Glenn Gordon

Leadership is an interesting animal.  It comes in all shapes and sizes and there are so many lessons to learn in this dynamic world.

I have been around the block a few times and have spent considerable time within MKP since my initiation in 1995. I was drawn to this work then and, now, I am drawn more than ever. I have watched my own leadership change.

I have gone through the leader track here in MKP and I am now a co-leader. I have taken other leadership trainings to round out my game, which has made me a better leader. Hollow Bones gave me the Zen side of leadership. Much can be done in the silence.

Combining all of those skill sets plus being in my own business for 20+ years, I know a lot of things — especially, that I really don’t know all that much. I am still learning.

Someone once said, when fear is in place, shortcuts follow. I thought on that for a while and began to see the truth there. Who wants to deal with anything when fear is present? Avoidance, denial, quick fixes and hiding are some of the mechanisms I use to avoid fear.

Having “eggshell” conversations is when it comes out the most. I don’t want to hurt someone’s feelings. I want my “rep” untarnished. Is this worth it? These points race through my mind. Where is my leadership here?

As I am aging and realizing that the roll of toilet paper moves faster as you get to the end, I am more willing to have the hard conversations. People may not like what they hear and I may not like what comes out of my mouth. And, pointing toward the elephant in the room is important.

“Hey, look over there!” Once it is pointed to, consciousness raises and the shortcuts taken by fear transform into truth telling and action. The antidote to fear is action.

MKP USA got a wake-up call recently from some very bright and fine men who gave us the Stanford Act 2, which contained advice on ensuring the long-term viability of the organization. The bottom line here is, if we don’t change how we do business, we won’t have any business to do! The elephant has been pointed to!

I am on the executive team of MKP USA and we want to do it right. I have been scared a bit because I don’t want to be “the one” who wrecked things. What I have realized is, we love this work too much to be “the one” who wrecks it. And, we are wrecking things that just don’t work. We are in the unique place to create a new flow of revenue, a better way to communicate and a streamlined method to make and implement decisions.

We have realized that dragging our feet just wears out our shoes and we are finding the balance, which is different in different aspects of what we are doing. So keep your eyes open for our new master plan.

So, here’s some advice: Have the eggshell conversations. Time does fly. The younger twenty-something warriors out there, you will be 50 in about two weeks. Don’t wait to create or get back into right relationship. Support MKP and become a member. We want this work to carry on for generations to come. Hone your mentoring skills and begin mentoring somebody. It just feels great. Look at what being right all the time costs you. These are words and my work for the moment. Thanks for reading!

Glenn Gordon
Co-leader
Member, MKP-USA executive team

Jim White

Welcome to a community of men! I often hear that phrase used when welcoming new brothers, or men who have completed the New Warrior Training Adventure. I am aware that the word “community” has as many meanings as the many men who say it. It also has as many expectations as the many ears that hear it. I am wondering if there is a base description of community on which we can agree?

I am reading The Eden Project by James Hollis and he states: “A community forms when the members of a society have had a common transcendent experience, one that lifts each person out of his or her isolation to participate in transformation. Each person remains an individual, but each is also now identified psychologically with the transcendent experience; each is more than he or she was previously.”

I believe this is a powerful description of many men’s experience of a NWTA, mine included. Using the NWTA as a base, I can agree with our having created a community of men.

I came away with a new way of being a man, thus a sense of transformation. I am no longer in isolation – having had a similar experience to thousands of other men. I maintain my own identity as an individual and I am part of a larger group of Warrior Brothers. I have traveled the globe and met other brothers, connecting easily due to our shared experience.

For me, this basic community is a blessing. Does this resonate with you and some of your experiences?

Is there community beyond this? I believe each man can establish a larger community for himself. Do you have an Integration Group and have you created friendships with these men? Has any local MKP gathering found you engaged with other brothers? Have you attended local, national, and international MKP board meetings and conferences? When was the last time you staffed a NWTA weekend? Have any Elder meetings, Lodge Keeper Society events, Leader track meetings and multicultural gatherings attracted your participation?

The challenge for me is to include these many MKP possibilities within the fullness of other activities in my life. That said, I hope you find ways to connect with our community of men. Maybe I will see you at the 25-year celebration in October.

Jim White
MKP Colorado
USA-Executive Team

Twenty-five years ago, three men with seemingly little in common; an educator, a counselor, and an engineer, got together around a kitchen table and hatched an idea that has since brought healing, personal growth, community, life purpose and empowerment to nearly 45,000 men around the world. What they first called “the Wild Man Weekend”  is now considered by many to be the most powerful and safe men’s initiation training available, the New Warrior Training Adventure. What these men scarcely imagined was that the vision they held would become a movement of men that would cross continents and oceans, inspiring men to embrace a new kind of manhood – a mature masculinity for the 21st century. The ManKind Project is now represented by eight geographical regions around the world – each with hundreds or thousands of men actively engaged in helping to redefine masculinity for our time. The ManKind Project USA is one of those regions.

We call a man that has crossed the threshold of modern initiation a New Warrior. He does not exist in isolation. The New Warrior is a man with community, with connection and support, a man who is willing to face what needs to be faced in order to create a positive impact on the world he inhabits.

The ManKind Project holds a vision of a world of emotionally intelligent men, a diverse brotherhood of men working together and working with women and partners to heal, to empower, and to create sustainable solutions to problems; personal, interpersonal, institutional and cultural.

If you are strongly committed to your own mental, physical and emotional well-being, consider joining this movement. If you are hungry for personal integrity, accountability and emotional responsibility, if you are looking to break out of the box of toxic masculinity and live a life consistent with time honored values, if you are ready to give powerfully and live a life free from isolation, the ManKind Project has a seat open for you in a circle of men.

Our men’s groups, called iGroups, are similar to, yet distinctly different than, other men’s groups that you may have experienced. What’s the difference? It’s impossible to define, but we think you’ll know it when you experience it.  If you want to be the man you always wished you had become, now is the time to begin. We believe that you can’t do it alone. No book or workshop done in isolation will break the pattern of disconnected manhood and emotional scarring that has crippled our culture. The ManKind Project USA is your entrance to a global community of men. See our main website for more information, and welcome.

What we offer is a unique, time tested, ever-evolving and powerful way to find your place in the world as a man and live a life that models the best you have to offer. The world needs great men, men willing to mentor and support each other. We all start right where we are – and our vision is infinite.

David Bauerly

One of our sacred duties as men is to see each other.

When I am moving too fast, too caught up in my self-centeredness, too worried about my little world, it does not allow me to truly see those around me.

What keeps you from seeing others? What stops you from blessing those around you who hunger to be seen by you?

I was just reflecting on a recent Lodge Keeper Society (LKS) gathering in Colorado. I wonder how many men know just how much time and energy these men invest in this work. They give countless hours. I know that they always spend a considerable amount of time in reflection on how they handle safety.

The next time you are around any of the men from the LKS, consider stopping and taking the time to honor them, to see them and thank them for all they do. I believe part of how men become mature men, awake men, is by being seen by those around them, in particular older men. I hold that a man cannot truly mature, or elevate to his fullness, without the blessing of his elders.

Do you remember a time when you were seen? Do you remember times when you wanted to be seen? Do you still have parts of you that hunger to be seen?

I have found that the parts of me that still hunger to be seen can be acknowledged by ME. If I slow down and take the time to acknowledge those parts and honor them for all they do, then invariably I have more time to honor others in my sphere of influence.

Go out and bless someone today. Thank them for what they have done to make you a better man. Honor them for their beauty and gifts they bring to the world.

I am much more whole when I am grateful and actively show it.

David Bauerly
Chair MKP-USA

Bob Oser

I’m in love with the work MKP-USA and MKPI does. “Creating a safer world by growing better men” is a noble purpose I’m proud to be associated with. And, as you know, “we do this by training men and supporting them in circles.” This method of growing better men seems so natural to me now, having been in this work since October of 2002.

MKPI’s vision, in part, “is a safe world where all men are brothers, in relationship with one another and where men are fully accountable and take responsibility for their decisions.” This vision is also noble and allows men to become “deeply committed to nurturing one another, their families, their communities and their planet.”

So what do we have to do if “our goal within 30 years is to train a million men around the globe and build a body of men a million strong sitting in MKP-related Circles all over the world?” So what do we have to do if “within the next 5 years we want to develop a sustainable business model that funds a professional staff, training programs for men of all ages in all walks of life, R&D, scholarships and a permanent MKPI endowment of at least $10 million?”

The MKP-USA Executive Team (E.T.) and the Council have been discussing just these visions and goals. These two groups have established committees looking at such areas as Membership, Development, Finance, Audit, HR, Enrollment, Planning, Structure, and Curriculum. We have been looking at what is occurring today as well as what needs to change if the above mentioned visions and goals are to be accomplished.

Earlier this year we started changing by completing the incorporation of MKPI and the name change from MKP to MKP-USA, thus officially creating the U.S. Region. The Alumni Consulting Team from Stanford University recommended sweeping changes for MKP-USA focused on both reorganization and professionalization. These concepts have been approved in principle by the E.T. and the Council. Both groups are well aware that the reorganization will need to be done in such a way that it will establish a stable financial base for growth. It’s axiomatic that we need more than one revenue stream if we want to grow and I think a truly professional development (fundraising) person will more than pay for himself.

In addition to our traditional revenue stream from the New Warrior Training Adventure, MKP-USA has adopted and already rolled out a voluntary membership program and started a database called SalesForce to track this membership. An invitation for men in the U.S. to become members of MKP-USA is in the mail to 26,000  mailboxes. If you want to see our work of creating a safer environment spread over the U.S. become a member. If you can see your way to financially do so, I encourage you to become a charter lifetime member of MKP-USA. In addition, MKP-USA is working on an improved chairman’s campaign as well as additional training revenue streams.

MKP-USA has already adopted a Center Financial Controls Policy which advocates the use of QuickBooks Pro and a Uniform Chart of Accounts for financial reports sent to the U.S. Region. An expense Reimbursement Policy has been adopted and a part time bookkeeper has been hired to assist our CFO with MKPI and MKP-USA finances. Assets of MKP were divided based on a percentage of revenue for 2009 and 78.7 percent went to MKP-USA and 21.3 percent to MKPI.

We are also discussing how to secure a professional marketing person who will build the MKP brand in the world so everyone knows what MKP does and what we offer men who join our organization. This person will also establish communication systems which will inform and educate all our members. We are looking as well at how to reorganize MKP-USA and upgrade our staff so as to have a better opportunity to accomplish the goals the Stanford advisers suggested to us.

Each month the constituency council groups (the Multicultural Council, the I-Group Council, the Leader Council, the Elders and LKS) report in to the MKP-USA Council on what they are working on and what they hope to accomplish in 2010.

Yes, we are looking at a lot of things and doing a lot in many portfolio areas. And, creating a safer world by creating better men takes a lot of time and hard work. But, it is noble work. If you want to assist in this wonderful work, call David Bauerly or me and we can get you involved. Blessings to all of you on your journey,

Bob Oser
Vice Chairperson MKP-USA

Alan Elam

My journey in the ManKind Project began in April 1992, when I was initiated at Carver’s Point, Miss., during the first training conducted by the Memphis Center.  What I remember most about that experience was other men telling me the truth and showing me how they really felt, for the first time in my life. Up until that point, I felt alone. On a deep level, I thought there was something wrong with me. Since my initiation, and slowly over the years since, I have become more comfortable with myself and able to relate to others on a much deeper emotional level.

What a gift!

I moved to Arizona in summer 2000 and connected with an I-group here.  This has become my home and the men of MKP Arizona are my community. My first staffing was in 2002. Since then, I have served as Training Chair on the MKP Arizona council and took on the role of Center Director in January this year. At the  annual meeting of ManKind Project International at Glen Ivy Center in Corona, Calif., I volunteered to serve on the Executive Team for the new MKP USA, and was elected by the Center Council as one of the five men on the Executive Team (along with Glenn Gordon, Gene McMahon, Jim White and Robert Powell).

This work is powerful and important. I want to see it grow more quickly and include more men. Over the past 25 years, MKP has developed leadership and structures that have enabled us to grow to where we are now. Today we’re working to rebuild these structures and thinking about how to direct that leadership in a way that will make us bigger in the world. We are now MKP USA, one of eight regions under the MKP International umbrella.

There are thousands of men like you who are passionate about the work that we do and want to see it have an even bigger impact.  Being one of so many men who are committed to this mission, I feel part of something permanent and meaningful.

Many men have invested their time and hearts into figuring out how to build an organization that can support faster growth, while maintaining the soul of our work. The men of the Stanford Alumni Consulting Team have spent the past two plus years looking at how MKP is organized and how we fund our activities. They have analyzed other organizations with missions similar to ours and that operate in the same legal, cultural, and financial environment as we do. And, they have told us that we must find a better way if we are to survive and thrive.

The MKP USA Council is working to set the stage for the implementation of many of the recommendations of the Stanford Alumni Consulting Team. We have built committees that are working on the pieces that must fit together to get us where we want to go.  The MKP USA Membership program is the first step, to get us the funds needed right now to meet our current budget and to provide money needed to fund marketing activities and investment in “development” efforts which are intended to provide us with substantial funds that will give us the financial base to support our growth plans many years into the future. This is a realistic goal. Our work is powerful, the world needs what we do and there are people with resources who will invest in us to help us change the world… a little faster.

Can we create an organizational structure that will enable us to survive and extend our reach without losing the soul of this incredible work that we do? My belief is that we must and it won’t be easy. As I look around at the other organizations that I know (for profit companies, non-profits, religious institutions, government, military, etc.), all are in a struggle to achieve their objectives while balancing the needs of all of their constituencies. We are no different.

Our world is hungry for men who can create new models and tools for high functioning organizations. What we learn over the next few years about how to do this for MKP USA can become a whole new set of skills that we can teach – and another way to improve our world.  My belief is that it is critical THAT we keep doing this work and that we embrace the risks that may come with doing it more assertively.  HOW we do it is just as important.

Thank you for the work that you put into sharing the message of MKP within your community. As MKP-USA moves into this next phase of its mission, your voice and your passion make a difference. Please, use your voice and tell us what you are thinking and feeling.

Alan Elam
Executive Team for MKP USA
Center Director for MKP Arizona

Dave Bauerly

My roommate hanged himself on May 6, 1976, just a few hours after he told me “we had to switch to these” as he held up a can of Bud.

He went into his mother’s basement, tied a scarf around his neck, shot up enough heroin to pass out and died.

May, which just ended, is a difficult time for me because of this event. Often when I am attending a New Warrior Training Adventure weekend in April or May, I will tell that story of my roommate.

I ask the men in the circle to look at the men around them. I tell them, “these men have come for you.”

Then I say, “Nobody came for my roommate; nobody was there to support him.”

Telling the story tears at my heart. For years I became very depressed when May rolled around. I had a constant question of “why me? Why did I survive? Why did I get so lucky? How did I dodge so many bullets, figuratively and in reality?”

I can’t remember when, but it finally came to me that “there is no understanding grace.” There is no answer to my question.

But, from that question has come a hunger to live life to its absolute fullest. I have been unbelievably blessed and, when I am at my best, I am living in gratitude for just how fortunate I am.

The work we do, this transformational work we do to help each other find that we are enough — and  find that we can be unbelievably magnificent just as we are — gives me one way to live my life to its fullest.

The past few years the chair of MKPI has been using the theme of initiating a million men. That just did not have any impact on me; it just went hhhhmmm, so what.

Then one day I was thinking that if a million men were to do this transformational work and got a glimpse of the wonderful gifts they have within, think of the ripples.

How many people would the ripples impact? How many children would have a father who is present? How many wives, partners and significant others would see their intimacy deepen and be more powerful?

How many missions of service would ripple out into the world? What would that do to the communities of those million men? Can you see what the possibility of that happening would look like?

Now that hits me. It hits my heart. It brings tears to my eyes.

I want to live to that day. I want to live in that world.

David Bauerly
Chair MKP-USA

We have been working on the basics of “how” to deliver this new entity, “what” we want it to look like, “what” steps we need to take, and “when” to take certain steps. The first and third Mondays the Executive Team has been meeting for two hours, on a phone bridge, and, on the other Mondays, we meet with the entire council.

After three months of biting into this we are finding that each step impacts, or alters, another, is dependent on our mid and long-term goals, and creates new issues to be contemplated and entered into the equation of what MKP-USA should look like.

Much of the dilemma is poor funding. We are operating on a shoestring and need greater funding sources. And, it is proving difficult to get feedback from the full spectrum of men we represent.

From the sorting out, we are clear about several things. Communication is and will be critical. Our goal is to be totally transparent. If you think we are not meeting that goal, let us know. Ask for what you want from us as your Council and Executive Team. My email address is davidbauerly@mkp.org.

We are also ready to unveil the membership program that hopefully will alleviate some of our funding woes.

Sometimes I hear that we should return the good ol’ days. There were no good ol’ days, except in magical thinking; each and all times have perfection and imperfection.

I have been saying, “If we don’t do something new, then we will never have anything ‘new’ happen.”

We have come to this realization: “If we don’t change the way we do business we won’t have a business to change.”

The Chinese have no word for change, only two symbols; one for danger, and one for opportunity. Currently there is a lot of excitement and opportunity in our future; and clearly change can be dangerous. In a few weeks you will be getting a letter in the mail. That could be our future in your mail box.

You can also help us by viewing the video that resulted from a 2-year analysis of MKP. Here is the link. Once we get the blog set up for comments we can have a discussion about ACT II.

I see tremendous possibility.

David Bauerly aka Red Fox, occasionally known as Desert mouse
Chair MKP-USA

Not that I am going to let it stop me, but sometimes I think it is just plain nuts being the chair.

There is so much excitement and challenge creating MKP-USA. We are brand-spankin’ new, building a new region from the ground up, and on a shoestring budget, with a tiny staff who, by the way, are overworked and underpaid as we head into this period of critical change.

Can one man represent such a wide spectrum of experience, beliefs, knowledge and age that exists in MKP USA while he deals with future changes facing the organization?

Since I became chair of MKP-USA a few months ago, I am reminded constantly that I am at my best when I pray to be used for a greater good.

I am praying now.

I am a pretty smart guy generally, and there is no way I can know all of what I need to know.

At times I run a story that as chair I should have all the answers. In fact, I don’t.

At least this chair doesn’t.

Amazing how I actually believe the lie sometimes that merely by being chair I SHOULD have all the answers.

That struggle inside my head is one of the things that has been renewing my focus, my drive, my enthusiasm. An incredible slate of men on the council serve our region; they are really dedicated men, really sharp tacks. Plus, other men continually step up. The phone rings, and a man is recommended to me, or I run into a man and find out he has just the skill set we need and he is looking for a way to serve.

It is somewhat like this blog.

The question we began with was, how can we communicate what we as a council, and what I as your chair, are doing?

I think men want information. I also believe that men want to be heard, give feedback, get their questions answered.

So, I was burning brain cells trying to figure out what “communication” looks like and Keith Jarvis sends me an email saying he knows a guy. He will see if he wants to help me write a blog so I at least spell most of the words right and don’t look like a total dork.

Then when I get on a call with Jeff, it is like we have known each other for years. We think alike, have very similar values (like being the only dad in a school when I used to help at my children’s elementary school like Jeff does currently in his world).

That was a long way to introduce you to Jeff Sturgeon, and to let you know he will help me edit this blog so I make sense, don’t run on,  get too deeply into minutia and the like.

We don’t have the technology for replies yet on this site. We will soon. If you want to respond or contact me, do so at davidbauerly@mkp.org.

Thanks, men. Let’s build something incredible.

What does incredible look like when you see the future MKP-USA?

David Bauerly

David Bauerly

Men,

This is my first blog communication with the entire MKP-USA region since I became chair. I have waited too long trying to make it perfect. That was a mistake. I will work on communicating more frequently. So, here goes.

The MKP-USA council, and executive team have been working hard. The recent restructure of MKP has created MKP-USA as one of eight regions under the parent organization of MKPI (ManKind Project International) . The restructure has been an enormous undertaking and is creating the change we have been waiting for. I still wonder if men in our organization understand the significance and, the full extent of this complex reorganization. I believe we, here in the US, have been US centric, which seems quite normal. l I think it is hard to actually see ourselves here in the US as JUST ourselves. We are still part of the greater global MKP community but for the first time since our very early years we are our own region. That being said, this has given us the opportunity to really find out who we are, where we are going, and make conscious choices about what we want to be for the next 25 years. .

I am finding this work as chair extraordinarily rewarding and challenging. Some days it is just so complex & overwhelming. The full council has met every other Monday, and on the Monday’s in-between, the executive team has been meeting. That energy of enthusiasm, commitment and excitement has served as a reminder of just how important this is and how fortunate I am to be in this place of service. We have great hope of forming MKP-USA into a more responsive and sustainable organization; so we can serve a larger group of men with something vitally important to the psyche of the male souls of the men in the US who are in need of reclaiming all of who they/we are.

We are also working on a membership program as a mechanism to provide a reliable revenue stream for us to budget effectively for our future. Currently it seems we continually hold things together with baling wire and twine, and a few borrowed shoe laces. If we do not have a successful membership program we will be in serious trouble and I have great doubt as to whether we have a viable future. During the Face to Face executive team meeting in Maryland a few weeks ago, we came upon the idea of a charter life-time membership option. Though not formally announced It has been received very well. The elders it seems may lead the charge on this one. They are a substantial number of our tribe, and have time and resources available, and I am finding they are committed to making certain this work is here for the foreseeable future. It is heartwarming to hear what Gene McMahon tells us about what the Elders are doing. It is the elders who came up with the idea of a lifetime membership program. Within the first two days of us taking on this idea almost $15k in lifetime memberships was committed and paid in full!

I am learning an incredible amount about the inner workings of this organization. The effort required to run MKP-USA on a daily basis is staggering. It seems obvious to me that I and most men would not know the workings of the day-to-day operation of MKP-USA. I want to share with you how proud I am of our staff for the work they do that very few men have an opportunity to witness. We have four men who work hard and give their all with the limited resources that have been avaibable. To that end, we need to shift into a better and more functional (in a good way) organization. In one aspect the staff may give too much! Not a single one of them took even half of their vacation last year. Mostly because if they did, when they got back they would be overwhelmed by the workload backed up. One of our goals on the council is to have the right people in the right jobs, to pay them what they are worth, foster healthy working conditions, and to take us to a new level of professionalism.

Life is good. Thankfully, my wife Patti has not given up on me/us either, even though I am putting in more hours than I had ever imagined. She and I both believe that this is worth it.

Keep letting me know what works and what doesn’t work. My email is davidbauerly@MKP.ORG

Blessings,

David Bauerly

Chair, MKP-USA