A tool from my past
I’m a baseball fan and the start of a new season is always exciting. In addition to my interest in the sport, spring training reminds me of a business parallel – a comparison to a business in the mode of re-starting, or re-engineering, or resurrection. Two of the qualities you want to see in your baseball team during spring training are: Hunger and Health. Likewise, if you are leading a business with the potential for improvement, it would be good if you are also both hungry and healthy.
If you have grown complacent or are simply beat down, you’re not hungry. A hungry CEO is keenly aware and engaged. If you are hungry, you are constantly looking for the next “kill” (in the civilized sense of the term). You assume the role of initiator as well as the driver for excellence.
If you aren’t healthy, your effectiveness is diminished no matter how hungry you are. Poor health can reduce your ability to concentrate as well as your stamina. It shows in your relationships with customers, employees, and vendors, not to mention family and friends. Being irritable or dozing off in a meeting are not effective ways of influencing others in a positive way. Some health problems are unavoidable. Others are self- inflicted. You owe it to yourself, your loved ones, and your business to eat well and sleep sufficiently. In a good state of health, you not only perform better, but your outlook is consistently brighter.
Maybe it’s a “new season” for your business. Maybe it’s time to combine some Hunger with better Health. And maybe this combination of “H’s” will improve a third “H” – your Happiness.
