Leading like Running...

I’ve always been a sports enthusiast (more a football active player). As well, I came to running out of necessity since I am located in Lyon (France). It was literally my only option, given the complex juggle of work and family while evolving within Lyon environment.                                   

Running is quick and efficient. It can be scheduled anytime – pre-dawn to dusk. Running is free and requires minimal equipment. Seemingly the perfect solution to my fitness needs. In the past few years in Jakarta, Bangkok, I’ve completed numerous running but more “short distances”: Several 10Ks in my bag.

Since last year, I decided to give long distance (Marathon) a try. So, while I am generally pretty driven, pushing myself in sports has helped me to know myself better and to get to know and learn from people I really appreciate.

Through running I have learned life lessons that have also influenced my professional development and sustained my leadership skills.

1. Confident in yourself

I’ve learned that I need running and not just running, races. I’ve always been thirsty for professional development opportunities and running somehow quenches that thirst. A race can be an opportunity to learn about how you see yourself in your career and how you look at accomplishing a goal.

The number of friends who have told me they would love to run a 10K but believe they can’t do it is staggering. My answer is always the same: “You are able to do it—you just need to believe you can and work every day for it!”       

Nothing you really want and is worth having will just walk in the door. You will have to go out and grab it. As with running, becoming a leader also require demands that conscious commitment to get started.

2. Discipline and Hard Work.

First, running a race successfully requires training and reparation. From jogging varied distances to get in shape, to maintaining the proper diet for successful exercise routines, the race starts long before race day.

What the race provides to me is a destination. The length of your race will determine the level of training needed. The date of the race will determine when you need to start your journey. The time you decide you want to finish in will also determine how hard you need to train.

Like in your leadership journey, don’t expect new skills to come easily. Be prepared to confront some discomfort. You need to push yourself beyond your known limitations and you will discover new capabilities that will help you to be prepared for the “D-Day”.

As well, in your career, you will need to establish a destination, a goal. If you do not know what your objective is, how will you know what you need to do to get there? Determine your endgame, your timeline, and what a successful completion of that goal looks like for you. Then start preparing for it.

3. Determination and Be prepared Mentally

This morning, it was the D-Day for my 2nd Half-Marathon (RUNIN LYON) - I woke up at 6:00 am and run from 8:00 am to 1h48min later - crossing the finish line and over-achieving by the same occasion, my previous personal record by 32 min.

It is pretty obvious that if you want to run at your best possible, you need to be physically fit. However, often overlooked is the need to also be mentally prepared. In a situation where the results are so evident – you get a time and a position – it becomes very clear that high performances require focus.

With my previous timing in mind, I kept pushing and decided (like I do for every race) that this race was going to be about me. Inevitably, I couldn’t help but notice some people that had been alongside me for the first few km were beginning to fall behind.

I was feeling guilty as they were for me my pacers during those kms but what should I do: Should I stay where I’m comfortable or do I keep pushing ahead to achieve my individual goal?

In every race participated, as well I have learnt during my career (and share every day at work to my team that I have recruited): “some people will pass you and some people might fall behind. You have a choice in your life: Are you going to let yourself fall behind? Can you stay consistently motivated as that change happens?”

I remembered my individual goal and kept pushing on.

Today, around Km 15 (which was for me around 70 minutes of running), my thighs started to burn heavily. This time my challenge was not about my preparation, or comparing myself to peers, or leaving others behind. It was all about me. I was seriously in pain, but I was not at the point where I couldn’t keep moving. I was 6 km away to the finish line than I was to the start. In that moment, I thought a lot to my strong supporters – the foundation that I was representing ( Le Rire Médecin ), my wife and my 3 kids and I had to intentionally decide to keep pushing to achieve my goal.

I encouraged myself and kept going. I am doing Great; I am so close to the Finish line!

4- Be a team player

Most of the time, the achievements of a runner are the result of a team of people – same in business. My family, running friends were very supportive during in all my preparation – like a team project where everybody has a key role to play.

Have you ever thought you deserved all the credit for any successful project you have finished “on your own”? Think twice. There are always co-workers, peers helping you in the “steep part” of any projects without even, most of the time, noticing it.

5- Celebrate your achievements

There is nothing like achieving something you have worked hard for, even if it seems small to others or even to you. Celebrating small things lets you take on other bigger things.        

After every race, my ritual is to have a nice lunch with my kids – our celebration.                 

In any of successful projects engaged with my team at work, I also celebrate with them, the big and the small achievements as it keeps us happy and motivated to the next one.

My next destination?

Each time a race, or a project is complete, I feel a sense of accomplishment. I celebrate that event, refresh myself and then schedule another race or challenge.           

Like my professional motto - "when one goal is done, it leaves you room for another."