Lifting Leadership: Development > Work
Among the lessons shared by the disciplines of leadership and fitness is that of developing a team or body capable of taking charge on its own. This is a core element of transformational leadership--the growth of those being led takes priority over securing short term wins. As the team members develop, not only do the short terms wins come more easily, but the range of available wins broadens. The team has gained more than the sum of these wins. It has strengthened its capacity to effectively respond. This is a function of the leadership capabilities of its members, each of whom is the best suited to lead in a unique-to-them set of situations. Developing a team in this way requires that it contend with a series of progressive challenges, ideally tailored to the members according to their strengths, weaknesses, and intended course of development. The most reliable way to sabotage such development is for the leader to take over and do the work themselves.
Here is the fitness corollary: long term success comes from developing a body capable of doing the work itself. This is accomplished by investing in your metabolic capacity through the pursuit of lean tissue (muscle) and strength. As with the members of a team, the various muscles and muscle systems respond best to progressively more challenging tasks designed to account for their unique function while also incorporating a measure of diversity. As with a team of leaders, a strong, muscular body is adapted for the unexpected. It will struggle less to accommodate times of less than optimal nutrition. If you are routinely too busy to eat well, you need a body that can pick up the slack. Here's an example: if you are dealing with high levels of stress, carbohydrates are the macronutrient best able to help you cope. But an under-muscled body will store those carbs as fat rather than burning them as fuel.
When a leader takes over the hard work, they rob the team members of the chance to grow. Over time, the team members--and the team--lose capabilities they once had. When you use long cardio sessions as a way to burn calories, you are accomplishing something similar. You are manually burning fat, sending the message to your body that it need not hang on to so much costly muscle. Eventually, this will slow your metabolism leaving you with a body that stubbornly clings to fat. After all, it needs to feed all the work you're doing.
Instead of doing the work for your team or your body, develop a team and a body strong enough to do it on their own.
