What's going on everyone and welcome to the Darn Good Leadership podcast. This show is all about being a strong and effective leader. One that can make positive impacts on your teams and communities. In the next 20 minutes, you're going to get ideas, inspiration, and practical advice. You can take action on today to be a darn good leader. I'm your host, Emily Hoelting. And in today's episode, we're talking about being fit to lead. Now, when I say fit. I want you to think 1969 Arnold Schwartzenegger, Jane Fonda in the eighties, and present day David Goggins. So, yeah, I do mean being a leader that's in good health because of regular exercise, but I'm also referring to being fit as a leader that is qualified, capable, and competent. Being physically fit enables you to be more resilient and confident as a leader. And as a result, you can help build stronger and healthier teams. According to the journal of managerial psychology, executives who followed a regular fitness regimen were found to be better leaders. Their research shows that regular exercise has a positive correlation to how others rated them on their leadership skills. Now if you find yourself, suddenly thinking, yeah, exercise sounds good and all, but you know, I'm really busy. I just don't have the time to work out. I would ask you to examine, is that actually true? On average, most CEOs who quite certainly have some of the most demanding schedules, they've stated that breaking a sweat is not only a part of their daily routine, but it's also one of their most helpful productivity tips. Author Tom Corley, who wrote Change your Habits, Change your Life, he spent five years setting 177, extremely successful people, including business leaders and self-made millionaires. He found that 76% of his subjects prioritize exercising every day. Some additional examples of this Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin group who controls more than 400 companies in various fields. He wakes up at 5:00 AM each and every day to exercise. Branson has been quoted to say. Exercise puts me in a great frame of mind to get down to business and also helps me get the rest I need each night. There's nothing more satisfying than knowing I've applied myself, both physically and mentally every day. As long as I get my exercise in, I very rarely feel burnt out. Whitney Wolfe Herd, founder and CEO of Bumble has stated that she does 30 minutes of exercise before work and focuses on strength training. Satya Nadella, executive chairman and CEO of Microsoft. He has a 30 minute daily gym routine and he has been quoted to say it doesn't matter where I am. What time zone, how late I get in. I get up. I get to the gym. And it's just 30 minutes of running and it makes a huge difference. Tim Cook CEO of Apple, he says to keep his stress at bay, he does 5:00 AM workouts every day, and Ann Wintor, editor and chief at Vogue, she plays tennis first thing in the morning. Fitness and effective leadership has a strong, positive correlation. Routine exercise has been found to help leaders and their day-to-day work. As well as in strengthening their career paths. So today, I'm talking about four leadership skills any individual can improve through physical fitness; and three ideas of bring exercise into your work environments, so your teams that communities can also start to reap those benefits as well. But, first a story. A couple of years ago, I had an employee who shared my love of exercise. We bonded over what workouts would be a plan for the week. And I also ironically discovered his wife had been in my 5:00 AM, workout classes without us even realizing it. Well, one day he reached out to me and said, Hey, I'm doing this thing called 75 Hard would you be willing to do it with me? Be my accountability partner. What do you think? Honestly had no clue what he was talking about, I had never heard of this thing before, typically, when I get challenged to do something nine out of 10 times, I totally in. I mentioned 75 Hard in my last episode of lifelong learners, and although this is a mental toughness challenge. One of the five critical task is you must work out twice a day for. For 45 minutes each. They can't be back to back. One of them has to be outside. Aside, and you must do this for 75 days straight. No compromise. Now this. It might sound intense, extreme. I guess it kind of is, but we were all in totally game. Now I have to mention, during this time I had also recently been promoted. So some might assume that this would be the worst time to start something like this. And I even had some folks be like, Hey, Emily. Um, you know, you might want to take a beat. You've got some new responsibilities. Give yourself time to adjust. But that's not what I did. I had already made the commitment and once I commit to something I'm just in, and honestly it was the best thing I could have done for my career. It required me to be more disciplined, organized, intentional with my calendar. I had to be thoughtful and proactive about what I had to do and what I needed to finally delegate to. The rest of my team. With having to do two workouts a day, that couldn't be back to back. One of them having to be outside, even with. Living in California, you get those days. That is just not ideal. And what it taught me was, is there's never going to be perfect conditions in life. Or at work to do anything and you just have to do the many ways. There's no waiting, there's no excuses or sitting on the sidelines. You just need. To get to work. So here I am. 35 days into the challenge. Going strong. I had a trip going to see my sister who lives across. The country from me and I already figured out in my head how was going to get those two workouts in. In. When I landed at my first layover, I got out the plane. I did an indoor really fast power walks. Through the terminal for 45 minutes. So my first workout was done. Now I'm waiting to board my next plane. And what do you know? My flight gets delayed. And it gets to late again. So long story short, by the time I finally land and my sister picks me up and we get back to her house. It's past midnight, which means. I had officially failed the challenge. But this was another lesson. This challenge. He taught me, which was one I had to own up to my own failure and tell my coworker what had happened. And two, I had a decision to make about what type of person I was going. To be. I was at the type of person who would say, Hey, 35 days, you should be proud of that. That was really hard. You don't have to prove anything to anybody else. Or was. The type of person who was going to get back up on that horse and be resilient and start over from day one. And that's exactly what I did. I got right. Back up the next day and started back off. From the beginning. I'm very proud to report that both my coworker and myself finished 75 hard. And it was really difficult, but it's made me a better leader today. It pushed me to a new level with my own mental toughness. It made me realize what I was capable of as a person and a leader. And ever since I've completed the challenge. I've wanted to find ways to bring more movement into the. Workplace not saying that everyone at my company has to do a 75 hard. But exercise As itself has such insane benefits and really. Does help you hone your leadership skills. So I wanted other people to experience that as well, just like I would love for each and every one of you, who's listening to this to experience those benefits because they truly are amazing. I mentioned Arnold, Ms. Fonda and Goggins at the start of this podcast. And I said, it's someone jokingly because for them fitness was a job. For most leaders and for myself, fitness is not my job. But studies have shown that the most effective leaders have found. Found ways to habitualize fitness into their routines. They have discovered the magic that exercise can instill in someone that translates to being a better leader. So let's discuss the four leadership skills that regular exercise helps strengthen Leadership skill one that regular exercise helps strengthen is self discipline. Self-discipline is the ability to take action and push yourself to do something regardless of how you're feeling about it. It's showing up for yourself in spite of any other factors or distractions that may be working against you. Self-discipline happens through intentional planning, visualizing your goals and even tolerating discomfort. being comfortable with being uncomfortable for those of you who listened to last week's episode. With exercise. This is when you intentionally make time for it. Even when you are busy, it doesn't matter if it's convenient or if you feel. Motivated. It's a non-negotiable for your day. Working with global. Mobile teams. My typical work day begins at 6:30 AM, which means. If I want to get exercise before my day gets started, I. I have to do a 5:00 AM workout. And before the pandemic and having more flexible work schedules. Monday through Friday. I was a hardcore, no excuse 5:00 AM. Workout girl. Girl, my friends and fiance can attest come hell or high water. My alarm would go off and at four 40, I would get my butt out of bed. I didn't even contemplate it. If I'd had a couple drinks. If I stayed up too late the night before watching TV or reading, or didn't matter, I would use Mel Robbins, five second roll. And if you've heard of this. The rule is pretty simple. You basically have five seconds to physically. Move or your brain's going to kill it. So the moment my alarm would go off, I would count. It down 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. And without hesitation, just get my butt out of bed. And if you hesitate even for a second, it kills it all. And I've actually transferred that habit into work. So when there's something I don't want to do at work that just needs to get done, I just count on five. 5 4, 3, 2, 1. And off I go. And improving self-discipline is important for leaders as they're going to be aspects of any job that are tedious. They aren't sexy. Sometimes you got to do. Things you don't want to do or have difficult conversations and. You just have to crank it out so you need to get it done and make it a non-negotiable. For yourself because it's, what's required. When you practice discipline on a daily basis, it leads to professional growth and professional development. But this requires consistency, which leads us to our second skill. Leadership skill two that regular exercise helps strengthen is consistency. Discipline and consistency are like peanut butter and jelly. They go hand in hand. Without discipline. It's hard to be consistent in your actions and without consistency, the mental muscle of discipline will weaken over time. Being consistent with something, even if minimal will always outpace an inconsistent performer. So let me give you a quick example of this. My friend's mom for 30 years, everyday walks three miles in the morning with her neighborhood walk group. She's full of energy in great shape is literally one of the most vibrant humans I've ever met. And I want you now to compare that to someone who every couple of years comes out of the woodwork and is like, Hey. I'm going to do a 10 K Turkey trot, or I'm going to go run a half marathon or full marathon. And they do that and they complete their goal. And then they stop working out for several months or maybe even years at a time. No, no shaming But when you compare that back to my friend's mom, who every day for 30 years is walking three miles. She's outpacing every single one of those sons of a guns. This is the same with work. I would hands down much rather have a consistent performer. One that is reliable and dependable and can be counted on then one who sporadically does some hail Mary. Amazing job, but it's then checked out the rest of the year. Regular exercise helps you improve your skills with consistency and consistency in your leadership. Build trust, reliability, and influence with the communities and teams you're leading. Leadership skill three, that regular exercise helps strengthen is time management. Time management is the ability to use your time productively and efficiently. Some also described this as the art of having time to do everything that you need without feeling stressed about it. And that sounds nice. Doesn't it? With so many of us now working from home and in hybrid models, there are more ways to be distracted than ever before. And that's also why having strong time management skills can truly set you apart from the pack. As I've stated before and will, again, it's not about hours and butts and seats. It's about the results. What can you accomplish in a set period of time? What progress can you make today? When you exercise regularly, you have to practice time management. Because it means that you are now disciplined and consistent with breaking a sweat, which means you can't just let the day happen. You have to plan for your workout. So whether you're dedicating 15 minutes to move, going for a walk at lunch, hitting a class in the middle of the day, or going for a long run before or after work, you have to be intentional with blocking out that space. And a really funny thing happens when you start managing your time to exercise. You also begin to realize how much time you easily waste doing. Non-value add things. One of my best friends is a great example of this. She is the definition of discipline and consistency when it comes to working out and to no surprise, her time management skills are impressive. She has been known to train for full marathons all while holding a full-time prestigious role and on her vacations and days off, she is up and had our workout in before everyone else. We recently ran a half marathon together and Napa. And the day after the race, I woke up at 7:00 AM to find her already done with a light run around the block and ready for coffee. Now, she's also decided to go back to school all while planning her wedding and holding her job and all of these other things. She does not waste time. And my goodness, she inspired me. All these skills of time management translate into the workplace. You start to organize your tasks and your time more effectively to get things done each day. You begin, prioritizing and delegating and creating schedules and setting goals for yourself. And I don't know about you, but I want to be that leader that works smarter through time management and not harder by just letting the day happen to me. Leadership skill four that regular exercise helps strengthen is self-confidence. Increased level of exercise also leads to improvement in body image and higher confidence. Hence, regular exercise is an organic mood elevator leading to a healthier and happier and sharper mind. Partly, this is because you start to have confidence that you're going to do what you say you will do. So when you set that alarm or you book that class, or you block out your calendar for exercise, You begin to have confidence in yourself that like, oh my goodness, look at me, I'm doing what I said I was going to do. You start to believe that you're capable of doing anything you can put your mind to. And we all build our confidence through our results. Many times when I start out on a long run or an intense class, I may not know how I'm going to get through it, but I'm confident I will. And it's the same way with work. It translates over there. As I've advanced in my career and my responsibilities have grown. I'm no longer scared of bee hags. And if you don't know what that is, that's big, hairy ass goals. Yes, they are uncomfortable and they challenge me for sure. And I won't say that. You know, I don't get a little bit of butterflies. But I do have confidence now that I can figure it out and this is a lot of what I talked about with the 75 hard challenge of coming off that thing and realizing I am capable of tough things. When you figure that out about yourself, Your confidence can't help, but sore. Self-disciplined consistency, time management and self confidence. These are all leadership skills that anyone can start sharpening through regular exercise. Exercise in addition helps reduce stress, anxiety, burnout, and depression. And is linked to better memory, clearer thinking, improved sleep, increased energy levels. Don't we want this for our teams and communities as well. 'cause most office workers spend a good portion of their day. Just sitting still. And having a workplace that supports exercise and wellbeing. Encourages seven out of 10 to stay at their current job. An 89% of workers would recommend their company as a good place to work. If they're promoting exercise and wellbeing. As a leader you can model share and bring exercise into your workplace. And I'm going to talk quickly about three ways to do so. The first way you can bring exercise into the workplace is by sharing and encouraging move breaks. My calendar is open and it shows when I'm going for runs, when I'm doing a Pilates class or an occasional orange theory session. So my team sees this and they know I support them doing the same. Additionally, if I have an early zoom call and I decide to do a workout beforehand. I've gotten comfortable with not looking incredibly polished in every meeting. I'm intentionally trying to model to my team that it's okay to be in running clothes, have rosy cheeks, be makeup free. Have a Pilates bun on top of my head or a workout. Head-on. And I try to do my best to share with my team when I'm doing different physical things. Like, Hey, I'm training for a half marathon, or I'm taking my dog for a walk. I'm going to use my lunch break to move. I share the big and the small in hopes of showing it's okay for them to do so, but also finding ways to encourage them. So find ways to encourage and share with your own teams and make sure your people are taking care of themselves. The second way you can bring exercise into the workplace is by having walking meetings before the pandemic, I used to do walking meetings all the time. I grabbed one of my coworkers. We walk around the block, downtown, lots of energy and fun working from home. This can be a bit harder. But it's something I have started doing with my own boss many times at the end of the day, we need to quickly discuss something that transpired. And instead of getting on another zoom call, we just call one another. I love this because now we can both get up from our desks, stretch our legs. I can take my dog with me. We're outside, we're talking and we're moving. These are great for ad hoc one-on-ones or casual work discussions. The third way you could bring exercise into the workplace is by starting an internal challenge. When you do an internal competition, it shows your entire company that you care about their wellbeing, and it gives them a reason to stay, engage, build relationships, and be connected. Web MD currently did a sup challenge and they host this invitation twice a year to their employees. Where they get teams outside, get social, get engaged, and get in a little good nature competition in addition, and this is what I love. They've even documented some of their colleagues journeys to see how the challenge has helped them progress their own professional and personal development goals. We're doing a challenge at my current place of work. And we want to be data-driven before we invest in any sort of plugin or app, we found a very easy way to do this. And I plan to share with all of you and a part, two of being fit to lead. So in that episode, I'm going to share all the details and lesson learned a kick-starting a simple internal fitness challenge. Let's recap, regular exercise helps strengthen the following leadership skills. Self-discipline consistency, time management and self-confidence. And three ideas to bring all that goodness. And the practice of exercise and movement into your workplace is one encourage move breaks to do walking meetings. And three startup and internal move challenge. Thank you so much for spending your time with me today. Whether you decide to get inspired and do a 75 hard, which if you do, please let me know, because you could motivate me to do a second round, or maybe you get inspired to just move a little bit more during your day. Take a look at how many steps you're currently getting in and try to double that. I certainly hope this episode makes you think about your own fitness and leadership journey and gives you ideas on how to encourage exercise as a workplace practice. So let's get after it, let's be the strongest and healthiest. Versions of ourselves and leaders. Be bold be bright be a darn good Leader See you next time.