It is very curious the way I was taught what I could call
today like my early leadership lessons from a man who fought
all his life to be at the position he was. That man of an
average size, with a black shining skin, a lively look is my
father. To him, nothing is given,as we know, therefore to
reach out a goal, it is obvious that one’s must reflect,
measure possible conséquences and effects of each decision
to make before taking action. That is what he did went he
early left the village after the end of World War 2, and the
stop of forced labor by the colonizer, to Ghana in order to
learn English and as a futur bilingual worker, become in the
late 1970’s the special interpreter of president Sangoule
Lamizana of Upper Volta (former name of Burkina Faso). But
what is interesting is how he made me understand how to
control myself and act upon my environment through his best
hobby, what is Boxing. To him life could be compare as a
game of boxing. He explained to me how to be in life through
the way a boxer behave on the ring. Before the game,
training yourself, eating healthy, making exercise, taking
care of your body within the mind that you want to do the
best to be successful face to your challenger that is the
preparation. During boxing being focused, calculate in mind
what each force spending in a punch on your challenger would
cost you and whether or not you will touch your objective
and for which effects; that is the decision making and facts
handling. In life he tried to explain how he did regarding
what said above. You can receive bad punches, you may
sometimes lose your confrontations but you may never give
up, since you know you are still improving you skills and
doing all your best every time (faith,courage and sense of
proactivity). And one day what you compiled as knowledge and
experience in addition to your inner strong, will get you to
success, winning competition and standing in the methods
that bring success to you (the end in mind) Then he took
courage in his youth, and started a long journey because to
him, his success is a guarantee for his future family and
his close relative in a country ruled by colonizer. He
worked hard, slept early, saved money for his housing, went
to school, learned English and then strengthened by all the
knowledge acquired during his journey (the preparation) he
went back home. The challenge was to earn a good job, so he
didn’t waist his money to gather needed document for all the
offers, because money was not given at that time and he had
to make sure that his choice will be the right one according
of what he has been preparing himself for. He failed in his
first steps loking for job but stayed unshakeable, (faith,
courage of the boxer) Then the second of his 3 choices
worked and he was hired like a journalist for both English
and French That was the launching spot to take a couple of
years later to diplomacy when he was hired by the minister
of foreign affairs (The end in mind since his wished to be
bilingual).
What I kept from that comparison he made, are:
-State what you would to be and to do in your life.
-every decision as small as it is will have consequences out
of your control in your future no matter what you planned;
So think about that before acting.
-Lean on your own strengths, qualities and do not wait for
things to happened, it is your job to make those things
happen.
-Make sure even when things went wrong for you in your life,
that you did all your best. So improving your experience
will help next.
Goldenapon.worpress.com
inapon@asu.edu
Thank you for sharing your experience Issa. I liked your comparison with boxing and leadership. I believe that sports can teach us many lessons, especially in regards to control, as you described.