"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader."

– John Quincy Adams

Tuesday Topic: Why Your Fitness is Critical to Leadership

If you are not in good shape, it will be much harder for you to be an effective leader.

Physical fitness is the most simple way to demonstrate your discipline over yourself. It shows that you want to lead from the front. Everyone has seen a leader who barely passed the PT test, shoveled donuts at their desk, and otherwise displays zero self-control. Is that the leader you want telling you where you will attack? I doubt it.

You have to be able to carry yourself as a good leader. One who lives to exceed the standards in all aspects of life. If that is what you expect from your Soldiers, then it is what they should expect from you. It returns to the “deeds, not words” approach to leadership. Check out our first episode here to learn more about that.

Other Benefits

1) Decision Making: Apart from demonstrating that you genuinely care about things. The other benefit of being physically fit in the Military is its effect on decision-making. Making the right tactical or technical decisions in your office or at the motorpool during training is easy. But can you make the same correct decisions when you are physically and mentally exhausted three days into your JRTC or NTC rotation? What about on a deployment?

2) Training Management: You need a plan to get in better shape or get your formation into better shape. And just like your training glide path, that requires short, medium, and long-range planning. As a leader, it requires you to plan, coordinate, and execute daily training. This will improve your skills in planning a good training event for your unit. Do you take the easy way out? Or do you go the extra mile and make training special for your Soldiers?

3) Boost Confidence: Your Soldiers and your leaders can easily tell when someone is confident or not. It is in how you speak and carry yourself. The more fit you become, the more confident you will be. Who doesn’t want their leader to be confident in themselves? I’m sure you do. So do those you are leading!

But I am already fit…so what’s next?

How fit is the unit you’re leading? The old saying goes, “You are only as fast as your slowest member.” How are you motivating your team to get more fit? Are you protecting time for them to work out AND recover? Are you checking their PT plans to ensure they fit in with the long-term planning for your organization? You have to play the infinite game here. It will take constant work and reinforcement.

Remember, you don’t own your fitness. You rent it. And the rent is due every day.

Need a Good Book?

Human Performance for Tactical Athletes is an “all-in-one” solution that can get you started on adding structure to your PT plan and your units. It will also help you understand the other aspects of fitness that you and your Soldiers must be educated about, such as sleep, nutrition, and mental acuity.

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