Leadership is a Marathon Not a Sprint
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wo of the most noted races in the track and field world are the 100 meter dash and the marathon. They are on opposite ends of the length spectrum – a sprint of 100 meters and a long trek of 42,195 meters (26 miles, 385 yards). Many times leaders work and act with an incredible sense of urgency, running faster, looking for every small edge and acting as if their hair is on fire. - Let’s call that leadership seen as a sprint. I believe we must think about leadership differently. I believe we must view our work as a leader over the long term, keeping the fires in perspective and always keeping the big picture in mind. Let’s call that leadership seen as a marathon. Let me give you some examples. Perspective Our job as a leader is to keep the big picture in mind at all times. If you drive your car looking just past the hood, your driving will be erratic, over-reactive and dangerous. So too for the leaders-as-sprinters. When we look too closely we over-react, we shift our focus too often, and this can be dangerous. On the other hand if you are always driving with your eyes moving and looking as far ahead as possible, you will still see what is happening closer, but it will be seen in the proper perspective to make adjustments in view of the long term. Leadership is a marathon. Coaching If we give people feedback
Kevin Eikenberry that they need to be on time with er? Not in the least. As leaders we reports, but have a habit of workmust think about the immediate, ing right up to and just past the respond as appropriate and keep deadline, it will likely take some forward momentum, but that time for the behavior to change. doesn’t mean every day must be One coaching conversation seltreated as a sprint. Even the best dom changes habits and behaviors marathoners in the world pace immediately. Good leaders and themselves. The most productive coaches know that patience is a people have a plan and work on virtue. If you want to develop and long term efforts consistently, day grow your people, you do that after day, week after week. consistently over time – not in a They know there is a time to moment. Leadership is a mararun faster, and they know they thon. can’t sprint the full race. Neither Goal Setting can you and neither can your While we certainly can (and team. The best leaders know that should) have short term goals, they are in it with their teams for most goals have a longer time the long haul. They see the big pichorizon - a month, a quarter, ture, coach patiently, set big goals, a year. Sprinters wait until the learn continually, and are extremedeadline looms and do the best ly productive. The best leaders see they can in the time remaining. leadership as a marathon. — The training plans I’ve seen can About the Author take you from starting to run to a Kevin Eikenberry is a leadership marathon in 26 weeks. If you want expert and the Chief Potential to really reach any goals of merit Officer of The Kevin Eikenberand substance, you can’t cram it all ry Group, a learning consulting into the last two weeks, and you company that helps clients reach know that. Leadership is a maratheir potential through a variety of thon. training, consulting and speaking Learning services. For more information, Leadership is complex and is visit http://www.kevineikenberry. something we learn and strive to com/ get better at over time. Not from one workshop. Not from one book. Not from one blog post. The best leaders know that the way for they and their teams to reach their goals is to be on a consistent path of learning from all sources (including mistakes) every day. Leadership is a marathon. Productivity Does all of this mean we don’t need a sense of urgency as a leadRuralLeaderMagazine.com | JULY/AUGUST 2015 5
