financial support for his own development - i.e. he has his way and doesn't think about what he got the support for - or does he?
As a board member of a voluntary association, you often sit there because you want to help the association achieve its goals. But typically you also sit there because no one else wants to and because you may have children in the association. But the facts are that as a board member you have a responsibility, regardless of the reason for joining. And that responsibility is about ensuring the association's operation in accordance with the articles of association and agreements. Therefore, you must take your position seriously and not allow yourself to be guided in the wrong direction.
Our lead instructor showed well who sat on the board and he showed well which buttons he could press to get the board on board with his game. The board tries to help him with everything they have, and a new agreement is drawn up between the parties.
Part no. 3 was underway and here the lead instructor was now out on a slant with himself and his tasks. The board feels for him, and does everything to save a friend whom they care about and who they know is terribly important to the association - the leading director also knows this well, and uses it to play the board against each other - the creates chaos and the board does not know where they have each other and the leading director. The board does not want to see reality as it is and makes a new plan for everyone.
In part no. 4, the lead director is in full swing playing on all emotions. He is sorry for his behavior and he is incredibly happy for all the help he has received. They eat it raw and all his promises of penance and recovery go straight in - now it's running and everyone is happy - we'll probably get to the goal with the help of our shining guiding star and ourselves - or shall we?
Just before the finish line, the lead instructor runs away, leaving the board and association in total chaos. They believed in him and each other, and they trusted everything that was promised and said - what they didn't do was see reality as it is.
The lead director had played an absolutely fantastic game, and has been manipulative beyond all limits. He has managed to lure everyone around him in a direction that made them not see the other agenda he had at all - in the same way as a magician does. He makes the audience look in one direction while doing something else in another direction. The lead director did the same.
He played himself as a man with all the seats he contained, and raised them as they were needed. His real "I" was also present, you just didn't show when - Now you see me, now you don't.
The participants at this RRCamp had now had a taste of the real world for approx. 2.5 hours. In many of these types of situations on which the case is based, the time lasts from several weeks to several years. Which in other words means that being a manager is not always a 7-4 job, and especially not in an association where members and managers are there voluntarily. Here you are closer to each other and support each other as much as you can - but there are also some people who take advantage of that and have no qualms about it at all.
Learning.: As a board, human being and leader of one's own life, it is important to see reality as it is. It's not always easy, but there are always some signals you have to pay attention to and take seriously. It is incredibly easy to become complacent when you are in a situation that is developing from something catastrophic to something positive. The self-obesity is also a trap which means that everything can go completely wrong again.
As a leader, it is incredibly important to have your finger on the pulse. Not only through information and intelligence, but to a great extent also through practical action – i.e. see things with your own eyes and feel what is happening with your own body. You cannot lead, neither yourself nor others, from your sofa. You have to get your fingers in the ground and feel for yourself, because otherwise you don't see reality as it is, but just an illusion. In the same way as with kumite, you can't do it from your sofa either - wondering if kumite is related to being a leader?
