‘Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live’ – Jim Rohn
I received a very rude shock last week Tuesday when I got a call that the only sister of my beloved friend of over thirty-five years suddenly collapsed and died! She was only 49 years old. Just like that! Gone!
This is probably one of the biggest shocks I have received in a very long time (right after the accidental passing last year of two dear friends). You may know of similar situations where a seemingly healthy individual goes for a routine medical check-up and discovers that his or her vital medical statistics are off the charts, and was only fortunate to have received the necessary medical intervention before the condition proved fatal.
You might ask, what does this have to do with leadership and other topics that I usually write about. The answer is a lot, a lot. As my mentor and friend – John Maxwell says ‘Everything rises and falls on leadership’. Everything also includes your physical wellbeing, even as we work hard to endeavor to live the life of our dreams, it is vitally important that you conduct your comprehensive annual medical checkup regularly. This is one of the vitally important activities to conduct, but not necessarily urgent, especially when you feel you are okay. Up until beginning of the year, I fell into that category – I had not done my check up in over three years, until this year. Very wrong!!!
I would imagine that you already know the benefits of being at your optimal health – which includes increased energy and productivity, confidence and creativity. Exercise is also one of the best ways to manage stress because it boosts your brain’s “feel-good” neurotransmitters called endorphins. According to an article by the Mayo Clinic, exercise also reduces symptoms associated with anxiety and depression, while also improving sleeping patterns.
I spent some time researching on the relationships between a great physical state and leadership, and interestingly there has been some stimulating research done, of which I will like to share some with you. In the Journal of Managerial Psychology, a research was conducted on executives to confirm a correlation between fitness and leadership. The Executive Success Profile and the Campbell Leadership index were the leadership assessment tools there were utilized.
In the Executive Success profile, ratings by peers, direct reports and bosses rated the executives and the research showed that exercisers rated significantly higher than the non-exercisers. Specifically, visionary thinking, seasoned judgement and financial acumen, which were ranked first, second, and tenth as being the most important for success, were significantly higher for the exercisers.
In the Campbell Leadership Index analysis, all the sub-scales that combine to make the leadership orientation score (ambitious, daring, dynamic, enterprising, experienced, far-sighted, original, persuasive) were also significantly higher for the exercisers than for the non-exercisers. Let me know and I can send you the complete journal article, if this interests you.
Question: How would you rate your physical well-being? What one step can you take to improve on it?