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Leadership Forum - Highlights The Art of War
Topic Started: Dec 6 2004, 02:25 PM (133 Views)
Dandandat
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Time to put something here
Hello all, my place of business has what is called a “leadership forum” - The Leadership Forum is an employee-run organization established to foster professional managerial development of its members through the exchange of ideas via an interaction among peers and upper management. Every month we hold a formal meeting (at a country club, or reception hall type place) where we dine, mingle, and listen to a presentation from a key note speaker. Our September meeting had Col. Matthew Bogdanos as the key-note speaker, a man who lead the investigation and reprocurement of artifacts stolen form the Baghdad Muslimism. This is the article that ran in our company news letter about his visit and presentation. I thought some might enjoy reading it for what it is worth.

Quote:
 
it’s as close as most of us will come to the conflict in Iraq, or Iraq in general, but Col. Matthew Bogdanos led the guests directly there. He flashed dozens and dozens of slides in his presentation titled “Pieces of The Cradle: Iraq’s Last Treasures” at the Leadership Forum meeting on September 15. It was the first of the new season, and presented an excellent precedent.

“I’m a homicide prosecutor, which means I can’t stand in one place and talk,” he said, “so tonight, I take you on a journey that started on 9/11.” When looting and lawlessness resulted in more than 170,000 artifacts being stolen from Saddam Hussein’s personal collection, also known as the Iraq Museum, “The world reacted with heartbreak and sorrow,” Col. Bogdanos said, “but was there a universal condemnation about what happened beyond that? Was there a larger scheme of global criminality? Did the U.S. forces stand idly by while this took place?” His mission was to find answers, as well as the missing artifacts such as the Sacred Vase of Warka from Ur, 3200 B.C., and the Golden Bull’s Head, 2500 B.C. After learning about and adapting to the warrior culture, Col. Bogdanos and his team arrived at the Iraq Museum, which bore a sign that read, “Death to all Americans and Zionist pigs!” Despite the notso-warm welcome, Col. Bogdanos and his team wanted to assess what happened and wanted to help. They slept in shifts at the museum to protect what items remained and to make observations. They noticed that the desecration at the museum was similar to the desecration that took place at Saddam Hussein’s palaces. “The people took their anger out against Hussein through his pieces,” he explained. No other damage was done to the buildings, but many artifacts and statues were beheaded, chopped into pieces or stolen all together. Bogdanos and his team tried to do inventory, but no computer or master list was evident for reference. Through continuous immersion in the community, the team was able to educate law enforcement about what was missing and its features, and to convince the public that anyone who returned stolen artifacts would not be beheaded. As the team gained trust of members of the community, pieces were returned and retrieved. Through an amnesty program, nearly 1,900 pieces were recovered. “That showed great trust and courage on the part of the Iraqis,” Col. Bogdanos stated. For those who did not come forth with missing artifacts, he and his team went on raids to catch smugglers. As he
showed a slide of a car trunk, filled with ancient pottery and artworks, Col. Bogdanos recalled that the smuggler actually asked, “How did that get there?”

While most of the theft was done through professional efforts, random looters, and inside jobs, he noted that not all theft was based on greed or vengeance. Some members of the community actually stole pieces in order to preserve them from the other looters who were damaging the country’s valuable history. Ultimately, Col. Bogdanos and his team recovered more than 5,000 priceless artifacts and he received the Defense Meritorious Service Medal.

Col. Bogdanos spoke one hour longer than Leadership Forum meetings usually last, but his energetic persona and engrossing presentation diverted everyone from that fact. To bring the evening to close, he quoted Winston Churchill, “Now is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”   
 

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Dr. Noah
Sistertrek's Asian Correspondant
Does your workplace encourage a certain viewpoint of politics?
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Dandandat
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Time to put something here
The Sisko
Dec 6 2004, 02:28 PM
Does your workplace encourage a certain viewpoint of politics?

No - why do you ask?

I will how ever say from what I have experienced their are pockets of dominating political viewpoints depending on what functional group/team one looks at (but dominance does not me over powering, just more so of one view point then another).

How about where you work?
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Dr. Noah
Sistertrek's Asian Correspondant
No, but then again we don't get guest speakers on political subjects either.
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Dandandat
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Time to put something here
The Sisko
Dec 6 2004, 02:41 PM
No, but then again we don't get guest speakers on political subjects either.

Oh yes, our guest speakers range from all over the board, just last week we had a comedian/motivational specked come and speak about laughter in the work place. But being a militarily oriented company we have accesses and reason (politics is where our bread and butter come from) to have politically orientated speakers form time to time .

I will say while Col. Matthew Bogdanos did have a view point that was obvious (and not surprising) one of the first things he said was that he was leaving politics at the door and that any one who wanted to discuses it would have to find some one else because he wasn’t going to do it.


But why do you find this to be a political subject?
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Dr. Noah
Sistertrek's Asian Correspondant
Because it has to do with governments.

Wow. We have people come and speak with us, but it's all directly related to our work. We certainly never had a seminar on laughter in the workplace.
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Dandandat
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The Sisko
Dec 6 2004, 02:56 PM
Because it has to do with governments.

Granted, but the subject matter wasn’t "Why the Baghdad Muslimism was looted" but the efforts and methods of those who where given the job to recover the artifacts – and a real life account of what it's like in Iraqi at the moment for good masseur.


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Wow.  We have people come and speak with us, but it's all directly related to our work.  We certainly never had a seminar on laughter in the workplace.
Maybe you should ask for it, its a good benefit to talk about non-work related issues - you expand your horizons. A flow of new ideas and methods is always good for growth and employ moral.

"The Leadership Forum" (this program) is not work related (other then the fact that its company provided) we have plenty of work related seminars and classes. This program is a “work community” strengthening program. A place for people who do not normally interact in a normal day to come together and mingle. To share knowledge and experience, to get presented information (Laughter in the work place) that may not be a direct benefit to the company but is a benefit non the less. And we also dine on some really good food and there is always an open bar.
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Dr. Noah
Sistertrek's Asian Correspondant
An open bar? It's a wonder you guys get any work done!! :lol:
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Dandandat
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Time to put something here
The Sisko
Dec 6 2004, 03:49 PM
An open bar? It's a wonder you guys get any work done!! :lol:

Nope no work - its held after hours.
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Fesarius
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Admiral
Scotty,

Is this a Forum on this Board?



























;)
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Dandandat
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Time to put something here
Yes its right under "game trek" - can't you see it?
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Fesarius
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Admiral
^^^
Yes, and thanks. ;)
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