Attention Leaders…

At Least One Time In

Your Life,

“Train With The Will To Die.”

What Results Would You Produce If Your Life Depended On It?

From the Desk of: Sandor Kovacs

 

Dear Friend,

Right now there are so many people looking for a way to dramatically improve the quality of their lives both personally and professionally. They are looking for ways to get in touch with what is important to them so that they can make the right choices and live full, healthy and productive lives.

We face many challenges in the world; global warming, wars, failing health care and education systems, and uncertainty for our children’s future. It is hard for some of us to think that we are capable of making a difference in our communities, our businesses, families and our lives.

We are in a time where strong leadership is essential.

What if you could make a change in your life where you also contributed fully to the people who matter most to you. The contraints, struggles and pressures you experience will not continue to stop you in your tracks.

This is a time of opportunity.  And those who are opportunistic and take the lead will thrive over the years to come.  The question is: Are you going to participate or sit on the sideline watching all these opportunities fly right by you?

Do you need a way to express your own passion, purpose and leadership ability, but believe that you aren’t a leader? Or do you believe that your leadership will make only a minor difference… or no difference at all?

Another thing that many people believe is that achievement is the most important aspect of leadership. What if there was something that was more important?

Do you ever wonder…

• What makes a great leader?
• Can everyone lead?  
• Are leaders born or built?
• Can I lead?

The desire for great leaders is obvious. What’s not so obvious is your potential to be that leader.

For many of us the struggle is what we work to avoid. You may be so accustomed to making sure you maintain a sense of control and a certain level of comfort, that you don’t allow yourself to be exposed. You think that when you expose these areas they will show weakness or that you are lacking something.

The cost of this choice is high…

Whatever you avoid confronting within yourself, only gets stronger. Eventually, you pretend that the struggle has no great significance and thus the results you once dreamed of producing become a distant memory.

The more we challenge ourselves, the more we grow.

It is in the struggle, in the heat of the fire where transformation occurs... Similar to how coal is not a diamond until it's under enormous pressure and heat, only then does it transform into a diamond.

All of us have concerns, circumstances and pressures we are dealing with in our lives. But for many of us when the going gets tough we end up stopping before we even get fully out of the gate.

We tend to be concerned about:

• Wanting to look good
• Avoiding looking bad
• Wanting to get it right
• Avoiding getting it wrong
• Wanting to be liked
• Avoiding being disliked
• Wanting to succeed
• Avoiding failing

You and I can relate to any one of these getting in our way…

“But what you resist, persists…”

How could your communities, organizations, families and children benefit today from your personal leadership? This isn’t just a hypothetical question because leadership is the driving force for transforming the world around us. By discovering or improving on your own leadership abilities, many new opportunities become available to the lives we touch.

How you lead affects everyone around you… and, we are always leading or being led.

The Day I Died

Twenty years ago, I participated in a training that literally transformed me from the inside out; an amazing, life altering experience I never forgot. It was called The Samurai Game® created by George Leonard.

In a large conference room, I was one of many people participating in an experience like no other. At some point in the day, each of us had to cross a psychological line where we stepped into the unfamiliar world of the medieval Japanese Samurai. 

From there we were challenged to engage with other teammates and opponents as champions exercising resourcefulness, decisiveness, honor, dignity, integrity, risk-taking, selfless service, respect, compassion and personal commitment.

Two teams were created and we were required to face each other in a series of individual, one-on-one contests.  Each of us was encouraged to summon forth our “warrior” spirit to gain personal control and act with courage and determination to prevail … or face defeat.

There I was standing on the battlefield as a Samurai, about to challenge my opponent to the end. I knew there wouldn’t be any physical contact and also knew that I wasn’t “literally” going to die.

But what I chose to do in the next few moments was going to be the deciding factor of whether I lived or prevailed.

I had never been in a situation like this before and all of my senses were alive. I was so present to the fact that every move that I made could be my last. The pressure to do my best was high.

I kept thinking to myself “I don’t want to be here. I should just lose and get it over with. Why did I even sign up for this thing?”

But this is how I had lived my life…when things got too tough, I would slowly take myself out. If I knew there was a chance of “not looking good”, I would find a way to dismiss myself. If I new that there was no guarantee for success, I wouldn’t attempt to even try.

Yet, here I was challenging another Samurai, my team watching and anticipating my every move and I had no way out. I was going to die if I did not give it my all.

And I did not want to die.

I ended up winning my first two challenges but when it was time for my third challenge I was defeated. As I lay there on the ground dead, many thoughts went through my head. At first I was relieved, but then I started to think about how disappointed I was in myself. I should have done better. Where did I go wrong? What could I have done differently? I let my team down. I failed again.

I heard the instructor say “For those of you that are lying there dead, notice that you don’t get any more chances. Notice that you don’t get to participate like you want to. What would you do if you had one more chance at life?”

One Meeting One Chance

I thought to myself “What am I going to do with this one life?” What is important to me?

Suddenly something shifted in me. I knew I had given it my all in the battle. I had gone 100%. It was ok that I was defeated! It was O.K. that I didn’t look good! It was O.K. to fail! It was time for me to stop making myself wrong for my successes and my failures.

This training was so powerful that at the end of it I stood up and said to the group, “If a gorilla attacked me right now, I would be ready.” And I meant it!

No longer was I willing to live a life where I avoided failure, avoided looking bad, and avoided doing it wrong.

And there started my journey to live an unstoppable life.

Within months of doing the training, I moved to Australia (I had been contemplating this move for two years), got married and started a business.

Since that time 24 years ago, I have had many different businesses. Today I am a successful & highly paid executive coach, performance consultant and trainer for some of the best businesses and most prominent leaders in the world. I have investments in both residential and commercial real estate. Additionally, I am married to an extraordinary woman. We have an amazing son, and live in Santa Cruz, California. And I continue to fill my life with challenges and defeats!

Over the years I had developed a series of team and leadership trainings, which for the most part where done in a classroom style of teaching. I wanted to bring more to my clients. I wanted to bring a powerful “edge” to my work with CEO’s, business leaders and individuals. I wanted to not only teach leadership skills, but also put my clients in a position to express those skills during the training itself. I wanted to create a training experience that would put each person in a position that would make them an integral part of a team, give them an opportunity to lead or be lead, then and there…not just after the training was over.

I saw the same problems emerging for my clients repeatedly over the years, and I felt they deserved MORE! The problems that were occurring were things like…

• A lack of confidence in leadership roles
• Inability to create strategy and follow through
• Failure to show up powerfully in their organization
• An inability to inspire their teams into “greatness”
• An inability to work together in alignment
• Concerns about being liked that constantly overrode their leadership skills
• Insecurity from their past that kept inhibiting them
• Crippling negative beliefs
• Complicated solutions that left people ineffective and frustrated
• Concerns about doing it wrong and looking bad
• A deep fear of failing

What Would It Be Worth to You If You Were Able to Transform Your Fears and Become a Great Leader?

In the quickly changing and sometimes uncertain business environment, the future of your company can hang on a single decision. You know that this also applies to many areas of your life as well. Often life seems to come at you from all angles. How you react to these times is very important.

What if you had only one chance to decide what direction to take, and your life was on the line?

With this question in mind, I want to tell you about a new training that I am launching in June. It is the culmination of the best work that I’ve done during my 24 years in the transformational field. This training is the answer to my own questions about how to serve my clients better than I ever have before!

Finally, you can move out of the “class room” style of training so popular in coaching, and get into an “experiential” style of learning. This training will get you out of your seat and on the playing field for much of the time you’re in the room!

We have created both a 1.5 and a 2.5-day training that is fun, highly interactive and leaves you more competent as a team player and leader. It creates atmospheres where deep challenges exist that test your leadership muscle and improve the leadership skills you have really wanted to develop.

Experience the Power of Team Commitment and Synergy

The Samurai Leadership Training™ is highly challenging, fast moving, and unpredictable. Circumstances are created in which individuals and teams display integrity when no one is watching, support when the going gets tough, and commitment when there is no certainty of success. And the training utilizes “The Samurai Game®” created by George Leonard.

You will be involved in an experience of intense competition in an atmosphere that demands honor, dignity and integrity. It is interactive and physically challenging, yet requires no physical contact.

In this highly competitive and fast paced training, Lance Giroux (the managing director of Allied Ronin, a leadership and consulting firm) and I will take you back to medieval times when the Samurai warriors served their king.

The Samurai followed the code of Bushido, meaning “To Serve”. It is the way of the samurai life, loosely analogous to the concept of chivalry. It originates from the Samurai moral code and stresses justice, loyalty, self-control, honesty, courage, respect, and honor unto death. The violent existence of the Samurai was tempered by the wisdom and serenity of their code of honor.

The Samurai Leadership Training™ utilizes the code of the Samurai as a context to live your life fully, run your business and lead a team effectively. Because the training is “live and unscripted” your experience will be unique and specific to your personal requirements for growth. You will significantly deepen your awareness and evoke the importance of living by a set of core values.

Here is what is being said about the effects of this training…

Very empowering. It assisted me to revisit leadership concepts and perspectives with which I am very familiar – but in a fresh and clear way. It also provided a number of openings for me to understand how to improve my listening and communications skills.

– C.A. Gonzalez, H.R. Manager, Santa Clara Valley Transit Authority

To learn something postulated and presented by another is very simple, but to turn one's inquisitive nature inward in an attempt to reveal their own inner truths and ability unleashes something so much more powerful. I am left with a sense of exploration for all that was unleashed in those three simple days.

- Jason Szabo, MBA USF Alum

The March 2-4 retreat, highlighted by the Samurai Game, provided an extraordinary opportunity for me to personally assess my own skills and the experiences of the other participants in relationship to the concepts and interactive work offered. In particular the Game was very empowering for me. It assisted me to revisit leadership concepts and perspectives with which I am very familiar - but in a fresh and clear way. It also provided a number of openings for me to understand how to improve my listening and communications skills

- Candice A. Gonzalez, H.R. Manager, Office of Civil Rights and Employee Relations

I went to the seminar with high expectations and it more than lived up to its billing. It was the BEST experience I have had at USF. There are so many things I took away from the experience, but here are just a few: (1) A new way of thinking about leadership that covers all aspects of my life. A much more complete and realistic perspective; (2) A clear understanding of areas I need to work on and an action plan that I can use to become a better person/leader; and (3) A really great opportunity to experience very close connections with a diversified group of people - other students, prior students, and people in the business community.

- Christine Douglas, MBA USF Alumna

In this training you will experience…

• The dilemma of loyalty to both self and team and the choice about that dilemma
• Being 100% involved in a situation with a commitment to play it out to the end
• Specific insights about how you make choices and how the notion of accountability is personally held
• The testing of your personal sense of integrity
• Being fully and unconditionally supported no matter what the participant does
• Through the process of symbolic death… being respected, appreciated, and cared for regardless of whether you “won” or “lost” during the contest
• The fear, excitement, pain, and total commitment required being completely responsible for others
• The power of team commitment and synergy
• What distracts you and where you excuse yourself from fully living
• Sharp new insights on habitual patterns of behavior, which may be interfering with your success and fulfillment

And, you will learn…

• How to be straight in your communication and accept what you receive from it
• How to generate leadership in any moment or situation
• How to develop a powerful relationship with difficult circumstances and take action in the face of failure
• What gets in your way of listening
• What you fear and what you “pretend” with others
• How to enhance known and latent strengths
• How to empower others and hold them accountable to their full potential
• How to become a modern day Samurai
• How to embody the code of the Samurai in your life, business, community or organization
• How to embody your own unique “Leadership Spirit”

Just what we wanted! Specifically, how to listen, how to deal with change and how to approach situations involving ego and conflict. We deepened our bond as an effective company and team, we practiced making decisions under stress and most importantly, we strengthened leadership at all levels.

- J. Forster, CEO, Pridemark Paramedics

 

Become A Modern Samurai – A Person Who Leads With Honor, Integrity, Dignity and Produces Unheard Of Results

One Meeting – One Chance

Right now, there is an unprecedented situation in relation to this training. Because we are just launching it and want you to have no barriers to taking it, we are offering the first two trainings at a tenth of the ultimate cost!

Most of the trainings that we conduct can be in the tens of thousands of dollars, especially when we are working with leaders. The Samurai Leadership Trainings™ that we are conducting this summer are just as powerful as our future trainings, but we are offering them at rates that anyone can afford.

Our next training session will take place on Oct 9th, 10th and 11th & 28th here in Santa Cruz, California.

It will take place at:

Santa Cruz Chi Center
21511B East Cliff Drive
Santa Cruz, CA 95062
phone: 831.465.9088
fax: 831.465.8528

What kind of leader will you be by the end of this training?

What would that be worth to you?

Our next training will be three days, and the cost for that is only $495.00.

In this training you will be doing more exercises to prepare for the battles and there will be a longer debrief time to discuss what you learned from the training.

 

Both trainings are valued in the “thousands” of dollars and will cost that much in future months. We are interested in your participation right now, and intend to make this easy for you to decide.

Maybe you are still unsure, and think that this couldn’t be for you because you aren’t a “leader” of any team or organization. What’s true is the people who take this course are from all walks of life and career paths.

What they have in common is a desire to play a much bigger game.

Here is a list of who has taken The Samurai Game® in the past…

• In Organizations
• Executives
• Senior Managers
• Managers
• Sales Teams
• Task Force Teams
• Project Management Teams
• Employees

• Government workers
• Consultants
• Solopreneurs and Entrepreneurs
• In Education
• University Alumni, Staff and Students
• High Schools
• Teen Groups
• MBA Programs
• Apprentice Programs

The USF Leadership Retreat provided me the opportunity to take on a leadership role that I normally and typically, shy away from. What I learned in this one weekend about my abilities as a leader would have taken me years to learn. It will stay with me always.

– Teresa Abrahamsohn, MBA USF MBA Alumna, TEECOM Design Group

Additionally, many organizations have used the Samurai Game® for leadership and team development including…

• AT&T
• U.S. Army
• The United Nations Secretariat
• Verizon Wireless
• Societe Generale Corporate & Investment Banking
• University of San Francisco
• Oklahoma State University
• Westminster College
• University of Nevada Las Vegas
• Texas A&M University
• AIESEC International
• The Organizational Behavior Teachers Society
• Lindora, Inc.
• Vantage LTD – China
• AsiaWorks, LTD – Taipei, Hong Kong, Jakarta
• Top Human, LTD – China

This was the BEST experience I have had at University of San Francisco! There are so many things that I took away. 1) A much more complete and realistic perspective on leadership; 2) A clear understanding of areas I need to work on to become a better person and leader; and 3) A great opportunity to experience close connections with a diversified group of people.

C. Douglas, MBA, University of San Francisco Alumna

Registration is simple, and you can choose either weekend to participate. We are sending this invitation out to literally thousands of people we have worked with over the past 10 years, so read through these details and let us know as soon as possible.

Because we have a limited number of spaces for participants, you have to act quickly. Throughout this entire letter, I’ve provided “click-through” links for you to register for The Samurai Leadership Training. Or, you can just click on the one right here and get started with your sign up.

There are two more things that I want to tell you.

When you sign up for either session of The Samurai Leadership Training™, you will receive one half hour of coaching with one of our highly trained coaches – for free! Additionally, I guarantee my work. If you show up and do your very best in all ways, and still feel that you didn’t get your money’s worth - I will refund your money! That’s how much I believe in this training! You have absolutely no risk with this. Again, it will fill up – so it’s best not wait too long to secure your space for the next Samurai Session.

Take A Giant Leap In Inspiration and a Bold Step Towards Your Future

Become Fearless Like a Warrior

 

 

All of us at Run Rhino, Inc. look forward to seeing you at the next session, and I am especially anxious to meet with you and help you to become a modern day Samurai Warrior!

Warmly,

Sandor Kovacs

President and Founder of Run Rhino, Inc.

P.S. – The Samurai Leadership Training© promises to be one of those momentous steps you take in life, that literally transforms you!

P.S.S – How much longer do you want to wait? Are you performing at the level you want in your career and life? Give yourself the opportunity to train one time in your life with the will to die! Making this choice today could be your first step towards total mastery in your success!

 

© 2009 Samurai Leadership Training | a Run Rhino, Inc. production