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President of Resolution Group International Featured as Guest Panelist During Verbal Judo Forum

Your ethical choice: Serve the public or sweep the garbage?

Indecent, illegal and immoral: That pretty much sums up the acts and behaviors which law enforcement and corrections professionals confront every day.

It’s a hazard, then, to start viewing yourself less as a professional and more as a trash handler.

And that’s when the trouble begins, cautions Jack Hoban, president of Resolution Group International and a subject matter expert for the U.S. Marine Corps Martial Arts Program. As an ethics and martial arts specialist, he has worked extensively to train U.S. Marines, particularly those who are being sent overseas to work as peacekeepers.

“We must train to be protectors,” Hoban said. Consider the example of U.S. Marines trained for combat and cultivated to become killers, “because somebody thought that would help overcome a natural propensity to not want to harm another human being … All that does is put you at risk for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or, perhaps, results in harming people who don’t need to be killed because you’ve dehumanized them.”

Hoban recently gave his comments as part of a monthly forum held by the Verbal Judo Institute. He was the featured guest panelist in an exclusive discussion as part of the members-only Verbal Judo website.

Dr. George Thompson, founder and president of the Verbal Judo Institute, has incorporated Hoban’s “Warrior Creed” into the Verbal Judo methodology, which has been taught to over 700,000 law enforcement, corrections and security professionals. Because their philosophies are closely aligned, Thompson and Hoban will conduct training together later this year.

“Adopting the mindset that people are safer because of my presence is a breakthrough ethical approach for those of us who act as peace warriors,” said Thompson.

Hoban, once a “macho young man with a hard-guy attitude,” said his breakthrough moment came when he shifted his perspective from tough guy to acting as a protector of others.

“I’m here to help people, and that’s what my skills are for,” he said. “Even,” he said, “if it means employing the use of force.” Through the study of ethics, he traces this purpose to the core values fundamental to America: To protect life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and, especially, the concept of basic human equality. Our lives are all of equal value, even if our behavior or cultural values are not.

“Our ethical value is to protect life. Whose life? Self and others. Which others? All others. Killing only when necessary as a means to protect life.”
Hoban recognizes the connectivity between ethics, communications and physical training, especially under the crucible of stress when they must be deployed. Therefore, his courses incorporate all these elements together. “When people have the physical skills, that allows them to have more presence of mind,” he said.

“It’s very hard under adversity to keep that kernel of respect when you see behavior or cultural values that are immoral,” Hoban said. “But that’s the secret: Sustain the ability to respect and empathize with people, regardless of their outward behavior or attitude.”

“Cops burn out because of dehumanization,” Thompson added. “But if you change the angle your perspective changes: That nasty driver needs our help, not our description that he’s a jerk.

“You’d never burn out if you took that attitude to work every night.”

Verbal Judo Members have access to the full 45-minute recording of this interview, along with other exclusive material designed to improve your professional communications. If you would like more information, visit www.verbaljudomembers.com. For information on courses to be team-taught by Hoban and Dr. Thompson, contact the Verbal Judo Institute at (315) 253-0007 or visit http://www.resgroupintl.com/events/2010/rgi_vji_08-04-2010.htm.

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