Leadership and the Endurance Athlete

Health and fitness have been an important part of my life for several years. It wasn’t until the last three years that I followed the path of endurance training. This type of training is vastly different than anything else I’ve done mainly from the fact that is an ongoing journey of self-discovery. So much so, that it’s difficult to put into words and its something that you just come to understand and embrace once you experience it. Long distance aerobic training is pure, its raw, its analog. It truly allows you, even forces you, to reconnect with yourself and the world around you. It puts you in places of mental and physical discomfort that – if you endure and persist – you can only grow from. Over time, you begin to see things differently, you relate to life differently, you see yourself differently, you see challenges differently and simply put, anything that was once hard becomes achievable. Anything.  As I continue down this path, I am reminded daily that the other side of discomfort and uncertainty is always rewarding. 

I am an athlete and I am a leader. Through the continuous self-reflection and the time I have to “observe”, I have drawn some very meaningful life metaphors from this type of training. Some are very personal others are very applicable to all of us. 

Having been in a leadership position since my early twenties, I can’t help but draw similarities between being an endurance athlete and being in a leadership role. The lessons and experience gained from both the perspective of a leader and an endurance athlete are applicable in so many ways to so many “life” situations. I often find myself jumping from the endurance athlete to leader throughout the day based on what I am experiencing at any given moment.  

I’ve come to believe that we are all capable of being leaders in our own way just as we are capable of being athletes in our own way. You don’t have to necessarily lead others to be a leader. After all, the first person you should be focused on leading is yourself and if you learn to do that, then you are a leader. Living an athletic life is provides the opportunity to learn to lead one’s self.. Leadership starts with mindset – just as being an athlete does. That said, the nine principles to follow are not leadership focused in the “business” sense, but rather they’re “life” focused and can be applied to anything and everything. 

1.     Leadership and Endurance Training are Lonely You’ve heard the saying “it’s lonely at the top”. It’s not that leadership is lonely, in fact its the opposite. When you’re in a leadership position, naturally you’re surrounded by others; most looking to you for direction. What’s lonely is doing difficult things and making difficult decisions. This is what separates leaders apart from the pack. Leaders are the ones willing to do those difficult tasks, make the tough decisions. Like leadership, when you make the commitment to train as an endurance athlete, your life becomes rather lonely. Why? Simply put; it’s hard, it’s way out of most people’s comfort zone. It tests you beyond what is comprehensible to most people. Your training sessions are long, strenuous and you will find yourself with more alone time than ever before. In either aspect, embrace it. Use that time to reflect and grow. Relish in the fact that as a leader or an endurance athlete you willingly do hard things. 

2.     It’s the daily repeated decisions that make the biggest impact. You will find that in leadership, you will be faced with repetitive decisions on a daily basis. These are often small things that come up day after day - they never go away and you may feel differently about them each day. The impact lies in making the same decision day after day. Things like - getting up early and starting your day with positive intention. It’s about creating habit which then in turn creates influence. The same holds true with endurance training. You are faced daily with repeated decisions. Some days you’re excited about training, other days you’re not. Some days you want to eat clean, other days you don’t. Your success lies in your willingness to make the decision that will compound and progressively add to your growth regardless of how you feel about it on any given day. 

3.     Action over intention. Doing things with intention. What’s the reason? What’s the desired outcome? These are important questions to ask yourself daily – these are your intentions. But they don’t mean much unless you’re willing to take action. 

In both leadership and endurance sports you must have intention. I suppose this is true in life as well. Everything we do or think about starts with an intention. But intentions must be followed with action. That is when our impact on the world around us begins. Whether its our team, our family, those we lead or our health and fitness; intentions are great, but action is what makes the impact. Action sets things in motion. 

4.     It’s about what happens behind closed doors.  - The work you put in behind the scenes when no-one is looking is what really matters. In leadership, you spend a lot your time “on stage”. Not literally, but figuratively. Others are always looking to you. Your team, your customers, your peers, your family - hell, even your competition. It’s what you do on your own time that primes you and prepares you to be out in front. 

How you spend your time alone is what makes the biggest impact on your growth as a leader. What are you consuming? Who are you watching? What actions are you taking to better yourself? The principle is identical in the endurance world. On race day, the work is done. We grow as athletes during the months and months of training - often times alone and for long stretches of time. No one is cheering, no one is motivating you. It’s you putting in work. That is where the growth occurs. Behind closed doors. “I am made of all the days you do not see - not just the one you do” ~Jan Frodeno, 3x Ironman Champion

5.     You must do what needs to be done when it needs to be done. This is all about mindset and which version of yourself is showing up to put in the work. The days that matter most are the days when the task at hand is uncomfortable, difficult or simply inconvenient. Which version of yourself shows up in those times? In leadership and endurance training the times it feels most uncomfortable or inconvenient are the times are what sets the good apart from the great. You must develop the mindset to show up everyday and do what needs to be done regardless of how you feel.

I’ve learned this year, that being an athlete is more about mindset than physical capability. Especially in endurance sports, the playing field can be leveled by someone who is willing to work harder. To put in the time regardless of how they feel mentally. It comes down to this: who is showing up to put in the work when the work needs to be done?  

6.     Take ownership.  There is no one to blame for the work that didn’t get done other than you. On race day, the work is done. And it’s been done week in and week out. If your race doesn’t go as planned, or you don’t perform as expected – it’s on you. Only you know deep down if you did the work. You own it, you own results. And when you perform great, have a great race, exceed your expectations, great athletes thank their support team – their family, their friends, their coaches, their nutritionists, those they have surrounded themselves with.

As a leader you must be ready to accept responsibility for failures and give away responsibility for successes. Your team, those you lead, get the praise for successes – always. You, the leader take the fall for failure…Great leaders know that they must fail alone but succeed together. 

7.     Yesterday is lost. Don’t ever look backwards. Missing a training session can’t be made up the next day. In endurance training your aerobic engine is built by compounding workouts. Each one has a purpose. Lighter days prime you for heavier days and recovery days follow heavier days. It compounds over time with the intent to build a solid aerobic foundation. Doubling up a workout because you missed a day for whatever reason is counterproductive and detrimental to the process. 

Some days as a leader go as planned, other days do not. The key is to keep moving forward. Whatever happened or didn’t happen yesterday in the past. Acknowledge it, learn from it and move on. DO NOT carry it forward. It’s detrimental to your forward progress. 

8.     Success lies in growth. Building endurance is a difficult and compound process. It’s the routine of slowly increasing your hours and miles that compound over time and build the physical endurance to accomplish long distance events. When you start out, a 3 mile run feels like an eternity. You’re winded, tired, sluggish. But weeks of adding a mile and over time that 3 mile run that was so difficult is now just a warm up for a 6-mile run or a 10-mile run. Experiencing what is difficult decreases your perception of what is difficult in the future.

Each difficult experience you have as a leader adds another layer of knowledge to draw upon during the next difficult experience. It’s the same compound effect as in endurance training.  Experiencing what is hard, uncomfortable or challenging builds your “leadership fitness”. The unprecedented challenges that 2020 presented is the perfect example. Instead of being angry about it we should be excited for the experience we’re gaining and how it will help us in the future. How do you use the tough times to improve yourself?

9.     Being able to endure is the true test. Endurance – n. the fact or power of enduring an unpleasant or difficult process or situation without giving way. 

The true test of a leader or an athlete is not when things are status quo or easy. It’s when we are challenged and pushed to our limits. This is when our true character comes out. This is when we can either chose to endure and see past the difficulty or give-in and go from leader (or athlete) to victim. It’s times like these when others look to us the most for direction, stability, reassurance and leadership. 

This is what leadership and endurance sports are all about – can you endure? Can you come out on the other side stronger, faster, better, more experienced, more influential, more confident, more humble? Can you see the challenging and difficult times truly as opportunities for growth? Can you take charge of your mindset when you’re pushed to the limits? Can you envision the person you will become and then become that person? Can you solidify your intentions and continue to take action regardless of what challenge comes your way?

Simply put, leadership is a test of endurance – mental endurance and though many think that the endurance athlete is tested mainly in physical endurance, this not true. Endurance sports are also a test in mental endurance. Our minds will always quit on us first. 

You must endure. You are capable of so much more than you think. Your potential and continued progress lies in your breakthroughs of discomfort.