Self Development on the Field & in the Gym

The Leadership Asset You May Be Ignoring

Image by Alireza Esmaeell from Unsplash

Here's a fact -- Strength & Fitness build confidence. They also build trajectory.

Can you run up a flight of stairs?
Can you do 30 push-ups?


If not, you may want to aim toward both.

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Years ago I couldn't do one push-up. My lack of fitness was a leadership blindspot I turned around. I learned fitness and showing up for yourself are about process, leading, caring, and being uncomfortable.

Moving with rigor improves our ability to perform with composure under pressure. It helps us create, lead, listen, self-regulate, communicate - you name it. Fitness also transforms Presence and how we are perceived.

The Hidden Connection Between Fitness, Agency and Career

When we think about Leadership development, we typically focus on the obvious: communication skills, strategic thinking, emotional intelligence. We invest in courses and conferences. We read the latest books and attend networking events, but we often miss something fundamental.

Physical strength and stamina are not separate from professional performance. In fact, the opposite is true. Fitness is the foundation upon which leadership and career growth are based, and if that foundation is shaky, everything becomes less stable.

Think about the last time you had to deliver a high-stakes presentation, when all eyes were on you and pressure was mounting. Your ability to handle that moment with confidence wasn't just about your knowledge or preparation. It was about your body and mind capacity to remain composed and energized under stress.

The Trajectory Factor

Fitness doesn't just affect how you and I feel in the moment. Fitness can shape our entire personal and professional trajectory and here is the reason why: Leadership is fundamentally about sustained composed performance over time. Leadership is about showing up consistently day after day, even when things get difficult - especially when things get difficult.

When you invest in the physical you, you’re building strength, you’re building energy, and you’re building mental resilience. When you can push through discomfort at the gym, you develop the psychological tools to push through at the office and in the Board room. When you show up for and invest in yourself even though, even if, even when, you're practicing the same deliberateness, the same DISCIPLINE you need to show up as a composed, decisive, effective Leader when stakes are high.

3 Steps to Unstoppable

Image by Julia Rekamie from Unsplash

The journey from physically-limited to physically fit is really a masterclass in Leadership development. Fitness training mirrors absolutely the skills you need to inspire trust, sell ideas, and make tough calls in these important ways:

  • Process orientation: Weekly fitness training teaches us that results come from consistent action, not sporadic efforts. The same principle applies to building a career, assembling a team, building a skill set, or growing a business.

  • Leading by example: When you commit to your physical health, you demonstrate the type of personal accountability others want to follow.

  • Caring under pressure: Fitness training puts you in controlled stress situations that teach focus and composure under demanding conditions. This directly translates to increased resilience and performance in pressure situations.

  • Embracing discomfort: Growth only happens when we breach our comfort zone. Whether you're increasing your deadlift or taking on a challenging project, you have to move past comfort to grow and get somewhere.

The Presence Factor

There's something else that happens when you get physically stronger: Presence and the way people perceive you changes. It's not about looking a certain way. It's about the quiet get-it-done confidence that comes from handling rigor and challenges.

Important Fitness Starting Points

The connection between Fitness and Leadership is clear, and you can start building both today. Here's your framework:

  1. Start where you are. You don't need to transform overnight or compare yourself to anyone else. The key is doing something. The key is beginning, even if that means getting out the door dressed for a work out a few times a week. That alone is a start. Next -

  2. Make Fitness part of your work. Recognize Fitness as a core component of what you do and who you are. Schedule it, prioritize it, protect it, and show up for it even if, even though, even when. Finally -

  3. Make quality Sleep part of your Fitness. You don’t build muscle in the gym — you tear muscle in the gym. The build happens on recovery days and while you rest. Protected, quality rest and recovery is where you strengthen and transform both physically and mentally. High-achievers understand that Rest and Recovery make productivity and growth possible.

    Years ago I couldn’t do one push-up. My lack of fitness was a blindspot I turned around. The good news is, if it’s a blindspot for you, you can turn it around too.

    Moving with rigor improves our ability to perform with composure under pressure. It helps us create, lead, listen, self-regulate, communicate, parent — you name it, and make no mistake: Stamina on the track and in the gym translates in every room and at every table.

    What’s your next move?

    Make it this — Invest in your strongest Leadership asset. Invest in your own physical health and stamina — your Fitness.

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A Masterclass in Perseverance & Process