Overcoming adversity is empowering, on marathons and in business

Normally for Inform Online, Commodity CEO Jakob Bloch is the one asking the questions, but in a conversation with business psychologist Dion S?rensen the tables were turned. Dion knows Jakob’s passion for ultra-running and wanted to know, did you apply the discipline from your professional work to the running, or was it vice versa? 

Vice versa. In 2016, the logistics and mental and physical preparation to compete in the 250k Marathon Des Sables in the Sahara forced me to reflect on how to break all this down into components. It’s one takeaway I've since adopted in business --- the process of breaking things down into molecules and preparing yourself for a clean and comprehensive execution.

Training to execute something in an unfamiliar environment and situation is good practice for business

Training to execute something in an unfamiliar environment and situation is good practice for business and it allows you to develop a much wider keyboard in terms of what can you cope with as an individual, let alone a leader.

If I spoke to some of your employees and key stakeholders about the Jakob before and after you started ultra-running, what difference would they highlight? 

Perhaps more prepared to back myself, a deeper sense of self-belief. You might label that as self-confidence, but I view it as a richer feeling of accomplishment. None of this is unique to me. My consistent takeaway when I interview ultra-runners is that they have gone through the same moments for themselves, that personal journey.

blend of endurance and putting yourself firmly outside your comfort zone is a massive differentiator.  

We all use different methods to manage ourselves, it doesn't have to be running, but that blend of endurance and putting yourself firmly outside your comfort zone is a massive differentiator.  

 But how much time do you spend on it? How could someone tap into some of the benefits of this if, say, they’re an executive with a family and hobbies and work they’d need to prioritise?  

It's a time thief for sure, but maybe by starting earlier in the morning you could grab an hour without taking that time away from your other priorities. In the evening, you could question whether or not that hour between 10 and 11 is really quality time. And you can make things more sustainable by running with colleagues or your family, because going solo can be a very lonely pursuit. In the races themselves you've got to embrace being alone and I find that therapeutic. But in general, everyday living, I don't seek solitude.

A well-known quote from the author Simon Sinek is, ‘Dream big. Start small. But most of all, start’. I guess it's the same with running as with leadership? Keep going even though things are tough, push yourself forward until it becomes more and more natural and you slowly but consistently become better?

That resonates. Rather than wait for a moment that will trigger your motivation, just do something, don't make it conditional on other stuff. With running this comes back to its simplicity. Let's not overcomplicate it, like saying I can't run until I have an expensive pair of trainers.

The beauty of running is that it pays back very quickly, so a little bit of action tends to feed motivation

The beauty of running is that it pays back very quickly, so a little bit of action tends to feed motivation. Although perhaps not to take it to the ridiculous levels that I have in the last four years!

 How do you use what you have learned from your ultra-running in your life as a headhunter and company leader?

Initially I thought they were completely different worlds. But after coming back from the Sahara the first time I felt there was something there which was which was very positive for work and my mental state. Since then, I’ve started digging into the value in business of what I would classify as positive stress. When we operate as headhunters, we get a challenge, and we map it out and follow a process to reach a goal. No different to overcoming a race. You prepare, you execute, you deliver the goods. And then what? In trail running I’ve subsequently signed up for loads of races, I’m constantly race-ready.

maintaining the positive stress in a momentum that I can take into my everyday job and also, I hope, inspire a bit of the same in my colleagues. 

At work I'll complete a task and literally step into the next one, maintaining the positive stress in a momentum that I can take into my everyday job and also, I hope, inspire a bit of the same in my colleagues. 

And the final thing is the acknowledgement from within, the pleasure of succeeding when you have gone through a tough process?

In a study we’ve done with ultra-runners, why they're running has got nothing to do with getting recognition from others. It is something internal for people who pursue those challenges, and I can categorically confirm that's my own take on it. If your single motivation for running across the Sahara will be the 15 seconds crossing the finish line, you're not going to do it.

take reward from the process itself. Yes, the win is important, but it should not be the only driver at work and nor should it be in an ultramarathon

What I would say to colleagues in my world, headhunting, is that if you're only motivated by the finder's fee then that's not what I'm about in business. I don't think it's even sustainable if it's purely for the win. I'm much more inclined to say our drivers are different, you've got to enjoy the journey and take reward from the process itself. Yes, the win is important, but it should not be the only driver at work and nor should it be in an ultramarathon.

It's clear you are passionate about this, Jakob. Is there a way you can integrate that into your business?

Maybe what I can offer is trying to find some more robust links to performance in other parts of life. An interesting element I should probably cover is what happens when you fail. In ultra-running terms it’s the dreaded DNF, which is ‘Did Not finish. The correlations, again, are obvious, whether it's in life or business, what do you do after failure?

aim to understand what happened when you do fail or lose, to learn from it.

A massively attractive attribute as a leader is to accept that failure and losses are categorically part of running any business. You should aim to understand what happened when you do fail or lose, to learn from it. Loss-making trades happen in commodity trading even when people did all the right things, something happened in the market and they lost money. That can be that can be perfectly OK. You just have to take it on the chin and not let it have too big of an influence on your self-confidence in your approach to risk taking and the business you're in. So, reflect on it, but also get ready to process it and put it in a place and draw a line under it and then start to run again. 

Thank you, Jakob, it’s been interesting. I see you as a good example of someone who has taken on a physical activity, then has applied the same principles to their professional life and is getting something really beneficial out of it. I think that’s very admirable.

 Thanks, Dion, it’s been fun to be on the other side of the interview table for once!