7 Qualities that Drive High-Impact Teams

ORGANIZATIONAL teams determine overall performance, shape culture, drive growth, and deliver results — or not. Today’s teams face a new reality. Never before have they encountered the changes and challenges brought on them by remote, hybrid, and in-person work environments. Add in the emergence of AI and countless other workforce and societal trends, and it’s apparent that yesterday’s approaches no longer apply to today’s realities.

This time of disruption demands that organizational leaders take an honest look at their teams and how they function and then apply accurate data to inform new ideas, explore strategies, and pursue professional development to position themselves for success.

A recent study of 1,000 working Americans revealed essential actions needed for navigating today’s evolving work environments and team dynamics. The findings point to seven key behaviors, practices, and mindsets that describe high-achieving teams. Together, these qualities will enable leaders to reshape culture and drive high performance. As leaders realize the importance of getting it right to survive this new environment, they can draw from the study’s data-driven guidance and take action to redirect the trajectory of today’s teams.

These key insights will inform leaders on where and how to take immediate action that will have impact and add immediate value to their teams:

1. Ensuring accountability. The study found that some 4 out of 10 people on a team at work are not experiencing the accountability that is so often requisite for trust, collaboration, teamwork, and results. Further, 54 percent have mentally checked out because a member wasn’t stepping up or was ineffective. In contrast, great teams are accountable to their leader and to each other — whether or not the leader is around.

2. Addressing distractions. The number and magnitude of distractions confronting workers has greatly increased through new technology, social and global events, and changes in the workforce and work environment — think hybrid and work-from-home settings. The findings showed that 1 in 3 workers were on teams without established standards to address distractions. In contrast, high-achieving teams have clear, agreed-upon, and proven standards to increase the likelihood of alignment, efficiency, and positive outcomes.

3. Elevating direct communication. A majority (57%) of workers said their teams do not freely share issues and ideas without being prompted — often referred to as “reactive honesty.” More alarming, 1 in 8 (12%) remain silent even when prompted to speak up. In contrast, high-achieving teams share issues and ideas without being prompted. Teams that embrace “straight-line communications” — addressing challenges directly through clear, direct communication — promote faster resolutions, better collaboration, and greater success.

4. Systemizing communication. The study explored communication on teams from a variety of angles and found that 39 percent of workers feel out of the loop on their teams. In contrast, a clear communication strategy and framework creates a foundation for effective, consistent communication across teams at all levels. Holding regular informative meetings, engaging in active listening, and instilling trust were among the top strategies for systemizing effective communication.

5. Understanding the influence of power. Close to half (44%) of workers said they felt only conditional power — or even powerless — on their teams. For leaders at every level, it’s important to understand the mindset, role, and influence of power on teams. Those who do so help to better engage and unlock the high achievement of different team members.

6. Optimizing differing work environments. Study findings highlighted the difficulty of addressing differences in workplace preferences. More than two-thirds (69%) reported that they found working in person at the office to be the most effective type of team interaction — followed by email (45%), online video conferencing (44%), and instant messaging (43%). High-achieving teams continually examine the interactions that allow them to most effectively move forward.

7. Promoting consistent high achievement. A great majority (75%) of workers said that being on a consistently high-achieving team would be a significant improvement to their work experience. In this time of workplace complexity, creating highly effective teams is a key solution to overcoming intrusive organizational challenges and to creating great cultures that drive results.

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Steven Gaffney is the CEO of the Steven Gaffney Company. He is a leading expert on creating Consistently High Achieving Teams (CHAT).^TM With 30 years of experience working with top leaders and executive teams from Fortune 500 companies, associations, and government agencies, he is an authority on issues from team achievement and thriving cultures to leading change and daily innovation. He is the author of UnConditional Power: Thriving In Any Situation, No Matter How Frustrating or Complex, and the forthcoming Scaling Culture: The Non-Negotiables of Success. Learn more at stevengaffney.com.

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Posted by Michael McKinney at 08:53 AM
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Leading Thoughts for February 20, 2025

IDEAS shared have the power to expand perspectives, change thinking, and move lives. Here are two ideas for the curious mind to engage with:

I.

Richard Farson on contradictions:

“Contradictory impulses to both succeed and fail can be found in every project, every work team, even every individual. Every management choice, Job offer, or new applicant can appear both appealing and unappealing. Every deal is both good and bad. That is why leadership is essentially the management of dilemmas, and why tolerance for ambiguity—coping with contradictions—is essential for leaders, and why appreciating the coexistence of opposites is crucial to the development of a different way of thinking. It is often the most valuable service one can offer an organization. But it requires nontraditional thinking.

Deeply held ideologies and cultural values, tunnel vision, selective perception, deference to the judgment of others—these are all enemies in our efforts to see what is really going on.”

Source: Management of the Absurd: Paradoxes in Leadership

II.

Steven B. Sample on thinking gray:

“The leader whose thinking is constrained within well-worn ruts, who is completely governed by his established passions and prejudices, who is incapable of thinking either gray or free, and who can’t even appropriate the creative imagination and fresh ideas of those around him, is as anachronistic and ineffective as the dinosaur. He may, by dint of circumstances, remain in power, but his followers would almost certainly be better off without him.”

Source: The Contrarian’s Guide to Leadership

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Posted by Michael McKinney at 07:20 AM
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7 Qualities that Drive High-Impact Teams

ORGANIZATIONAL teams determine overall performance, shape culture, drive growth, and deliver results — or not. Today’s teams face a new reality. Never before have they encountered the changes and challenges brought on them by remote, hybrid, and in-person work environments. Add in the emergence of AI and countless other workforce and societal trends, and it’s apparent that yesterday’s approaches no longer apply to today’s realities.

This time of disruption demands that organizational leaders take an honest look at their teams and how they function and then apply accurate data to inform new ideas, explore strategies, and pursue professional development to position themselves for success.

A recent study of 1,000 working Americans revealed essential actions needed for navigating today’s evolving work environments and team dynamics. The findings point to seven key behaviors, practices, and mindsets that describe high-achieving teams. Together, these qualities will enable leaders to reshape culture and drive high performance. As leaders realize the importance of getting it right to survive this new environment, they can draw from the study’s data-driven guidance and take action to redirect the trajectory of today’s teams.

These key insights will inform leaders on where and how to take immediate action that will have impact and add immediate value to their teams:

1. Ensuring accountability. The study found that some 4 out of 10 people on a team at work are not experiencing the accountability that is so often requisite for trust, collaboration, teamwork, and results. Further, 54 percent have mentally checked out because a member wasn’t stepping up or was ineffective. In contrast, great teams are accountable to their leader and to each other — whether or not the leader is around.

2. Addressing distractions. The number and magnitude of distractions confronting workers has greatly increased through new technology, social and global events, and changes in the workforce and work environment — think hybrid and work-from-home settings. The findings showed that 1 in 3 workers were on teams without established standards to address distractions. In contrast, high-achieving teams have clear, agreed-upon, and proven standards to increase the likelihood of alignment, efficiency, and positive outcomes.

3. Elevating direct communication. A majority (57%) of workers said their teams do not freely share issues and ideas without being prompted — often referred to as “reactive honesty.” More alarming, 1 in 8 (12%) remain silent even when prompted to speak up. In contrast, high-achieving teams share issues and ideas without being prompted. Teams that embrace “straight-line communications” — addressing challenges directly through clear, direct communication — promote faster resolutions, better collaboration, and greater success.

4. Systemizing communication. The study explored communication on teams from a variety of angles and found that 39 percent of workers feel out of the loop on their teams. In contrast, a clear communication strategy and framework creates a foundation for effective, consistent communication across teams at all levels. Holding regular informative meetings, engaging in active listening, and instilling trust were among the top strategies for systemizing effective communication.

5. Understanding the influence of power. Close to half (44%) of workers said they felt only conditional power — or even powerless — on their teams. For leaders at every level, it’s important to understand the mindset, role, and influence of power on teams. Those who do so help to better engage and unlock the high achievement of different team members.

6. Optimizing differing work environments. Study findings highlighted the difficulty of addressing differences in workplace preferences. More than two-thirds (69%) reported that they found working in person at the office to be the most effective type of team interaction — followed by email (45%), online video conferencing (44%), and instant messaging (43%). High-achieving teams continually examine the interactions that allow them to most effectively move forward.

7. Promoting consistent high achievement. A great majority (75%) of workers said that being on a consistently high-achieving team would be a significant improvement to their work experience. In this time of workplace complexity, creating highly effective teams is a key solution to overcoming intrusive organizational challenges and to creating great cultures that drive results.

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Steven Gaffney is the CEO of the Steven Gaffney Company. He is a leading expert on creating Consistently High Achieving Teams (CHAT).^® With 30 years of experience working with top leaders and executive teams from Fortune 500 companies, associations, and government agencies, he is an authority on issues from team achievement and thriving cultures to leading change and daily innovation. He is the author of Unconditional Power: Thriving In Any Situation, No Matter How Frustrating or Complex, and the forthcoming Scaling Culture: The Non-Negotiables of Success. Learn more at stevengaffney.com.

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Posted by Michael McKinney at 10:53 AM
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SOFTEN-ing Improves Your Zen but Does NOT Diminish Your Authority

THINK back to the last difficult conversation you had. What happened? Maybe you lashed out, got defensive, dodged or overexplained; possibly you lied, got passive-aggressive, or completely shut down, unable to talk. Whatever the reaction, I want you to know that it’s normal. In high-stress interactions, our walls go up, and our armor comes on and we’re ready to protect ourselves in any way we can.

Most of the time in difficult interactions, we turn cold. Our bodies tense up, and we’re on the defensive. We start saying things that are hurtful and unhelpful and likely have to repair the situation with multiple conversations to get the issue resolved. This toughness that we exude during hard interactions has a tendency to keep us rigid and unable to move the conversation forward in a productive way.

Think about what might happen if you did the opposite. If you were able to relax in these high-stakes and stressful moments — what would change?

Those in leadership are often scared of losing their edge. They don’t want to be too soft or too Zen because they’re nervous to be more human in a work setting. It’s more professional to be at odds, cold, serious, standoffish, untouchable, inaccessible. Since being human isn’t necessarily what got them to where they are in their careers, to begin with, they aren’t sure if the act of softening is for them.

I would raise an eyebrow if some people didn’t think this was a bit outside the box; however, at the end of the day, what’s most important is for the work to get done, the bottom line to be met, and everyone to go home feeling fulfilled and of service, and if that’s the experience people want, then learning how to soften in the moments we want to be hard is the way to go.

Below, I’ll share four reasons why softening within a difficult interaction is crucial as an authority figure.

Adaptability

Think about difficult conversations like you would martial arts. If someone is attacking you and your whole body is stiff, hard, the attacker can simply push you, and you’ll fall down, break easily. But if instead you drop your weight and soften the body, you become fluid, able to move, adapt, pivot, and navigate the situation with grace and confidence.

Employees want to see those in leadership positions show calm under pressure, where moments of crisis or stress are met with more openness and creativity; where they can show different ways of handling and solving a problem - showing that there’s another way forward, even when others can’t see it. To be able to access this trait within a hard conversation means we must soften within it—let our guard down—so we can think clearly and talk wisely.

Loyalty and Trust

Think of the scenarios that come up daily where you react too quickly to fix the problem, forgetting about the people or group who brought the issue to you. Or maybe there have been instances where you have felt tension on your team and said you were open to hearing what was needed, but the moment it was shared, you went straight to defending and justifying your actions.

When we find a way to relax within the interaction, we’re able to be more compassionate during heated interactions. We get to meet those expressing themselves where they’re at first, and then help to solve the issue second. Opening ourselves up to listen and acknowledge the other person or group during a stressful moment, helps those coming to you feel that they can trust you. Once trust is established and a bond is formed, loyalty is close behind.

Creativity and Productivity

In our lives, we go off instinct, and one of the most popular ways to manage others off instinct is to micro-manage. Where we’re constantly checking in on our teams, having meetings, 1:1s to make sure everyone is doing their job and on track. This constant monitoring is a result of mistrust of those around us. Our fear is what is driving the behavior and the interactions.

When we start to calm our nervous system and move ourselves out of fear and into more rest within interactions, we start choosing different behaviors and words. We come from a more abundant mindset instead of scarcity and are then able to trust those around us more and give them permission to thrive in their positions on their own—for them to show us what they can do. Letting go of the reins and finding the calm within our interactions helps give those we work with space to create and thrive.

Humanness

Right now, the world is swept up by advances in technology. We’re connected all day long, emailing at all hours, even on weekends. In the working world, being is not what’s important. Doing is. All this doing is leading more and more employees to burnout and creating a toxic company culture.

What softening does is bring back the idea of humanness. It reminds us to think of others in hard moments, to see if we can be helpful and supportive, even when it’s challenging to do. To see what a person or group of people needs, acknowledge it, and respond accordingly. So much of business is focused on outcomes and numbers that we forget it’s actual people who are doing the work. Softening helps us connect with each other, even when it’s hard to do.

When I first start working with clients, their eyebrows raise when I share with them this idea of softening. There’s a lot of discomfort around the word itself. Won’t others walk all over me, take advantage, or think I’m not fit for the position I’m in? And what I say is this: Softening helps you connect with those you work with; it’s what allows you to be heard, understood, and human in the moments when your people need you to be. Softening is what gives you the opportunity to think clearly and live into the quote often attributed to Albert Einstein, “You cannot solve a problem with the same mind that created it.” In heated moments, it’s turning the body and mind from ice (hard and impenetrable) to water (soft and fluid). Where can you start to soften in your interactions today?

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Cynthia Kane helps people enhance their lives and relationships by teaching them how to become less reactive in difficult conversations and speak to themselves, others, and their environment in a kind, honest, and helpful way. She has taught over 70,000 people how to change the way they communicate through her books and the Kane Intentional Communication Training Program. She is the author of The Pause Principle: How to Keep Your Cool in Tough Situations. She is a certified meditation and mindfulness instructor, certified breathing coach, and the founder of the Kane Intentional Communication Institute, LLC.

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Posted by Michael McKinney at 11:59 AM
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Leading Thoughts for February 13, 2025

IDEAS shared have the power to expand perspectives, change thinking, and move lives. Here are two ideas for the curious mind to engage with:

I.

Michael Doctoroff on conflict:

“Conflicts, when properly controlled and resolved, can be a powerful tool for developing creative business plans and objectives. Without conflict, the organization would remain in a happy state of inactivity.

In a way, business is built on conflict. Conflict, you might say, is the mother of change. You see a problem and do something to remove it. After it has been eliminated, conditions are no longer the same. Through change, the organization strengthens itself and restores harmony within itself and with its environment. We need to make sure that we have mechanisms for resolving such conflicts in a fruitful way. This can only be achieved by improving communications throughout the organization.”

Source: Synergistic Management: Creating the Climate for Superior Performance

II.

Robert Shaw on blindspots:

“Blindspots are not simply problems to be identified and fixed. Managing blindspots is learning to accept them as inevitable and, in some respects, positive because they force you to remain vigilant. Your weaknesses and the threats you face are ever-present, and the greatest risk is believing otherwise. That is, knowing you have blindspots forces you to look more carefully and deeply at your own behavior and situation. In this regard, they both threaten and protect.”

Source: Leadership Blindspots: How Successful Leaders Identify and Overcome the Weaknesses That Matter

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Posted by Michael McKinney at 01:16 PM
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8 Principles to Get You to Great

HOW do successful people think? The key to doing well is thinking well. It’s a way of being in the world.

Becoming great means making the hard choices necessary to get you there. Performance coach Doug Hirschhorn advances eight principles in 8 Ways to Great that direct the decisions of top performers.

Principle #1: Find Your “Why?”

How questions bring up negative thoughts and inadequacies. “The reason most people go through life with big dreams but fail to achieve them is because they ask themselves ‘how’ before they know their ‘why.’”

The why question energizes and motivates, “Knowing your ‘why’ is what’s going to get you to figure out how.” Ask yourself, “Why have I chosen this, and why am I still doing it?”

Principle #2: Get To Know Yourself

Identifying and understanding your strengths and weaknesses allows you to leverage your strengths and minimize the weaknesses that hold you back.

I’m talking about the kind of self-awareness that allows you to acknowledge both your strengths and your weaknesses so that you can use them to balance each other and keep yourself going overboard in either direction. Self-awareness allows you to do more of what you’re good at and less of what you’re not. It can also send up the red flag that lets you know you’re about to do something stupid.

Your weakness can force you to put guardrails in place that address your issue in such a way that it strengthens the habits that drive you forward.

Principle #3: Learn To Love the Process

To reach your goals, you need a step-by-step plan that becomes part of the process of reaching your target. Process thinking allows you to avoid distractions and prioritize the next step you need to take.

If you allow yourself to get distracted, you’re likely to abandon the process and start making stupid, self-destructive decisions. I just want to emphasize how important it is to concentrate on the step you need to take right now and not trip yourself up by looking too far ahead.

Principle #4: Sharpen Your Edge

Your edge is a two-sided sword. One side is knowing what sets you apart from others. The other side is learning all you can to increase the odds of your success.

Your personal edge is something you develop and lead with to help set you apart. “In a world full of choices, establishing an edge can make the difference between success and failure in whatever you do.”

The external edge guides you when to take smart risks. “Remember that your overall edge is determined by leveraging your strengths, minimizing your weaknesses, and then gathering as much information as you can before making a decision.”

Principle #5: Be All That You Can Be

Do not compare yourself to others. If you do, you may be doing well compared to them but still not doing your best. You don’t want to be doing just good enough. Challenge yourself to grow beyond your present level. “The difference between challenging yourself to be the best you can be and just trying to beat the next guy is that excellence is a constantly moving target, so you’ll always have something to work for.”

Hirschhorn says, “Don’t get sucked into external markers of merit. Measure your success in terms of how well you performed and not only the outcome.”

Principle #6: Keep Your Cool

It’s human to get scared. But you don’t want to act out of panic, ego, or insecurities. Remain objective with your priorities in mind.

You don’t need to always be right. “You can win when you’re losing when you make the decision you need to make instead of the one you might want to make even though you know that decision might mean taking a painful loss.” Know when to cut your losses.

When it comes to growth, fear comes with the territory. “Sometimes, being scared is the most rational reaction to a given situation. There’s no shame in that. It’s when people give in to those feelings that they get into trouble. As I frequently say to my clients, ‘Feeling fear is okay as long as you don’t act afraid or make a decision because you are afraid.’”

When you feel like panicking, “remind yourself of the process you’ve been following and stick to it; do what you need to do, not what you want to do. There are always aspects of even the scariest situation that are within your control. Take control of what you can instead of letting the situation carry you away. Thinking negatively is sure to tip the odds of success against you.”

Principle #7: Get Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable

The perfect magical moment never comes. “Waiting for that last piece of the jigsaw puzzle or the exact alignment of the stars is what keeps most people tied to a job they hate or afraid to take the step that would get them to the next level in their career.”

Winners act. “If you want to make a change—I mean, really want to make a change—you have to be willing to do it right now. Not later, not tomorrow, not after the weekend, not on January 1, and certainly not only when that eternally elusive perfect moment arrives.”

Uncertainty creates volatility, but people react to it differently. The most successful people don’t freeze or panic or buy everything in sight. Instead, they take the time to look around and assess the opportunities available to them.

Principle #8: Make Yourself Accountable

Often, what holds people back is that they don’t have the structure or discipline to do what needs to be done consistently. “Unless there is some meaningful reward for performing well and an equally meaningful consequence for making a stupid mistake or breaking your own rules, you may not take the steps necessary to put your best-laid plans into action.”

It is easy to get caught up in the moment and get distracted. The fact is, “For most of us, the answer is to enlist the aid of someone to whom we make ourselves answerable.”

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Posted by Michael McKinney at 10:24 AM
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What Can Leaders Learn from Elite Athletes About High-Level Performance?

WITH THE SUPER BOWL around the corner, what can business leaders learn from elite athletes about high-level performance?

Be like Roger. And Michael. And Simone. And Usain. And many others.

That’s key advice for business leaders seeking to improve their impact and excel in a sustainable, long-term way that’s good for them and everyone around them.

The Roger, in this case, is none other than Roger Federer, the tennis legend considered an exemplar of athleticism and sportsmanship.

But underlying Federer’s and other top athletes’ outsized success is rigorous devotion to routines and practices that optimize their state of mind and body for high-level performance. This matters to effectiveness in the business domain, too, where such practices are often ignored or dismissed, even though they support one’s centeredness and capacity to maintain focus, be creative, and make good decisions, even under great pressure.

The takeaway? Leaders in any organization can enjoy higher performance on every dimension if they establish a discipline of daily, weekly, monthly, and annual practices that systematically support their centeredness.

So why does maintaining practices that yield a high-performance state of mind matter so much for leadership? Here’s why.

The Need for a Performance-Enhancing State of Mind

A key thing athletes and leaders share is the need for a performance-enhancing state of mind. Specifically, both perform best when they are able to enter and maintain a calm, alert state under high stress, whether facing match point on the tennis court or an unexpected setback at the negotiation table, as research suggests. This ability to focus and perform under stress is what sets the Michael Jordans and Roger Federers apart from the rest—they may not be the best overall athletes, but they’ve truly mastered the all-important mental part of the game.

The problem is that most business executives, even high-performing ones, don’t recognize the value of mental state like elite athletes do, so they don’t develop skills and habits to get to that state consistently and effortlessly. Indeed, executives often see themselves as industry or functional domain experts—whether in tech, health sciences, finance, or as an engineer, designer, or head of operations. But they fail to recognize what’s often their most primary role or function: leading others to set vision, build and evolve the team, solve problems, and navigate challenges collaboratively.

Most executives also think that performance is a function of effort: more effort, more results – the “no pain, no gain” mantra historically embraced by athletes. The reality is that this is not the key to productivity. Pushing hard alone isn’t sufficient and can be counterproductive. Coherent, creative, efficient, intelligent thinking and decision-making are what drives productivity. For this, a calm and alert state of mind is key — a state of centeredness. Athletes train to optimize this state.

Here’s how they do it.

They Embrace a Growth Mindset

Great athletes focus on process over outcomes. We don’t have control over all outcomes, but we do have control over our process. Leaders must stop obsessing over outcomes and “perfection,” and embrace challenges as opportunities for growth and improvement. Some of the most successful leaders in sports, like former Super Bowl-winning coach Bill Walsh, exemplify this mindset; he emphasized focusing on continuous improvement, not winning.

Committing to high standards and constantly learning, striving, and improving is critical. When leaders try to control everything and everyone around them, they fail to understand the value of differentiating what they and their team have control over and what they don’t.

They Practice Deliberate Practice

The researcher Anders Ericsson pioneered the idea of “deliberate practice” after observing that elite athletes, musicians, and other high-performers practice consistently in a particular way.

That is, they identify key skills they want to improve—whether a complicated sequence on violin or a tricky shot in basketball—and practice it relentlessly with the help of feedback from knowledgeable coaches. In this way, deliberate practice is far superior to naïve practice, which is essentially doing something repeatedly, without expert guidance or feedback loops, and hoping for improvement.

Leaders will perform better if they embrace deliberate practice just like athletes do. It means identifying key skills that will benefit your overall leadership effectiveness—such as inviting more input from your team—and then practicing in a deliberate manner. Have clear goals around your leadership skill development—“I will raise my team’s 360-degree ratings of my openness to input by 50% within two months”—and solicit regular feedback from colleagues. Great leaders are always practicing in a deliberate way.

They Sleep Like Their Life Depends on It

Sleep optimizes a leader’s state of mind and, in turn, overall performance. The link between sleep and physical, emotional, and cognitive capacity is well-established. “Rest and restore” is now a fundamental principle in athletic training and similarly applies to leadership.

Sleep and rest are critical for peak performance, as illustrated by Federer’s goal of 10-12 hours of sleep every 24 hours. He’s not alone: LeBron James says he averages nine hours, and Usain Bolt considered sleep a critical part of his sprint to multiple world records. Simone Biles, considered the greatest gymnast of all time, similarly prioritizes nine hours of sleep.

Yet the culture of business executives promotes the idea that sleep time is time wasted or a sign of weakness, and too many think they can perform well on 3-4 hours of sleep. They can’t. For example, evidence shows that for most of us, operating on fewer than six hours of sleep is equivalent to operating while drunk. In the U.S., over $400 billion of productivity is estimated to be lost each year due to sleep debt.

They Meditate to Be Great

Regular practice of meditation—even if just minutes a day—promotes positive physical and mental health outcomes, including lower anxiety and better concentration and memory.

NBA stars like Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal, and the late Kobe Bryant all used meditation to perform at their best.

Research shows meditators demonstrate more coherent brain signatures. There are different forms of meditation, but most are based on finding quiet time to clear your mind, often coupled with deep breathing to enter a relaxed state.

Meditation can also involve mental imagery. Federer utilized visualization to enhance his performance, picturing himself succeeding physically and mentally on the court.

They Exercise for Excellence

Of course, physical fitness is necessary for athletic performance. But it’s not just for athletes; it’s critical for leaders.

Maintaining physical fitness not only increases energy levels but uplifts mood and enhances focus. Three or more hours of moderate aerobic exercise per week increases mitochondrial density and supports neurogenesis, thereby enhancing energy levels and brain power.

Higher-intensity aerobic exercise once or twice a week has a material impact on increasing VO2 max, which is associated with reduced stress, anxiety, and depression, along with improved cognitive function, memory, and overall brain health. The bottom line: exercise is an important practice for effective leadership.

They Eat Right

Don’t forget about nutrition. Aim for the right volume of calories for your size and activity level, along with balanced proportions of nutrients. A healthy diet has been linked to every kind of health outcome, but is notoriously challenging for busy people to get right.

During her tennis career, Serena Williams maintained—and still does—a healthy, largely plant-based diet as part of her philosophy of “eating to live” rather than vice-versa. Novak Djokovic ascended to arguably the best men’s player of all time, and he credits a consistent, healthy diet as a key factor.

So What?

It’s logical that our inner life affects our outer behavior, and healthy mind-body practices place us in a position to realize more of our potential.

A more balanced, rested, energized, clear mental state enables us to function at a higher level in our thinking, feeling, and more complex leadership capacities.

The benefits of being a leader athlete are countless if leaders intentionally practice leadership and work to foster a high-performance state of mind by engaging in a routine of activities that support leadership growth at all levels. Individual and organizational success will naturally follow this proactive approach to leadership fitness, no matter your playing field.

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Jeremy Blitz-Jones is a Leadership Coach at Peak Leadership Institute, an organizational behavior firm. His background is in organizational development, with a focus on leadership, strategy, and process optimization. For the past 15 years, he has been designing learning experiences for tech companies, schools, and nonprofits, exploring innovation, education, management, and personal growth. He has worked with teams from organizations including Harvard Medical School, F5 Networks, Angellist, and Google. Laurent Valosek is CEO of Peak Leadership Institute. He has 35 years of experience as an entrepreneur, educator, and researcher, including serving as CEO of three tech start-ups and leading a strategy management consultancy. He has worked with executives from companies such as Google, Salesforce, Superhuman, TikTok, and Roper Technologies. Laurent has published numerous research papers on human development and leadership and teaches a course at Stanford University called Leadership from Within.

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Posted by Michael McKinney at 03:17 PM
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Leading Thoughts for February 6, 2025

IDEAS shared have the power to expand perspectives, change thinking, and move lives. Here are two ideas for the curious mind to engage with:

I.

Jonah Sachs on the expert’s trap:

“While expertise can make us enormously efficient at playing an established game, it can also make us slower to realize when the game has changed and less able to respond to those changes. Our expert’s mind, so used to moving quickly and efficiently, tries to fit new information into old boxes so it can use its rapid processing power. ‘Oh, that’s just a new flavor of an old problem,’ our expert brain says. Too often it’s not. After all, most of the problems we face in a world of rapid change have little in common with a two-dimensional chessboard with rules that never change.”

Source: Unsafe Thinking: How to be Nimble and Bold When You Need It Most

II.

Robert Pirsig on egotistical endeavors:

“When you try to climb a mountain to prove how big you are, you almost never make it. And even if you do it’s a hollow victory. In order to sustain the victory you have to prove your self again and again in some other way, and again and again and again, driven forever to fill a false image, haunted by the fear that the image is not true and someone will find out.”

Source: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

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Posted by Michael McKinney at 12:37 PM
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