Ironman as a Metaphor for Leadership - Redux

I originally penned a post about how THE Ironman experience related to leadership for me in August 2012!  At this point in time (Janaury 2020) I'm updating and reprising my musings on this comparative based on the fact that I'm back for another bite of the pain, suffering, and glory that is the Ironman Canada triathlon.  It will have been 9 years since I last took on the challenge so we are definitely going to see what I have learned - and can apply - since the last effort!

It's certainly cliche to identify that many leaders look to and experiment with a variety of initiatives designed to improve the performance of their organizations.  Paradoxically, however, the majority of these efforts often fail and can be traced back to the quality of leadership at their helm.  We squander our potential and the potential of our people from not focusing more strongly on self awareness and self development.  So what can the experience of preparing for and competing in an Ironman competition tell us about leadership?  Well here are my thoughts.

I've competed in the big Ironman Canada event in 2010 and 2011 and I'm going back in August 2020 - 9 years removed between competitions.  I've done other running events since then - the Goofy and Dopey races in Disney World, the Berlin Marathon, the Venice Marathon and a few others.  But nothing is going to compare to reprising the event - and the preparation - of Ironman.  And in some respects I begin almost from where I started in 2009 getting ready for the 2010 Ironman - trying to establish a training foundation (e.g., relearning how to bike, swim and maybe run), trying to get into a proper race weight zone (as of Christmas 2019 was at 204 pounds and as of writing at 192), get re-geared with tune-up of bike and purchase of new bike computer.  

But it's also going to be somewhat tougher this year than in the past.  In 2010 my family was smaller and perhaps a bit more manageable.  My wife was coming off of her own history of several years of triathlon experience.  I was employed rather than running my own business which meant paid vacation time and perhaps (ironically?) greater control over time and workout time.  And, of course, I'm now 55 years of age versus 45 years of age!  

Interestingly enough, from the standpoint of being an executive coach, through much of 2011 and into 2012 I had the privilege of working with an executive coach.  At that time, my coach helped lead me through some challenging times and a major transition in my career.  Aside from all the skills and talents you would expect to see in an executive coach, he also brought another dimension to our conversations - he was and is an accomplished triathlete and has competed at Ironman Canada.  This shared experience allowed us to make many comparisons to my work environment and Ironman.  It allowed me to put into perspective aspects of my work that I did control and those that I did not.  As I prepared for 2010 and 2011 - and as I now prepare for 2020 - versions of Ironman Canada I thought I would share with you some of the analogies I've been able to draw between Ironman and Leadership - and throw in a few more that grew from our work together - and from my life and business experience since then.

First, there has to be some motivation or goal in mind to undertake an Ironman event - as there must be in taking on a leadership role.  As "they" say , without a goal any direction will do! Ironman is a daunting undertaking - 3.8 km swim, followed by 180 km on the bike, followed by a 42 km marathon.  As I'm sure most amateur athletes would attest to there are not a lot of positives that come with doing this event.  You certainly get cheers along the way from family and friends, and sometimes from complete strangers.  You do get a finisher's medal at the end of the race (no podium finish for me!).  

And you get to feel a tremendous sense of accomplishment (and relief!) when you cross that finish line.

Otherwise it's a lot of hard slogging through the three disciplines and sometimes a lot of talking to yourself as you try to reach the finish line.  You are in the race in some cases just to say you did it, to prove to yourself that you are capable.  And most of us in leadership roles would agree that recognition is outweighed by ongoing challenges.  Like Ironman, it's often a lonely journey we take on.  

Related to this motivation and goal setting, the intervening years in business have also taught me the powerful role that experience and specificity of goals can play in one's success.  In each year of my business I have updated, on at least an annual basis, my goals for the year.  In that process, and as I have coached and worked with my clients, I have come to appreciate how many of the barriers we believe we face are actually self-created.  If we create stretch goals - that are specific and challenging - we can often surprise ourselves with our success.  That success then encourages further "audacity" in setting the next impossible goal.  So in Ironman that has meant that simply achieving a new personal best is not enough.  I want to - and am working towards - trying to better my last, best time by 10%.  Perhaps that still seems like a small goal to you.  For me it means ramping up performance in each element of the race.  Same philosophy applies to my business which, since 2012, has grown by nearly 400% as measured by gross revenue.  Success, courage, determination, realism and purposeful action has continued to lay the foundation for better results.

Second, for best results in an Ironman, you spend a significant amount of time in training and preparing for the race.  No different than getting ready to take on a leadership role.  For Ironman, you can find yourself starting to prep as early as a few weeks after the last race for the next race!  Granted your training isn't as intense at this point. Rather, you are now trying to maintain your level of fitness, work on improving or sustaining technique, improving core strength and (if you are like me) looking to shed a few more pounds.  Entering race day - or starting a leadership position - without any form of preparation is a high risk proposition to say the least!  For most of us - including the professionals - success does not come without months of preparation.  Others may spend years getting ready for the ultimate event, building up confidence to take up the challenge by doing shorter distance triathlons.  In much the same way, successful leaders prepare themselves academically, take on smaller challenges, and ultimately work up to larger leadership roles.

Triathlon is a multi-discipline sport.  So is leadership.  However, if we think of triathlon as swimming, cycling and running we would miss out on other equally important components.  A critical part of training and race day preparation is making sure your nutrition and hydration is race ready.  Throughout the year leading up to Ironman you use training days and smaller events to figure out what works for you and will keep you fueled for the race - what will your body tolerate? what amount do you need to sustain race pace? what kind of electrolyte replacement do you need? do you need to use salt replacement? how will that change depending on weather conditions?  So what's the leadership analogy for nutrition?  My take on that is all leaders need to continue to fuel their minds through continuous education and learning.  You can't continue to make positive impact if you don't continue to hone and advance your skill set.  There is too much change too fast in our work world - labour force dynamics, regulations, government direction, world events and upheaval - to stand pat with existing learning.  Leaders must continue to fuel their minds.

AND...just like nutrition and hydration, the form of your learning and development has to be customized to your needs and appetite.  What works for one athlete/leader may not work at all for the next.  Know yourself first and best.  Take advice, information and learning from others.  Create your own best solution within the context of your own personal goals and expectations. 

Success in Ironman also requires that your equipment - wetsuit, bike, shoes, watch - is race ready.  This means making decisions early on as to whether you want to take on the race with a road bike or a tri-bike, whether you want to go with base components or invest in top-of-the line products, what type of running shoes work for you and so on.  You'll also find that your training and smaller races will take their toll on your equipment.  At points in time you will have to replace your shoes as you put on the miles, replace your tires and otherwise tune your equipment in the hopes of not having a breakdown on race day.  In much the same way, as a leader, you have to make the appropriate investments in equipment and tools to undertake your leadership task - do you have the right measurement systems in place, the right tools to effectively communicate with your stakeholders, the right mechanisms to ensure that your work group or organization is aligned towards the achievement of a common goal.  Your experience will cause you to change/upgrade your tools as you work towards your goal.

I can't do justice to the comparison between Ironman and Leadership if I don't discuss mental preparation and hardening.  You can have everything in place mentioned above - training in several disciplines, fueling plan nailed, equipment ready - but if you are not mentally prepared for race day all of the prep work might be - will be - for nought.  In this way, "failure" during training or in a shorter race may become the best guarantee of future success at Ironman.  If you don't face adversity, large or small, prior to Ironman - flat tire, slipped bike chain, bad weather - you likely won't know how to react when something like that happens on race day.  And you don't want to be doing all your learning on race day!  It's no different with leadership.  The best leaders have faced their share of adversity on their way up to their current roles - they've experienced conflict, they've had to make tough choices, they've had to balance multiple priorities and tasks, and they have sometimes failed.  However, that's what has (hopefully) helped them to become better leaders.

Then it's race day.  All your preparation has led to this moment.  In 2011, that meant nearly 3,000 people entering the water at the same time.  Each one with their own anxieties, skill level, and goals.  Some were rookies.  Some had done this more than a dozen times.  Regardless, for the next nine, ten, twelve or even seventeen hours you effectively begin to race on your own, trying to beat the clock.  At this point there is no guarantee as to how the day will go.  You may have expectations but once you start the race you surrender yourself to the events of the day.  Weather can be a factor. In 2010 I got hailed on part way through the bike ride and the temperature dipped to 10 degrees Celsius.  In 2011, the temperature hit a peak of around 40 degrees Celsius.  Same course - different conditions.  In 2011, I got slugged in the face and developed a cramp in my leg half-way through the swim.  Early in the bike course somebody had thrown tacks on the road.  I got through while others had to deal with replacing a punctured tube.  I saw someone else with a broken bike chain.  You can't predict what will happen.  No different in our leadership roles.  Your day can be exquisitely planned out and then you get that one call and your day is radically altered.  As a leader you must be prepared to respond and adjust to the events of the day.

At some point the day does end!  While I did better in 2011 than I did in 2010, I still believe I have more in me.  I have a desire to achieve what I believe my body is capable of.  As in leadership, there is a need for a post-event evaluation.  What worked?  What didn't?  What would I change?  In Ironman you have a small number of well-established metrics that help you to objectively evaluate your performance - heart rate, pace, swim time, bike time, run time, transition times, and finish time.  There are also subjective evaluations at play and most of them relate to how did I feel during different parts of the race and after the race.  Was my stomach working ok?  How well did my body hold up to the pounding?  What does all of that mean in preparation for next year?  In the same way, leaders have to conduct ongoing evaluation of their efforts by whatever means available so as to ensure a greater degree of success in future endeavours.

While I have described Ironman as a solo event it is anything but.  Most competitors have been introduced to triathlon through other people.  We don't just miraculously decide to take on triathlon without having someone initiate us, inspire us or mentor us to take on the challenge.  Many of us are also part of teams that we train with and learn from.  Good leadership is also a function of working with and learning from a team.  This includes subordinates, peers and mentors.  We shorten our learning curve and mitigate the risk of failure by learning from others and leaning on their experience and knowledge. 

Finally, as I hope all leaders and triathletes would attest to, none of us truly succeeds or reaches our full potential without the support of our families.  Training for an Ironman can often take up to and over 20 hours of time each week.  This means many early mornings, evenings or weekends away from family.  It means adjusting family plans to allow for participation in lead up races and Ironman itself.  It means financial investment in equipment.  Same holds true for most leadership positions.  Early morning meetings, late evening meetings, planning forums that take place out-of-town, conferences and crisis events all take time away from family.  In addition, as leaders we all experience varying levels of stress, trials and tribulations in the course of our careers.  We have to make decisions about when to upgrade our education.  We have to make decisions on when to make a change in career.  Are we prepared to move to another city or province to pursue a career opportunity.  None of this can be a solo decision and our success is in no small measure attributable to our families. 

Ironman and Leadership - more than a few lessons to be learned.  Keep training, learning, growing, experimenting and enjoy the race!

_________________________________________________________

Greg Hadubiak, MHSA, FACHE, CEC, PCC

President & Founder - BreakPoint Solutions

gregh@breakpoint.solutions 

www.breakpoint.solutions 

780-250-2543

Helping leaders realize their strengths and enabling organizations to achieve their potential through the application of my leadership experience and coaching skills. I act as a point of leverage for my clients. I AM their Force Multiplier.

Hope, Disillusionment and a Path Forward?

The proximate motivator for this post came out of a discussion with a colleague who recently voiced disillusionment with the reality of leadership that she has experienced over the last couple of years - and in more than one instance.  Suffice it to say that her experiences runs counter to everything both she and I WANT TO BELIEVE about what makes not only good but effective leadership. While we haven't discussed the topic at length I do believe that we share a common belief - or hope - that good leadership is empowering, visionary, compassionate and even vulnerable.  In contrast, good leadership is NOT characterized by narcissism, lack of transparency, lack of commitment to common good/others and similar qualities.

We believe and desire selfless servant leadership - a commitment to far more than just self.

Unfortunately, in my coaching and consulting practice I find far too many of my clients expressing a similar degree of dismay and frustration with their experience of leadership. This sense of despair is  heightened by the hope and optimism that many of us hold particularly as we enter a new organization.  We believe we have done our due diligence, we have assessed the written values as espoused by the organization, we have been reassured by our first interactions with our new organization as we go through the recruitment process.  We have been "sold" and we are excited by the potential and promise that we believe lies before us.

There are so many aspects of this "feeling" to unpack.  What I hear in these conversations touches on issues of hope/despair, voice, identity and the strength of conviction required to carry on.  Over time I've really come to appreciate the strong connection between voice and identity.  And perhaps in relation to the current topic, appreciating how the lack of voice - perceived or real - actually leads to a diminishment of identity and an erosion of self-esteem and self-confidence.  Voice - the ability to speak AND to be heard - seems to me to be absolutely crucial for personal self-actualization and fulfillment. Voice is crucial in helping someone define and express who they think they are and who they aspire to be.  The ability to speak, to share, to figure out is ultimately core to helping us discover, build and sustain who we are.

Maybe the whole preceding paragraph explains, in part, the efficacy of coaching (and therapy?).  Fundamentally, we all want to be seen, heard and understood.  And if our leaders, colleagues and organizational culture don't provide that opportunity then coaching (therapy?) provides a critical, and hopefully constructive, outlet.

The reality is that we enter into these organizational "relationships" with so much hope, optimism and excitement for what we believe the future holds for us.  If the reality doesn't live up to our expectations or if the promise fades we begin to despair.  We lose hope.  Trust is eroded.  We can feel duped and may even castigate ourselves for our naivety.  We can feel betrayed.

I believe that the issue goes even deeper than just a sense of misplaced optimism or lost hope.  That's certainly a bit of a flavor I got from the conversation with my colleague.  I sensed something deeper than disappointment.  It almost could be called a depressive episode.  This is not just about "losing a battle" but rather a profound realization that all of the strength, efforts, values and beliefs they have brought to the table - all those things that gave them voice and identity - have betrayed them. The despair comes not just from one "lost battle" but something even more stark.  It's not just immediate failure eating at the soul.  It's actually that all that was believed in about what makes for great leadership, a great working environment could be fundamentally wrong at its core.  

So given this potentially profound rethink what is the path forward?  Give up and knuckle under?  Rage against the "machine"? Leave and move on to the next opportunity? These are indeed the hard choices and the dilemma faced by my colleague, others and myself in the past.  Fighting the good fight, labouring under false assumptions, striving for what seems right and potentially even sacrificing - including job loss - for the "cause".  Perhaps these are the reasons that people recoil from taking on the great challenges and opportunities that are always available to them.  Perhaps that is why they just submit.  It's easier but perhaps no less painful.

The way forward?  For me it comes down to a personal and in-depth examination or reaffirmation of one's core values and ownership of one's individual strengths.  I still operate with a sense of optimism (or masochism if you prefer) about what is right and just regardless of degree or number of setbacks.  I know and believe there is "better" out there.  You can choose better.  You can choose a different battlefield upon which to ply your skills and where your gifts and values will be appreciated. But you can only do that if you know who you are and own your abilities.  And you have to have the courage and determination to see the journey through.  And part of that may require you to not self-isolate.  There are like-minded people out there who believe as you do.  Seek out allies and supports.  Maybe even engage an executive coach to help you chart a better path forward.

Nothing great ever came without great sacrifice. That's what true leadership calls from each of us.  We don't have to settle.  Find your voice.  Reinforce your identity.  Own your potential.

_________________________________________________________

Greg Hadubiak, MHSA, FACHE, CEC, PCC

President & Founder - BreakPoint Solutions

gregh@breakpoint.solutions 

www.breakpoint.solutions 

780-250-2543

Helping leaders realize their strengths and enabling organizations to achieve their potential through the application of my leadership experience and coaching skills. I act as a point of leverage for my clients. I AM their Force Multiplier.

Mentorship - Your Leadership Imperative?

Mentor - A wise and trusted counselor; a teacher; an adviser; a master; a guide. 

As I contemplated this blog entry, these were some of the terms that popped up.  There were certainly some images that came to my mind as well.  Some of those images relate to personal experiences in my career and people who I knew then, or appreciate now, as being mentors to me.  There are also of course some more fantastical representations of mentors that my geek mentality can relate to. 

Like Yoda.

The image of Yoda being carried by Luke Skywalker definitely conveys particular aspects of mentorship.  Someone looking over your shoulder, acting as a guide, pushing you forward and beyond your self-imposed limits and limiting beliefs.  At times Yoda's perspective could be quite demanding - "No!  Try not. Do, or do not.  There is no try."  A seemingly harsh perspective, but this approach did move his mentee to a new level of performance. 

I've become much more interested in mentorship in the past couple of years as I've continued the transition out of a senior leadership position into the role of coach and management consultant.  Perhaps this should come as no surprise when one considers this is the biggest career transition I've made to date.  But there's more to the story.  The transition made me realize the lack of mentoring I had experienced over the last many years of my own executive career.  It's not that I was unaware of that lack of support.  I felt the absence of a mentor and took a conscious step to enlist one outside of my own organization.  However, it has only been as I've started a new phase of my life that I've more fully appreciated the value that a mentor can bring to my career and life - even for someone who has been in the working world for the past 30+ years.

Right now, I count myself particularly fortunate to have had two senior level professionals who have stepped up to the plate to guide me through this transition.  In both cases, there was no formal mentorship kick-off meeting, no mutually agreed-upon goal setting process, no established timeline or agreement on frequency of meetings.  I've known these senior level professionals for different periods of time - one for over 15 years, the other for only five.  They have very different backgrounds and experiences.  They are different in a multitude of ways. I don't believe they have ever met or even heard of each other.  They do, however, share at least one thing in common - they both appear to have an interest in my success and development.

So, I'm going to start at that point in describing what I think makes a successful mentoring relationship.  First, from my personal perspective, I really believe that it is my professional obligation to be a mentor to others.  But it's more than just meeting credentialing requirements for my professional associations that I'm talking about.  I believe that I have a personal and professional obligation to help others if I can.  And I believe that this is the same perspective that my two current mentors hold towards me.  They have a passion for advising, coaching and guiding others and they certainly don't do it because of a credentialing requirement, for any public accolades, nor for the money.  I believe this illustrates that a truly successful mentoring relationship comes from a personal investment in that relationship.  Sounds cliche, but I believe they care about my situation and my success.  Unfortunately,  I've seen too many other scenarios play out where the motivations, particularly on the part of the mentor, are less altruistic.  Ultimately, these relationships die off rather quickly with other obligations getting in the way of a mentor/mentee connection.  The outcome is a mentee feeling rather disillusioned by the experience and the mentor breathing a sigh of relief that this particular activity dropped off their already busy calendar.

First step then, make sure there is a commitment and interest on the part of both parties to mentorship.  Closely related to this factor is the requirement that there actually be some chemistry in the relationship.  It's not necessarily about liking one another - although that certainly helps - but you'll both probably know within a few encounters whether there is some type of connection or basis upon which to build a respectful and productive learning relationship.  Do you look forward with excitement or expectation about an upcoming opportunity to interact or do your feelings tend towards anxiety, trepidation and dread?  Listen to your gut on this and don't be afraid to pull the plug.  Hopefully that is a mutual conclusion you reach and if so I would suggest your next step as a mentor is to help your mentee find a better fit with someone else.

As can be seen from my example, mentorship also does not need to be, nor should it be, an exclusive one-on-one scenario.  In fact, it's unrealistic to expect that one mentor will have all the "answers" and there is going to be far more benefit to a mentee in seeking and cultivating a network of mentors.  A mentor must also recognize their own limitations.  As a mentor you won't have all the answers.  You don't need to.  You're not omnipotent.  That should take some of the pressure off.  It's not that you can't still be of assistance to the mentee, but that assistance might now come from helping them to connect with others in your network who might be more able to address a particular situation or circumstance. 

Don't be surprised as well by the two-way flow of mentorship.  Typically, the more senior or experienced individual is giving the more junior or inexperienced individual the benefit of their knowledge.  But I've rarely experienced a situation where I haven't also received some "insight" from my mentee.  Each of us has life and career experiences that are relatively unique and can be used to inform and educate others.  In addition, mentees often have a way of posing questions and challenging established conventions that we seasoned professionals no longer have the freshness to see.

I believe a successful mentorship relationship does not have to be an onerous, calendar-driven obligation.  I have started more than a few of my roles as mentor in that way as part of formal mentoring programs - complete and review profiles, have written objectives for the mentoring opportunity, set up regular meetings, and so forth.  However, I've been able to sustain (and build new) relationships on a much more informal basis beyond the initial formal framework.  In fact, that's what I think has made them successful and sustainable.  It still requires commitment which comes in the form of being available when called upon.  And that doesn't mean having a formal meeting in the mentor's office - for me it's been as simple as a phone call, an e-mail or a conversation over a cup of coffee.  In this way I believe I've been able to successfully maintain a number of mentoring relationships - about a dozen on the go right now.  The intensity of each mentoring relationship is different.  Some connections happen on a regular basis - every 2 to 4 weeks - while others have become annual events.  But all of mentees still feel comfortable touching base when the need is there.

A good mentor also just doesn't wait for a call or an e-mail from a mentee to become or remain engaged.  Rather, they have developed an understanding of their colleague, their goals and objectives, their strengths, and the areas in which they can benefit from further learning opportunities.  Again, this is because a good mentor is invested in their mentee.  And rather than waiting for that next call, a good mentor is scanning the environment for opportunities that will support the mentee's development.

It really does bring us back to the image of Yoda and Luke Skywalker.  Ultimately Yoda and Luke succeed together in their mutual endeavor.  That success comes from time spent together, undertaking difficult tasks, developing trust in each other, coming to understand that together they could do great things, and a willingness to take that leap of faith and being willing to learn.  There needs to be that same joint commitment in a mentoring relationship, one that not only develops the leadership potential of the mentee but hones the leadership skill of the mentor. 

After all, it is all about leadership.

_________________________________________________________

Greg Hadubiak, MHSA, FACHE, CEC, PCC

President & Founder - BreakPoint Solutions

gregh@breakpoint.solutions 

www.breakpoint.solutions 

780-250-2543

Helping leaders realize their strengths and enabling organizations to achieve their potential through the application of my leadership experience and coaching skills. I act as a point of leverage for my clients. I AM their Force Multiplier.