Your gluteus maximus (or more commonly known as your butt) is the largest and strongest muscle in your body. Stay with me, this is a leadership article.
If you are a runner, for example, you’ve probably suffered from one of the following maladies at one time or another: achilles tendonitis, shin splints, runner’s knee, iliotibial band syndrome, low back pain. Studies have linked running injuries like these back to a significant constant…glute weakness. So, if you want to avoid those annoying injuries start doing your deadlifts and get your butt, the largest and strongest muscle in your body, stronger.
We’re getting closer to the leadership point, I promise. I mention deadlifts because they are generally regarded as one of the most basic exercises to get strong. The bar is on the ground, you bend over and grab the bar, keep your back straight, look up, pull, and use your butt to stand straight up. Basic and important for overall strength, to include your glutes, and to avoid injury.
What do we do to recover when we get the nagging injuries previously listed? Typically, everything except your butt exercises. We stretch, we ice, we foam roll our thighs. All good things we should be doing for maintenance. But, again, to avoid the injury in the first place, do your deadlifts.
Now to Leadership
Be sure to pat someone on the back for a job well done. Ask about your employee’s kids or pet. Host a team lunch to build camaraderie. These are all good things, but they are not the basic elements of leadership. They won’t prevent injuries, to stay with the metaphor. Poor performance is the most painful leadership injury and to prevent it we need to do the basics.
What Are Some of the Deadlifts of Leadership?
Setting clear guidelines and expectations of behavior, a sound and disciplined planning process, clear and defined goals, clear and concise communication. These are all considered the deadlifts of strong leadership.
If you have these basic elements of leadership in place you will achieve success, and nothing creates a good working environment like success. After the hard work of implementing the basics is complete, go right ahead and ask how the family dog is.
Errol Doebler is the founder of Ice Cold Leader, a leadership consulting firm. After successful careers as a Navy SEAL Platoon Commander and FBI Special Agent, Errol founded Ice Cold Leader to realize his passion of teaching leadership and helping individuals and businesses improve exponentially. Errol provides executive coaching and leadership training to individuals and teams across the United States.
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