5K Leadership Lesson – “Go slower to go faster”

August 22nd, 2011 by John Gallagher No Comments

Last Sunday I completed my second 5K.  While I am still not ready to run a marathon, I DID improve my time to under 30:00 (29:37 to be exact!).  I have learned personal leadership ‘tips’ as a result of this new journey I have been on.  After my first 5K, I wrote to “Never Say Never”

For this 5K, my lesson learned is that sometimes you have to “go slower to go faster”.  My ‘running coach’, Adam Ward,  said this to me one day when I was telling him about my training.  He said I was running too fast during my training runs and had to go slower so that I could go faster.  I was skeptical, but he is training for an Ironman, so who better to listen to.  Sure enough, I was able to reduce my time by nearly 7% in just a 5-week span by…you guessed it…running slower!

Often as leaders, we get impatient.  We want to get to the answer/solution FASTER, and we sometimes forget that the learning process of getting there is even more valuable.  When we go too fast, we often get somewhere fast, but find that we are unable to sustain the results we achieved. 

As leaders, we need to be aware of when this is happening and slow down…so that we can go faster…and, as a result, be more ‘fit’ as a leader.

Do you remember a time you went too fast to a solution…only to find out that your results were not sustainable?  Share it with me below.

So, what’s YOUR excuse?

August 8th, 2011 by John Gallagher 2 Comments

I am not sure how I came across this video on YouTube.  It was another of the motivations/eye openers for me when I was considering my first 5K:

If you can’t see the embedded video in your reader, click here.

Did you catch all 56 of the excuses?  In case you missed one:

I’m Too weak…Too slow…too big…ate too much for breakfast…I got a headache…It’s raining…My dog is sick…I can’t right now…I’m not inspired…It makes me smell bad…I’m allergic to stuff…I’m fat…I’m thin…It’s too hot…I’m not right…I’ve got shin splints…Headache…I’m distracted…I’m exerting myself too much…I’d love to really, but I can’t, I just can’t…my favorite show is on…I got a case of the Mondays…the Tuesdays…the Wednesday…I don’t want to do this…I want to do something else…After New Year’s…Next week…I might make a mistake…I got homework…I feel bloated…I’ve got gas…I’ve got a hot date…My coach hates me…Mom won’t let me…I bruise easily…It’s too dark…It’s too cold…My blister hurts…This is dangerous…Uhhhh…Sorry, I don’t have a bike…I didn’t get enough sleep…My tummy hurts…It’s not in my genes…I don’t want to look all tired out…I need a better coach…I don’t like getting tackled…I’m not the athletic type…I don’t want to get sweaty…I have better things to do…I don’t want to slow you down…Do I have to do this?…As soon as I get a promotion…I think I’ll sit this one out…and my feet hurt…

So, have you used a few of these excuses?  I know I have.  Maybe after seeing this video, you will reduce that usage significantly.

Never Say …Never

August 3rd, 2011 by John Gallagher 6 Comments

Anyone who knows me knows that I am not a runner.  For as long as I can remember, I would scoff at the idea of running any distance at all.  In fact, I found myself saying often, “I will never run a 5K.”  What’s the point?

Well, recently, I completed my first 5K and learned a lot about myself in the process.  Why did I decide to run a 5K?  Many reasons, including the following:

1)      I am overweight – My current exercise/nutrition was resulting in slow progress to achieving my desired target state

2)      I was not a good example to my kids with regards to their fitness – Do as I say…not as I do!

3)      I needed a ‘target’ – My workouts were not intentional.  I found myself going to the gym without a purpose, and, as a result, not seeing improvement.

4)      I needed a ‘process’ – There are many great resources out there and the one I found was www.c25k.com.  Many thanks to Dan Foster for this suggestion.  This gave me standard work to be ready for my first 5K in 9 weeks.

5)      I had people in my life inspiring me to do ‘more’ (I will write more about them in a future post.)

  1. Adam Ward
  2. Dan Foster
  3. Stan Buck
  4. My family – Chris, Brendan and Joseph ( my mom, too, who just had her knee replaced!)

I will write more about them in a future post.

Well, I completed my first (note I say first) 5K in 32:09.  Not fast, but the key word for me is “completed”.  What’s next?  Another 5K in late August.  Shooting for a 5% reduction in time.  After that?  Who knows?  I do spend a lot of time in Boston, now…

So, what do you NEED to do that you have said “I will NEVER do that.”?

5 Things to Love about a week-long vacation

July 8th, 2011 by John Gallagher 1 Comment

The 4th of July week is one of my favorite weeks of the year for many reasons.  One of the biggest is that I generally take that entire week as a vacation week and head to Myrtle Beach, SC.  Taking a week away from ‘the grind’ is necessary to re-charge the batteries and relax.  There are many reasons I look forward to a week of vacation.  Here are my Top 5:

1) The first Monday morning - Are you kidding?  Isn’t a great feeling to wake up on a Monday morning of a vacation week and exclaim with joy:  “No work today or this week. Back to sleep!”

2) Time with family - My current job requires me to do a significant amount of travel.  Prior to this week, I was on the road at least part of 11 straight weeks.  It is great to get to spend focused time with family.  Here is a shot of us enjoying lunch one day:

3) The Food!!! - I just love to eat well when I am on vacation.  Down at Myrtle Beach, there are ALL KINDS of great spots we hit each time we are here.  Here is a shot of a dozen oysters I dusted off and washed her down with an ice cold beer.

4) Early morning quiet time - Aside from Monday mornings, I like to get up early each day.  It is time for me to do some reading, work on my blog, or simply sit out on the porch with a cup of coffee and listen to the uh-uh birds while my family is still sleeping.

5) Afternoon naps - Oh, how I LOVE that afternoon nap while on vacation.  They should be a requirement of the work week, too!

What are some favorite things YOU like to do to re-charge during a week’s vacation?

Leadership Lessons from the Airport

June 11th, 2011 by John Gallagher 2 Comments

I get to spend a good bit of time inside of an airport.  If I am paying attention, there are leadership lessons to be learned throughout the confines of the miles of concourses, moving sidewalks, and ultra-uncomfortable waiting areas:

For the past couple months, I have been experiencing a sore shoulder.  Could be dragging the suitcase around for miles, could be the too-soft pillows in the hotels, but it has been a real ‘pain’.  I found myself with a few extra minutes this week after the red-eye and decided to take advantage of the spa treatment services in the airport.  When I go to the counter, I see a choice of “Swedish” or “Deep Tissue”.  In so many words, the girl at the front desk told me that meant “wimpy”, or “something that will hurt but you will actually feel better later”.  She was also challenging me in so many words, so I chose the ‘deep tissue’ shoulder massage.  That really was 10 minutes of ‘dis-comfort’.  However, today I awoke without the shoulder pain I have been experiencing over the past couple months.  So, what is the leadership lesson?

Too often, in leadership we are presented with 2 options – 1) the easy way – “swedish massage”, or 2) the right way – “deep tissue massage”.  Choose the easy way and you will feel better for a little bit, but likely, your problem will be even bigger in the future.  My friend, Kim Chaney, has referred to this as ‘peeing in a wet suit’.  Or, we can choose the arduous path.  The one that is more painful in the beginning, but likely solves the problem so it doesn’t happen again.

I know that I sometimes choose the easy way and, as a result, feel ‘chafed’ with the solution.  Yesterday, I chose the “something that will hurt but you will actually feel better later”, and, as a result, feel better today.

How do you manage this selection process in your life?

Can books REALLY save us?

May 15th, 2011 by John Gallagher 1 Comment

Today, I read a post from Mark Sanborn titled Books Can Save Us.  I posted a lengthy comment as it generated a lot of thoughts in my head.  Then, I read a post, Seven Types of Blog Comments and How to Respond to Them, and found I was guilty of #2 – being long-winded.  Oddly, I had just minutes before thought it was long-winded and I should post about it, so…here I am! 

Now, I don’t know that books will really ‘save’ us, but I do find books to be therapeutic, thus, I believe they have a way of extending our lives.  So, here was what I expressed to Mark, and now to you, about books:

1) I envy personal libraries  with the wood paneling to the ceiling and the walls of books, including out of print, first editions, and favorites that have been read.  While I stop short of making this type of personal library a ‘goal’, it would definitely be nice to have.  I would want it to be interactive, though.  When friends come over, I want them to pull the books off the shelf, read through my notes, and generate discussion/fellowship for the content as well as the aesthetics!

2) I think that books can be ’attractive’.  When I finish reading a book, I remove the fancy cover and see how attractive the book’s binding is.  Then, it goes on my ‘shelf’.

3) Touring of bookstores is something I often do.  I wish I had the time to read all of the wonderful books that are there.

4) Life is too short to read a bad book(or drink a bad wine).  I will stop reading a book part of the way through. I don’t do this often as most of the books I read are suggestions from trusted sources.

These are a couple ways that books are therapeutic to me.  What about you?

4 ways to stay out of the weeds when team problem solving

May 1st, 2011 by John Gallagher No Comments

You know the story.  You are in a meeting working on a problem as a team.  You start the meeting and before you know it, you are debating for an hour and you check in and forget why you were having the meeting(“in the weeds”).    Here is what it looks like:

You can’t see a thing because you are so deeply mired in personal agendas that you can’t see what is possible.

So, how do you ensure you stay out of the weeds?  Here are 4 ways to do that with your team: Read the rest of this entry »