Good performance starts with physical activity
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Editor’s note:
Recently the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Lausanne, Switzerland, spoke with Steven P. MacGregor, PhD, on how keeping fit can translate into effective thinking. MacGregor is the founder of the Leadership Academy of Barcelona and an expert in executive health and performance.
IMD: How does being physically fit help high-level executives perform better at work?
Steven MacGregor: Physical movement helps the body and the brain work more efficiently. Tough decisions are easier to make. Hormones are released when you exercise that help grow and develop both body and mind, and exercise even creates a buffer against cognitive diseases like Parkinson’s later on in life. A more indirect, but still important benefit, is that it helps executives build healthy habits and powerful rituals.
People who work in an office environment must simply remember that they have a body. Many professionals forget about their physical self until something goes wrong with it.
IMD: What do you suggest business leaders do to find time to become more complete?
MacGregor: Executives should be more adept at behavior change. It’s not about finding more time in an already packed day or even separating exercise from the work day. It’s about integrating activity into the normal day. One of our major health problems is that we sit down all day. Stand up more! Research shows that eliminating a chair in a meeting makes people more collaborative.
IMD: What types of exercises and frequency you suggest for executives?
MacGregor: What we are coming to understand is that it is less about time and more about intensity. High intensity exercise, following an interval training protocol pioneered in athletics, for just three minutes a week can make a difference. Take the stairs all the time. Such a simple change can deliver a mental break in a busy day as well as the physical benefit. Do what you love. Having exercise on your to do list creates a lot of stress, so think about what you did before you became an executive, say in your college life, and try to reconnect with some of the sport and leisure activities that you enjoyed before.
IMD: How could businesses promote well-being among their staff to improve performance?
MacGregor: There have been many different approaches in the last few years. Raising awareness on an official level, by HR in wellness programs for example, has had mixed results. It can stigmatize certain people such as those who are overweight.
Giving out fitness trackers is also problematic. It blurs the boundaries between work and personal time. What executives should do is start with small changes in their daily routines: get away from their desk for lunch, spend less time chained to the smartphone.
When top executives have good habits, it motivates others. Businesses should also realize that work is no longer about “desktime” and allow their employees more flexibility and the trust to get on with delivering the best results.
(Dr. MacGregor’s work is detailed in the recently published book, “Sustaining Executive Performance,” which offers today’s leaders the foundations for developing a new model of lifelong, personal advancement.)
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