Aikido Leadership - An ITP Perspective by Nolan Litwin

Posted on by Sensei Steve Erickson

The "Aikido Leadership - An ITP Perspective" blog series serves to outline the benefits to daily life of participating in the BigRock Aikikai Instructor Training Program


 

The ITP program helped me develop a wealth of skills that I now use every day of my life. When I first began the ITP program I was an extremely shy kid. Since Steve Sensei knew this he allowed me to move at my own pace when taking on new responsibilities in the program (with a push or two in the right direction along the way). This allowed me to become much more comfortable in a leadership role, and now I feel no fear or doubt that I would be able to take on a leadership role in my future career. I also earned a new interest in pursuing promotions in my career through the ranking system we have within the ITP program. The ranks we have within the program foster a culture in which students can recognize when they have earned enough hours that they feel prepared for the next rank, and begin to prove to Sensei and the other senior instructors that they deserve to be promoted. Lastly I have found one of the most important things I learned through the instructor training program was communication, in both my everyday life and my career. I learned how to speak to coworkers and peers in a respectful and effective manner when asking them to do something for me, or correcting a mistake they have made. This has prevented a lot of conflict for me and allowed me to be significantly more productive at work. The ITP program has helped me so much in my everyday life I would not be able to put it all on paper but I have found that my communication and leadership skills were the most clear benefits.

~ Nolan Litwin