I am learning how to box. Unbeknownst to me, much of the work in boxing is in your legs. You must be able to avoid the competitors swing by moving around. “Float like a butterfly; sting like a bee,” said Mohammed Ali. And he was right! While to the observer, boxing looks like punching is the top priority, it isn’t. The boxer wins, not through the jab but by not running out of steam in his or her legs.
My instructor coaches that the secret to not running out of steam in your legs is to recruit the hamstrings to do their part. They are the largest muscle in the body so making your quads do all the work is inefficient. You must invite the hamstrings to engage, to participate, and to do the heavy lifting. Do you know how HARD this is? I am so used to letting the front of my legs carry the load that I don’t have any idea how to recruit my hamstrings!
Ugh.
The word ‘recruit’ of course inspired me to think about how we engage our employees. We all have those few people who carry the weight of the team, and we let them. It is easier in the short term to rely on those that you have relied on before. But, as my boxing instructor says, “This is bad mechanics.” When you rely too heavily on one small group (of employees or muscles), you end up burning out them out. This is how we end up with injured muscles or people who quit. You have to recruit others on your team to take on new challenges in order to be a well- rounded, balanced organization. Encourage cross training and sharing of ideas that create efficiencies. Maybe the quiet one in a meeting has the idea that will carry the business forward in entirely new ways! You won’t know until you ask.
As you are assigning tasks and duties on your team, remember to mix it up. Have people lead the way that don’t normally take on leadership responsibilities. Ask someone who never volunteers to complete a special task. When you recruit the large muscles to do the heavy lifting, you are a better leader. And boxer.
Yours in health and success,
Beth