Volition is “the faculty or power to use one’s will”.
The day I delivered the closing keynote on Grounded at the Association of Financial Technology at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Major Dan Rooney delivered the opening keynote. Major Rooney (call sign “Noonan”) is an F16 fighter pilot now serving in the Oklahoma National Guard. He told an incredibly moving story about being on a commercial flight that was carrying the remains of a soldier who had been killed in action. This experience caused Dan to look into how that soldier’s family would be cared for, and ultimately led him to create the non-profit organization Folds of Honor, which provides educational scholarships for children of fallen members of the armed services.
I encourage you to check out his worthy charity at www.foldsofhonor.org. There is too much to cover all of it here, but I did want to point out one major area of Dan’s keynote in which I took particular interest. He highlighted the word volition and described it as the most powerful word in the English language. Wow! The definition of volition is “the faculty or power to use one’s will” (Oxford Dictionary). I believe I am in agreement with Dan on the importance of this word.
In my book Grounded, I recount the writings of Victor Frankl and his band of Holocaust survivors. They survived by controlling the only thing they could: their ability to choose what they did and said in response to the cruelty of their captors. They used their own volition to return anger with kindness, and hatred with love. In his keynote, Major Rooney told the story of the captain of that flight delivering the remains of Corporal Brock Bucklin, who had asked all of the passengers to wait in their seats while the casket was offloaded. Dan had been glued to the window watching the entire transfer, and when it was done, had been saddened to see only a third of the passengers had waited in respect. Those passengers had also used their volition, but to act in a disrespectful manner.
In fact, a significant amount of the content Dan delivered that day mirrors what I have written in Grounded. The need for us to exhibit a calm focus, provide thoughtful responses to crisis situations, and have regard for others are all embodied in the word volition. We have the choice to decide how we will act in any given circumstance; no one can make us do anything. No one can force us to do the right thing, but we can have the volition to do what is right and be prepared to exhibit strategic leadership and make effective decisions, particularly in a time of crisis.
Think about the word volition and examine how you are applying it in your personal and professional life. Are you acting with volition? Act deliberately and work diligently to ensure that you are exhibiting all of the Grounded Intraits.