Ken Blanchard the bestselling author and leadership guru shared that when the One Minute Manager hit the best seller list he found himself running around the world giving speeches, conducting interviews on radio and television doing all the things that seem to come with material success, and then one day he had what I call a “wake up call”, he looked at himself in the mirror and realised he was overweight, non-exercising, sleep deprived and generally treating his body like it was indestructible. 

 

In a similar vein, years ago while discussing the HR needs with a director of a major blue chip company he said something that stayed with me, "you don't have to be sick, to get better" sadly many executives have to wait for the "wake up call" of a heart attack before they start to take care of themselves. 

This habit is "sharpen the saw" the metaphor being if you constantly saw without taking time to sharpen the blade it will eventually become ineffective and useless, this habit can have a profound effect on all of the other habits as we are an ecosystem, everything affects everything. 

 

When I coach and mentor executives I often go through my work life balance questionnaire (for a free copy please contact me) one of the key aspects is the physical aspect of self-renewal when we discuss why they do not, 9 times out of 10 the excuse is "no time" for exercise to which my reply, that is a lie and you know it! You don't have time not to exercise; it is one activity which has such high leverage performance impact. Just 30 minutes a day invested in some sort of exercise daily will impact the quantity and the quality of your productivity. I know of no top-flight executive that does not on a regular consistent basis make time for exercise and it's not so much what it does for the body though that is good, it is what it does for your head psychologically you can be more effective blood is oxygenated in the system you think more clearly, you sleep better, both the short and the long-term benefits of exercise can be profound.

 

If you are not currently committed to your own regime of exercise, I challenge you to do so, but first be wise and see your doctor first and discuss your fitness levels and have a Vo2 max test, the Trust Me I'm a Doctor series (BBC2) is brilliant; I learned so many interesting things. Like BMI – the fat thing not the regional airline – is rubbish. OK, not rubbish, but it can be misleading, as an indicator of health; I also learnt we don't need to drink two litres of water a day. Also I'm going to bed early, because sleep deprivation is linked to all sorts of horrible and life-shortening ailments. Put another way, Jeremy Paxman/News-night gives you cancer.

 

 

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