Can Staying Fit Help You to Be A Leader

According to a March 16, 2006, article in BusinessWeek online, a rigorous workout routine can help your professional communication skills - the rationale being that successful leadership requires high energy, creativity and good posture.

According to the article, "when you're speaking to a customer, employee, investor, or prospect, how you look, feel, act and sound all help you connect with the people listening to you. Leaders who are physically fit excude far more energy than their peers."

Examples given included Condoleeza Rice, who exercises 45 minutes each morning; Arnold Schwarzenegger, who exercises 75 minutes total each day; Tom Monaghan, founder of Domino's Pizza; Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle; Klaus Kleinfeld, CEO of Siemens; and Richard Branson, founder of Virgin.

In my experience, the range of possibilities in all domains of life - be it with respect to your presence, the actions you can take, and the impact that you can have on others - are a function of the interplay of the language you employ in speech and thought, your mood & emotions, and your body disposition or physical state. Each element exists in a coherence with the others.

For example, an invigorated body exists in coherence with an upbeat mood and the language of "can do" and "will do." A tense, tired body is more compatible with a mood of dispair or resignation and the language of what isn't possible or isn't feasible.

With that in mind, what might making changes with respect to your own body (exercise, diet, stretching, relaxation, etc.) make possible for you in terms of new moods, language, and action?