Meaning of Existence @ Auschwitz

I recently returned from presenting at a conference in Poland. After my talk and lovely stay in Kielce, I had the opportunity to travel to Krakow and Auschwitz. WWII and the narratives and stories of Auschwitz and other concentration camps have been a great personal interest of mine given the personal stories I heard from my grandparents who fought or directly experienced the occupation of German and Russian armies. I was quite young when my parents escaped communist Eastern Europe, but I remember vividly the tensions of oppression and marginalization experienced by our family. There were many stories of loss, struggle, pain, fear, anger, and turmoil, but I also vividly remember stories of strength, social support, growth, breakthrough, sacrifice, internal freedom, clarity, and hope. It is this context and the stories of hardiness and resilience found in stories of WWII and especially the unthinkable concentration camps that have drawn me and others to learn more about 'will to meaning' in times of adversity, in times of loss, in times of despair - when we are challenged to face the unthinkable and that which most challenges our being and existence. Below you will find a link that will take you to some images I captured in my visit of Auschwitz-Birkenau.

(click image for pictures)

Reflections and meditation on Mt. Adams climb...

The class of Leadership and Hardiness 2012 has returned from Mt. Adams with personalized stories and narratives that are unique to each climber. Course content and experiential application of hardiness principles on the mountain contributed to a richer and more meaningful understanding of our own philosophy on life and implications for personal leadership development. Visit the link to view pictures from the course and read student reflections and musings about the impact of the course and of the expedition on 
Mt. Adams.

click on picture

"COLD"

COLD, by Cory Richards is a short mountaineering documentary that won a number of awards at a number of film festivals in 2011-12 (Banff Film Festival, Telluride etc) . Richards was also named National Geographic Adventurer of the Year. I found a truncated version of the film on YouTube that captures much of their story and some of the vivid experiences on the mountain that relate to existential and rhetorical questions, physical and mental solitude, loneliness, doubt, respect for the mountain ("be gentle"), humility, suffering, family, and yes, how COLD it really is. I have been caught on the mountain when storms and winds roll in, turning my lips blue, freezing my hands to useless and clumsy appendages, and disorienting my mind and body. These are just a few symptoms that set in when adversity and trials are amplified by the COLD. Richards begins this film with an existential yet pragmatic question that is captured with an expletive. Although I am not a big fan of substituting profanity for articulation, it works in capturing the dyer conditions and his despair. Richards' film is a simple masterpiece of how we experience adversity, how the mind, body & spirit respond to adversity, how we work through existential doubt and anxiety, and how we find the strength to carry on. Enjoy this brief 11 minute film (the original is about 28 minutes long) and offer any responses or impressions.

Click Picture for Film

'Encouragement fuels the soul'

A chapter on "Lone Heroism" in High Altitude Leadership (Warner & Schmincke, 2009) begins with the following quote:

Q: Why do mountain climbers rope themselves together?

A: To prevent the sensible ones from going home!

Lone heroism on the mountain, in organizations, in families, in relationships is dangerous and often leads to demoralized, hasty and bad decisions with low accountability and misaligned direction that may lead to great peril and possibly demise. This past weekend a few hardy students and I volunteered at the CDA Ironman to raise funds for Peak7. I have followed the Kona Ironman since my youth and always wondered about the journey that contributes to the formation of an elite athlete. Is it about genetic predisposition, endless training, attitude, psychological toughness, perhaps adaptive coping, nutrition, discipline, social support, a certain philosophy on life or spiritual journey - what is it? The five hours we spent walking around reconnecting racers to their "pricey" bikes, observing supportive family members and friends, with the occasional glances at the finish line and earshot of the PA sound system announcing - "Congratulations - you are an IRONMAN", brought renewed clarity of what it takes to develop an elite athlete. The Ironman journey has little to do with Lone Heroism but rather about an entire team - 'Team Wallace'...'Team Godderz'...and many other teams that pull together to support and share a family dream, goal, purpose, and/or vision in training, competing, or simply completing the race.

What are some socially supportive mechanisms that you have surrounded yourself with in this course? How are these supportive interactions contributing to your training, lifestyle choices, goals, planning etc.?

Man's Search for Meaning 

Victor Frankl

Leadership & Hardiness students began their journey in this course through learning about the foundation and philosophy on life that contribute to the construct of hardiness and other mechanisms that represent a pathway towards resiliency. Students read Flrankl's gripping account of "life in a concentration camp as reflected in the mind of a prisoner". The story is filled with realistic depictions of the experiences of camp life and how the experiences of camp life show that man does have a choice of action and in finding meaning in all forms of existence, even in the most dyer of circumstances, and thus a reason to continue living. Through readings and classroom discussions, students engaged in an existential analysis of their own existence within the context of their families, organizations, and community. What did we learn from Frankl's story and his life in a concentration camp that has implications for leadership, personal and organizational resilience? What is the relevance of understanding existential analysis to explore meaning and growth in adversity? These are some pragmatic yet important questions to ask in authentic living, let alone in preparing for a class simulation that will stretch the mind, body, and spirit.

Lifestyle Changes

Welcome Hardiness Class of 2012!

We are all officially engaged in a journey that will take us through a number of learning opportunities that will contribute to intellectual, physical, and spiritual growth. The course also introduces a framework, philosophy on life, and/or way of living that will require us to be more consciously aware of how each decision and our way of life defines who we are and what we represent. We are starting this course by exploring the foundational roots of hardiness and how our study of existence contributes to the inherent meaning and essence of our own lives. In essence, the premise of this course lies in the perspective that we must do the difficult work on defining the meaning of our own existence before we emerge as leaders in our own families, communities, and organizations. This contrarian course engages the whole person and requires that we commit to lifestyle changes and/or adaptations with foresight towards the challenge of climbing and experiencing intellectual, physical, & spiritual wilderness. Many before you will attest that the journey is just as, if not more important than the climb; although the goal of climbing Mt. Adams holds us accountable to the decisions we make in the upcoming weeks.

Please take a moment to reflect on the choices, adaptations, and changes you are making in your own life to prepare and commit to the expectations of this course and the culminating experience of climbing Mt. Adams. Please respond to this post and provide social support and validation to others in the course.

Leadership & Hardiness Elective, Summer 2012

Hi Everyone,


It is my pleasure to announce the Leadership and Hardiness course offered during Summer of 2012. The 2011 course was a tremendous hit as a result of the students that contributed to a memorable learning experience in class and on the mountain. Many of you already know this course as the mountaineering course, but there is more to the course than climbing. Although mountaineering is a great metaphor for leadership, there was much study into the philosophical roots of existentialism, personal hardiness, developing organizational hardiness and enacting hardiness. The embedded teaching theory behind the course intentionally contributes to your personal hardiness and equips you with the skills that can be practiced and applied in the organizational setting and in your own life. Additionally, this course is strongly rooted in the assumption and question of 'what is the worth of theory, knowledge, frameworks, models, without action?' The course challenges each student to 'walk their talk' in developing and practicing leadership hardiness by introspectively evaluating the meaning of life and developing a philosophy on life that leads to perceiving personal and organizational adversity as a natural progression of life with opportunities for learning and growth.

Why Leadership &Hardiness?

Leadership

• Leadership is about relationships (Kouzes & Posner)
• Leadership happens at all levels of an organization
• Leadership requires internal formation (Greenleaf)

Hardiness

• Hardiness principles were discovered in corporate America during the tumultuous times of deregulation (Maddi &Khoshaba) - sound familiar?
• Click here to learn more about hardiness
• Research based evidence shows that hardy principles contribute to transformational coping strategies in times of personal and organizational stress, tension, adversity, trauma, anxiety etc. In organizations, these are typically experienced during, mergers, cutbacks, slumping economy, organizational change, shift in positional leadership, caustic office relationships etc.
• Research-based evidence in organizations, sports, military shows that coping strategies provide the pathway to personal and organizational resilience

Leadership & Hardiness

• It is the premise of this course that leadership without introspective growth and action leads to malpractice
• Hardiness compels one to existentially evaluate intrinsic motivators, ways of knowing, philosophy on life, and what gives one meaning
• If leadership is about relationships, it is our moral imperative to first grow from within - physically, intellectually, spiritually - and do the difficult work before reaching out to others

A new caveat of the course is our relationship to a grassroots outdoor non-profit organization aimed at taking "at-risk" youth to the outdoors. Peak7Adventures is an organization in Spokane that has branched out to Portland and Seattle to serve the NW underprivileged youth.There are infinite lessons and life-skills learned in the wilderness that contribute to a hardiness pathway leading towards resiliency. This partnership between Gonzaga University and Peak7 is also in response to numerous requests by ORGL & COML students interested in enrolling in a course that has a social justice piece in tandem with action. Our class will be responsible for raising funds to sponsor an expedition for Peak7Adventures in taking at risk youth to climb Mt.Baker. Our students will also be able to emotionally support the youth in preparation for their expedition by following and commenting in their group blog.

Please email me for any additional information on this course or if the course simply caught your interest: popa@gonzaga.edu


Mt. Adams Residency Required (July 26-29)
General Itinerary:

• Thursday (July 26) afternoon/night arrival at Trout Lake camp ground
• Friday (July 27), ascend to base-camp a.k.a. 'lunch counter'
• Saturday (July 28) ascend & push for summit early morning & return to Trout Lake camp ground in the afternoon
• Sunday (July 29) return home

Below you will find some blog and video reflections from students who completed the course last summer - Enjoy!

VIDEOS:

Parking Lot huddle

View from base camp

Charlie’s Reflections

Alicia’s Reflection

Michael’s Reflection

Alissa’s Reflection

Keyth’s Reflection

Sliding

BLOGS:

http://mtadamsalissa.wordpress.com

http://leadershiphardiness.blogspot.com/

http://hardinessinc.blogspot.com/

http://hardyquest.blogspot.com/