Taekwondo: Take it into your life: Transformational Leadership: Vision, motivation and challenges

Transformational Leadership: vision, motivation and challenges

This blog is about my own experiences as a black belt Taekwondo student, which are grounded in practice and research and other sources about Taekwondo. I hope this blog is a good read for Taekwondo students (past, present and future), because I believe that students under the guidance of good instructors will not only learn the art, but will also learn to live the virtues that this art stands for and who will be able to bundle up their knowledge that allows them to
“take it all outside and into your life.”
The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.
Ralf Nader

Previously, I wrote about how Taekwondo training can promote transformational leadership skills if students of Taekwondo have instructors who role-model the tenets of Taekwondo: courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control and indomitable spirit. Through good role-modeling, students of Taekwondo will over time learn to internalize the values and virtues of this martial art and live the art outside their dojangs as well, as they have experienced a leadership style that according to Burns (1978) aims to transform and “occurs when one or more person engage with others in such a way that leaders and follower raise one another to higher levels of motivation and morality” (p.20).

Aside from transferring what has been learned regarding transformational leadership into other life-worlds, students of this sport can also learn to develop their own life vision, enhance their motivation and learn to accept challenges as part of life and learn to overcome them.

Good Taekwondo instructors who desire that their students learn more than just good kicking and punching techniques or perform their poomsae in top form, can be transformational leaders, if they know their students’ strengths and weaknesses, know more than just their athletic abilities, who according to Gelb (2016) have interpersonal intelligence or sensitivity. Additionally, such instructors would go beyond just being a role model for their students, they would motivate them and challenge them (Riggio, 2014). They do so, by having a vision for themselves and their roles as instructors, and with that, pass that on to students.

Sure, not all students of Taekwondo will go out in the world and be great leaders (there are simply too many variables at play in life) or develop their own life vision, be motivated to try their best to do well and meet all the challenges their face without frustrations or walking away from them. However, Taekwondo, through the belt system has what I would call a built-in implicit vision statement, “I will try my best to train hard and pass all my belt tests so I can earn my black belt at one point,” which directly speaks to students being able to set a goal. Although an instructor might want every student to earn their black belt, it is ultimately up to the student and what sacrifices they are willing to make and who hard they are willing to train to achieve this goal. Students who train hard and see results will more likely be able to transfer this life skill learned in Taekwondo into school for example, they work hard, they spend a lot of time studying, and will in most cases be more likely to succeed, which, like the belt system, is self-motivating.

Finally, I would argue that students of Taekwondo are meeting new challenges from the moment they first set foot onto the mat in their dojangs, the first one being, getting used to the expectations of the environment, followed by increasingly more difficult or challenging skills as they pertain to kicking techniques, sparring techniques and practicing forms, or board breaks. Some students will be successful at facing those challenges, while others might be comfortable facing some but not all. But they still face it, because they have to during training. While some students might never be completely comfortable with sparring for example, they will get more comfortable as time goes by, they learned to overcome whatever they feel might be holding them back. This also is a skill that students can take outside their respective dojangs, because life is full of challenges, be they at school, work, university, within families or when encountering others.

In sum, Taekwondo and with that good and authentic instructors who are great role models with a vision to challenge and motivate can pass those values on to their students when those principles are applied consistently. Instructors who live the vision of Taekwondo, which is ultimately to help students to help students become “champions of freedom and justice” and to “built a more peaceful world,” through motivation and challenging them to give their best everywhere they are or are going in their lives.

If you like to read more about what Taekwondo can do, please check out the link to my publication, “Beyong the dodging: A phenomenological perspective on transferring the virtues of Taekwondo into daily life,” and “Taekwondo, more than a martial art, a journey for life.”

 

 

Burns, J.M. (1978). Leadership. New York: Harper & Row.

Gelb, M. J. (2016). Conscious capitalism: The 8 characteristics of transformational leaders. Retrieved from: http://michaelgelb.com/programs/conscious-capitalism-the-8-characteristics-of-transformational-leaders/

Riggio, R. E. (2014). The 4 Elements of transformational leaders. Psychology Today. Retrieved from: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/cutting-edge-leadership/201411/the-4-elements-transformational-leaders