“It’s a Marathon, Not a Sprint”

Model for Driving Strategic Change in an Enduring Way

Building and developing high-performing people, teams, and healthcare systems is one of my absolute favorite parts of my job. It is also something I take very seriously and invest a lot of time in. A few years ago, I put pen to paper (or more accurately, Sharpie to Post-it note) and worked to distill the components of driving excellence through strategic change.

The Outer Ring – “Doing Good”

Commit to Ambition

Set your goals and articulate the strategies for how you’ll get there

Every journey begins with a single step.  Setting clearly defined goals that represent what you want to achieve is the right place to start.  It sounds easy, but best-practice goal setting is actually quite hard.  Consider the SMART goal approach, commonly attributed to Peter Drucker’s “Management by Objectives” concept, where goals are “Specific,” “Measurable,” “Achievable,” “Relevant,” and “Time-Bound.” 

In addition to making your goals “SMART,” give them an element of stretch to encourage growth and ambition.  It’s okay for your goals to scare you just a little, but they shouldn’t be so intimidating that they aren’t achievable or motivating.  Carve out time for reflection.  Use others as a sounding board until you get clarity.  You might use those same individuals to hold you accountable to achieving your goals and for support when you temporarily lose traction along the way.  

The next step is strategy articulation.  Most leaders I’ve worked with are strategic thinkers, but may have a hard time crisply articulating how they will achieve their goals.  The main ideas are solid, but how they translate to action can be a little fuzzy.  Moving from broad visionary ideas to clear strategies that help anchor those ideas is incredibly important, especially as the leader starts to communicate her goals and charges her team to start working to achieve them. 

Other leaders have both feet solidly on the ground and see the path of where to start, but need to zoom out a little to ensure the strategies they are considering are the most efficient and effective ways of achieving their goals.  Whether you lean one way or the other, a rigorous strategy articulation exercise with help you fill the gaps and drive clarity.

Anchor in Purpose

Why does it matter?  What does success look like?

In Doug Conant and Mette Norgaard’s book, Touchpoints, these two leaders introduce the tripartite concept of “head, heart, hands” and the need to engage all three as you lead a team. 

If you’ve gained clarity on your goals and the strategies you plan to employ to get there, your team should understand (head) what you want them to do.  Anchoring the ambition in purpose (heart) is critical to driving engagement in why it matters.  I am a true believer that the vast majority of people want to make a contribution and are fueled by purpose.  The leader has a critical role in conveying not only the “what,” but also the “why” to her team.  

When your team embraces the “what” and the “why,” they are more likely to innovate on the “how”—bringing their deep knowledge of what it will take to get the job done and pairing it with the leadership intent that you’ve laid out.  Giving your team a clear picture of what success might look like allows you as the leader to step back and let your people rise to the challenge. 

In empowering your team to figure out the “how,” you engage the third component of the “head, heart, hands” model that is critical to strategy execution and motivating your team to take action.

Prepare with Rigor

Instill discipline & focus; define effective tactics

In my work developing high-performing teams, I have found that it’s all about setting the standards of excellence and building bench strength—even when you think you don’t need it.  I have high standards for myself and for my team.  I’m unapologetic about them.  The approach to the work is rigorous and disciplined, and holding the focus is paramount.  We work together to define effective tactics to drive the work forward. 

With a phrase borrowed from Steve Jobs, Dr. Grossman, the CEO & Dean of NYU Langone Health, frequently reminds us that “A-players attract A-players.”  As the leader, it’s your job to uphold a standard of excellence and rigor for the team.  In doing so, you honor those that are meeting and exceeding that standard of excellence and inspire others to rise. 

It does mean that you need to address under-performance.  There is nothing more frustrating or harder on the morale of a high-performing team than the leader looking the other way when someone isn’t pulling her weight.  

That being said, I strongly believe in the growth mindset made famous by the work of Carol Dweck.  In my experience, when individuals are given the opportunity, clear feedback on gaps in competencies, and/or where expectations are not being met, they can grow and develop, if they choose to bring the right attitude and are willing to work hard at it. 

My motto is “easy on the people, hard on the work.”  When your team member knows you have her best interest in mind, it makes a feedback-rich, high-trust environment possible.

Execute with Excellence

Run YOUR race

At the beginning of a marathon, you inevitably see a few runners that bolt out of the corrals running faster than your own “race pace.”  Competitive juices may urge you to try keep up and throw your race plan out the window. 

Experienced runners—and leaders—know that it’s paramount that you “run your race.”  You’ve put the thought and reflection into setting your goals and defining your strategies.  You’ve prepared with rigor and kept your focus.  You know why you made the decisions you have and what you evaluated and ruled out.  There is very little that should distract you from executing with intention.  

That does not mean that you shouldn’t pay attention to what the pack is doing and particularly new information or market conditions unfolding in your sector.  Rather, it means you shouldn’t be overly swayed by what your competitors are doing just because they are doing it, if it doesn’t align with your vision and doesn’t make sense.  Watch with curiosity and study the data, making adjustments where prudent.

As a runner, there is nothing that gives me greater inner delight than passing those “bolters” on the back miles.  Not that I want to see another person struggling up a hill, but it gives great validation to both my discipline in sticking to a thoughtful plan and my credence in the rigorous training and preparation put in during the months ahead of the race.  

Cross the finish line. Crush your goals.

The finish line is in sight.  Now is the time to sprint to the end.  You give whatever you’ve got left in the tank to excel beyond expectations and crush your goals.  This is the time to push your team and push yourself to see what you are capable of and give your very best.

As leader you are both role model and coach.  As the team crosses the finish line, you should be there with them as their number one fan, cheering them on and celebrating their individual and collective success. 

Many leaders forget to savor these moments and move right on to the next thing, inadvertently taking their team’s above-and-beyond efforts for granted.  As leader, you cannot say thank you enough. The most meaningful thanks is authentic, specific, and individualized.  It shows that you have been paying attention and that each team member’s contributions matter. 

Recognition and team celebrations of milestone achievements are incredibly important to keeping engagement high, cultivating team pride, and rewarding a job well done. 

Reflect to Elevate Performance

Identify lessons learned and ways to “do better” next time

Even the best teams can learn from their past efforts.  Before memory of the specifics fade, find ways to constructively unpack and learn from both what went well and what could have gone better. 

Utilizing an Hansei process or similar technique will help the team continually learn and engrain a culture of improvement and growth.  Hansei, derived from Japanese culture, is a continuous process of reflecting on the past and committing to acting on the lessons inherent therein.  “Han” means to change or turn over.  “Sei” means to reflect back upon, review, and examine.

A simple Google search will provide examples of simple applications that can be used with teams.  I’ve applied several within my team, with groups of different sizes, and always with a positive result. 

One hallmark element of Hansei is allowing the individual to self-reflect and share with the group what they wish they had done differently, rather than having their shortcomings pointed out top-down or by others in the group.  This paradigm shift from what often unfolds in corporate culture is critically important and really changes the dialogue to one of growth and self-improvement. 

The end result is a high-trust, ever-learning team who collectively commits to “doing better” next time as they look ahead to tackle their next ambition.

The Three Paradox at the Center – “Being Good”

Flexible Strength

Respond to the conditions; Trust your training

The paradox of flexible strength reminds us that if we are too rigid in our thinking or approach, we will break rather than bend. You are more capable than you know. When the going gets tough, it’s incumbent on leaders to have the strength to do what’s right and carry the team as needed.

There are the times the best laid plans are foiled by elements outside your control.  You might lose a key team member(s) that you previously relied heavily upon. As a leader, you need to be vigilant and flexible enough to alter the course when conditions call for it.  Your greater team and enterprise are relying on you to do so. 

What I’ve found to be most critical during such times is erring on the side of overly communicating why such shifts need to take place. There may be new information. The enterprise or project might be in a moment of flux.

It can be very frustrating to a team to have started in a direction, committed to it, and put in a great deal of work, only to have it be futile.  You may tell them they need to shift gears, but unless they understand what changed and why, you run the risk of mutiny or at least inefficient non-compliance and confusion. 

Most leaders are by their nature more flexible and adaptable to change than the rest of the organizations they are entrusted to lead.  They also have the privileged of being privy to more information and context.  As such, it is the leader’s responsibility to communicate gratitude for the work done to date, validation of her team’s frustration with wasted effort, an explanation for why a change is necessary, and clear guidance on the new direction.  

Confident Humility

It’s not about you, it’s about them – Coach, inspire, and support your team and enterprise

“It’s about them” is a phrase my leadership mentor, Doug Conant, pounded into my head.  It was sometimes said warmly and intuitively and sometimes said as a cautionary warning to not lose perspective or become too inwardly focused.  I’ve also found it to be wonderfully empowering in conquering self-doubt to go above and beyond what I thought I was capable of to help others.

Think of your favorite coach.  Perhaps it’s someone that you still carry with you in the life lessons they taught you or as an example that you want to emulate. Alternatively, listen to any respected coach. In either case, you’ll hear her talk affectionately and honestly about her team and team’s performance, deeply knowing and understanding where each individual team member is at. This coach is aware of each person’s strengths and weaknesses and what she is focused on developing to bring that team member up to the next level of reaching her potential.

A coach is paradoxically both confident and humble, ever learning and striving towards improvement. Coaches embrace the “win or learn” mindset. Your coach is there for you when you face defeat, helping you to do better the next time.  Empathy and understanding are the backbone of the relationship.  The coach helps you pick yourself up, learn from your mistakes, and get back on track.  

As you gain confidence and momentum, she pushes you outside your comfort zone and inspires you to take on ever bigger challenges in a supportive way.  She is honest with you about where you are at (sometimes brutally so) and what it would take to overcome the gaps, offering guidance on how to go about it.  When you succeed, she is the person right there celebrating your success more than anyone and promoting you to others.  

Grace Under Pressure

Stay the course (even in crisis) and lean into why it matters

For all the excitement and intrigue around leadership, when done right, it is flat-out hard work particularly when times are tough. Decision making can be quite lonely and unpopular with some constituents, even when the right choice is made.  The higher up you climb as a leader, the faster the pitches come in and the more varied the mix of fast balls and curve balls. As a leader, you need to be cool, calm, and collected. The higher the stakes, the more grounded you are. 

There are moments of recognition, but much of the day-to-day work of a leader is pretty thankless. So you need to look to the influence you are having as your source of feedback and motivation.  Maintaining high resilience on your part and within your team is the only way to stay in the game.

In hard times, returning to the purpose behind the work keeps my tank fueled on an almost spiritual level.  It is typically also the most enduring motivator for my team. 

Learning to harness your energy physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually are at the core of ongoing resilience.  If you let any of these slide for too long, you put your ability to think clearly, make sound decisions, and lead your team at risk. 

Practically, this means getting enough sleep, eating well, exercising, and doing those things that bring you life and feed your soul.  It’s not selfish; it’s self-care.  You need to attach your oxygen mask before you can help (or lead) others.

Is intentional leadership all that different?  There is much to be lifted from this metaphor.

What in this model resonates with you? How has this perspective validated or changed how you think about leading teams?