Special Gathering Between West Point & BiMBA
Apr 18-2013
by James WU
On the afternoon of July 22th, a special gathering was held in Fuchengyuting Club, where Professor Gregory L. Daniels from the United States Military Academy (USMA) met with Beijing International MBA (BiMBA) students with his presentation on physical education, leadership building and human resource development.
Professor Daniels is the Head of the Department of Physical Education in West Point. He is currently on his visit to BiMBA with other distinguished guests from West Point. Professor Daniels was greatly impressed by the beauty of the Beijing city and regarded his visit to China as a dream one.
Professor John Yang, the US dean of BiMBA as well as his Chinese counterpart, Professor Hu Dayuan attended the gathering. Mr. Yang delivered a brief welcome address before the formal speech and recalled the impressive drill of BiMBA students with Daniels several days ago. Among the audience were BiMBA alumni and BiMBA students, who were invited to have a face-to-face meet with the West Point professor.
Professor Daniels is a world-famous professor on Physical training. He himself is an excellent sportsman who is good at all kinds of sports. He was once awarded the “Master of Sword” in West Point to honor his contributions in physical education.
Professor Daniels firstly introduced to the audience some of the major views on leadership building from West point. His speech mainly focused on the development of warrior leaders of character at the West Point. He also introduced some theories and fundamental characteristics of leader developments systems from a West Point perspective.
As many of the listeners are experts on human resource development. Professor Daniels especially elaborated on the Admission Criteria of West Point, saying that they care much about the applier’s academic potential, leadership potential, physical potential, legislator support and medical qualification. Judging from all the above criteria, they can always find the most suitable candidates.
But pre-selection is only the first step, Mr. Daniels compared the making of a qualified office to the process when a coal is turned into a diamond under great pressure and heat, saying that the sole aim of West Point is to find the raw material with a raw potential and train it in a West Point way. He also admitted that the Cadet Leader Development System is rather demanding for young cadets and they more often than not experience big failures. Cadets of West Point have the freedom to fail, but only when they draw conclusions and learn their lessons from it throughout the 47-month challenge.
The Department of Physical Education develops warrior leaders of character who are physically and mentally tough by engaging cadets in activities that promote and enhance a healthy lifestyle, physical fitness, movement behavior and psychomotor performance.
During the Q&A section, the West Point Professor gave his own answer to questions from BiMBA alumni and students concerning the extend to which West Point tolerate the failure of a cadet, the way mentorship works in West Point and possibility of a faculty failure and the eliminative rate of West Point cadets. Mr. Daniels also offered his personal tips on effective physical training to BiMBA students, which won great appreciation from the audience.
For the coffee break, Professor Daniels demonstrated to the audience how to warm-up before doing regular exercise. He exampled several ways and encouraged BiMBA students to find a partner to better expedite the warm-up. Professor Daniels believed that great physical improvement can be achieved on the basis of daily practice.
The second part of Mr. Daniels’s presentation mainly focused on his own perspective on physical training and links between mind, body and spirit, which is also the main mission of the Department of Physical Education.
The DPE, with a bunch of curriculums designed to promote the cadets’ warrior ethos, turns each of its cadets into someone who never leave a fallen comrade, never accept defeat and always complete the mission. They advocate a mentally toughness that perseveres in the face of adversity and emphasis that mental toughness precedes physical toughness. For this reason, the DPE offers a variety of courses such as boxing, survival swimming, fencing and applied gymnastics aiming to help cadets get aware of their body, space and time.
Besides, the DPE also run some physical tests for the cadets to measure their fitness. Among them were Physical Fitness Testing and Indoor Obstacle Course Test. At West Point, cadets can take part in three levels of sports, namely company athletics, intercollegiate varsity and competitive clubs.
From the perspective of the human dimension, Professor Daniels dug up form the history, that the ancient Greeks believed the existence of Soma (the body), Phyche (the mind) and Pneuma (the spirit). He believes in the three components are indispensable. Lot of studies has been linked between the physical and the mental. Professor Daniels also cited examples to illustrate the way exercise increases gray matter in the human brain, pointing out that the key lies in the balance of body, mind and spirit. He also encouraged BiMBA students to try to find time to get enough exercise in order to improve body fitness as well as productivity. Regular physical activities may better the outlook of one’s career, he added.
Professor Daniels’s presentation won great interest and attention from the BiMBA audience. During his speech, Mr. Daniels not only illustrated the major aspects of physical training, leadership and human resource development but also gave vivid examples to demonstrate his viewpoints.
Professor John Yang concluded Mr. Daniels’s speech with his own report on leadership building. He focused on several ways the West Point turns out future leaders and regarded the models and theories of West Point very helpful. On behalf of BiMBA, Professor Yang expressed his gratitude towards Professor Daniels representing the West Point.
The cheers and applause from BiMBA students ended the whole exchange with a successful ending. The hosting BiMBA presented gifts and souvenirs to the distinguished West Point guest from afar for his excellent speech and generous help. The two sides find it of profound influence to further their cooperation in all aspects.
