Week 1
Week 1 mileage: 22 miles
Long run distance: 9 miles
I’ve set out with my husband, my bestie, my dad and his bestie (my dad and I don’t actually call them our “bestie”, but it has a nice ring to it) to run the Philadelphia marathon in November. All five of us just completed the first official week of training. Fifteen more to go.
Except for two brief hiatuses when I was too big and too pregnant to run, running has been a part of my regular routine for about ten years. It’s my sanity; it keeps me from having to take a crazy pill.
As I reflect on running and look forward to this training season, I realize there are so many parallels found in the lessons of running and leading. So with this, I’ll be writing each week for sixteen weeks about the parallels of learning, enjoying and struggling as a runner and as someone who works to build leadership in the workplace.
First, before embarking on any endeavor, motivation has to be present. Running and leading are no different. And although I will honestly say that part of my motivation to run has always come from thinking I might be able to eat (and drink- I love a good glass of wine… or two) more of whatever I want, I’ve found these four motivating techniques help me with the follow-through to learn and grow as a runner and leader:
1.Reading about running and leading can help put fuel in the tank to then do both. And to do both better.
For running motivation check out these reads:
What I Talk about When I Talk About Running
And for leading, check out the top 10 leadership books.
2. Podcasts have become something that is easy to tune in to in the car and on a run or during any activity where you want to engage your brain in some learning but can’t actually be reading. Here are some of my favorites that provide ideas on running and on leading and workplace engagement:
And I’ve just added Innovation and Leadership to this line up
For running:
And we are fortunate to have the Olympics on as our training starts. Actually watching world-class athletes perform can be extremely motivating (or maybe terribly demotivating depending on how you look at it). Tune into the women’s marathon Sunday morning (August 14) and the men’s marathon the next Sunday morning (August 21).
3. Visualize and Track. Silly as it may be (and you better believe my husband has told me how “stupid” it is several times- yet he does it- go figure) we have a calendar with our training schedule and smiley face stickers we use to indicate if we have accomplished the prescribed run that day or not.
I’m on a four day a week plan with one or two cross training days and, Drew, my husband, is on a three day a week running and one to two days of a strength training routine.
I’ve found that the smiley faces can provide motivation beyond the running very quickly. Our five year old has a “chore” to feed the dog each morning and evening. If he does it without being asked, a quarter goes in his savings jar. With the stickers on the fridge, he now asks for a sticker on the outside of his jar instead of a quarter. Trade your cash in for stickers, parents and leaders. They actually work.
Have you created a visual workplace? What “smiley faces” do you need to hang in your office or workplace to motivate yourself and your people towards positive results? Can you see your progress and can your team?
4. At the end of the day, you just gotta run and you just got to lead to get better through learning and experience. You’ll hate some days and love some days, but the doing is where most of the results come.
If you are saying to yourself that aren’t in a formal leadership role at work, seek out opportunities to lead informally at work, in your home and in the community. We can be and are all leaders. Most of the people I see that are promoted into formal leadership roles have indicated through their doing that they had the skill and the will to lead long before given the title. Where can you step up today to do so?
What gives you the motivation to challenge yourself in whatever it is you are pursuing now?
Like this post? You may also like:
Get a Leadership Development Game Plan
