Thoughts on leadership

I am a believer in the ideology of Lance Armstrong. I can't quote it exact, but he basically outlines a strategy to outpace his competitors in a race. When you reach a challenging section you match your opponents, stroke for stroke. As you peak that hill when everyone else is anticipating a breather you fortify your mind and body for a push. A little extra juice just when the going should be getting easier. Practice this enough and a mentality develops permitting you to pace through difficulties putting the intensity of your focus on how to augment your performance when you ought to be resting. As such, your game is elevated two-fold: (1) for the tranquil mindset you develop facing adversity and (2) for the method of pushing the envelope when the rest of the world has their dukes down.

I've been casting about for effective leadership stamina strategies and this philosophy seems applicable. As an involved leader you are not only suffering the hardship shared among the group, but also potentially wearing down mentally as the primary decision-maker. What happens if you pace your group through the hardship making the best decisions you can, but focus on what actions you will take during the lull after the immediate goal is surpassed? Like leading a hiking group over a pass finding the best route you can, but focusing on the moment when the terrain flattens out where you seize leadership opportunities to provide congratulations to the team. I think practicing leadership in this way makes the decisions easier. You shift your focus from over-worrying the decisions during the hard stretches, which are prone to natural human error no matter how hard you stress, and let you focus on decisions that are more pleasurable like deciding how to congratulate your team, which are less prone to error and more richly rewarded for extra thought. To go back to the hiking group example, during the climb, you just focus on the basics. Maybe pace, rehydration and route-finding. All the while, get yourself pumped up to do a silly victory dance and elaborate high-fiving once the terrain has flattened out and the going is easier. Your team likes it. You like it because you feel less pressure. With Lance Armstrong's approach, everybody wins!

I've just been thinking about this a lot with the water projects because even if I am not the only leader, I am an undeniable part of the leadership core and it is not something I have spent time doing in my life. Basically, it means I pop a lot of popcorn for meetings and work days. And when we are sealing up the last little chunk of the water source we hope to provide a town of two hundred clean drinking water for two decades, I just trust the concrete, remind myself of our careful planning and throw it on there. No sweat!