Hostrander, Howard

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Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Publication
    Presencing As A Transformative Strategy For Changing Army Culture
    (2012-11-12) Hostrander, Howard
    In order for leaders to be the most effective it is beneficial that they be self-aware. Part of being self-aware is to understand how our own bias plays a part in how we frame, view or project information received or transmitted to others. To enable participants of the Organization Dynamics program to become more self-aware, for example, there are several different classes on leadership that use methods like the Hermann Brain Dominance Instrument or the Enneagram. These techniques not only identify traits about ourselves to us, they open the pathway to expanded thought and shift the view of our surroundings. I have used these techniques, as well as my personal experience with mild Traumatic Brain Injury and Post Traumatic Stress to examine organizational change within the United States Army in an attempt to demonstrate that the Army’s premier program to help Soldiers deal with the stressors of multiple deployments to theaters of war is in jeopardy. It is in jeopardy, I believe, due to the leaders’ lack of self-awareness and conscious understanding of the context needed to support such significant shifts in organizational and individual mindsets and behavior. As an analogous example of a major change process, in 2000, the Army embarked on a journey to transform and chose as a symbol the wear of a black beret. In the course of a decade, the Army changed but did not transform and in 2011 discarded that symbol of transformation. The failed attempt to transform is the result of not changing the culture or the belief patterns that produce it and which it in turn cultivates. Soldiers and leaders of today use the same thought processes as those of our predecessors, trapping us, and the organization, in the past. To break this cycle I examine the theory of presencing as a way to break free from processes of the past. Presencing allows leaders to use their self-awareness and trust of their inner feelings in order to develop plans and policies for the future as it is emerging.
  • Publication
    Use of Narrative to Promote Alternative Treatment Methods for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: A Semi-Self-Portrait
    (2011-08-31) Hostrander, Howard
    Storytelling serves to communicate, in a non‐threatening way, new ideas that can inspire people to action. When done well, a story will draw readers in and help them create a reality where there is no division between the version of the storyteller and the reader. It is when the two stories become one in the reader’s mind that the greatest chance exists for change and action. In telling my story it is my desire to enable action not only by those suffering the effects of mild Traumatic Brain Injury or Post Traumatic Stress, but by those who love, live, work with or supervise them. My story is meant to help overcome the cultural bias that prevents one from seeking mental health assistance and to dispel the assumption of heresy with regard to alternative treatment modalities. By exposing my own pain and learning, both physical and mental, I hope to show others a pathway out of the false reality the brain can create in its self‐defense.