In our modern world of convenience, there is something about marathons. People choosing the hard road, putting their physical and mental endurance to the test, is increasingly rare. With the Comrades season coming up soon, a few surprising parallels emerge for leaders. Read on to see what you can learn about excelling at your business from experienced marathon runners.

There’s no such thing as a quick win
Perhaps you could put it down to our easy 21st-century existence, but we all want success yesterday, not ten years from now. But for those of us who aren’t Bruce Fordyce, slow and steady really does win the race, in leadership and in life.

Many leaders want to impress shareholders, loved-ones and clients by being a rapidly rising star and getting enormous successes right out the gate. Unfortunately, those who pursue this usually neglect family, run roughshod over colleagues or staff who don’t want to work fifteen-hour days and even sacrifice their own health and sanity to achieve a hollow prize.

Marathon runners know that any true victory is made in the long haul over months and years of training without any recognition. Good leaders know it too.

Fortune favours the well-prepared
It seems counter-intuitive, but many otherwise rational leaders start a new project or a new business without ever really planning for the possibility that it might fail. It seems like negative, counterproductive thinking, right?

But ultramarathon runners have been doing this for years with one simple tool: visualisation. An experienced runner will not only physically prepare for an arduous race, but mentally will imagine in detail the exact moment when it seems their legs are about to give way or they think of quitting.

They then prepare a strategy of exactly how they’re going to keep themselves going. It’s a great lesson for business leaders too. Don’t just imagine the day when the champagne and bouquets are passed around, imagine the 4am worries and the crippling doubts and get a strategy to deal with it before it happens.

Uncommon leadership advice: be here
Forward thinking can only rake you so far, and many marathon runners will tell you that it’s not always the best idea. Think about it – you’re on the starting line, the gun goes… and you envision the hours and hours of hell ahead of you. It’s enough to make anyone turn around and go home.

Instead, Comrades runners need to learn to plan for the worst but, once they’re in the race, just focus on putting one foot in front of the other. How do you climb a mountain? One step at a time. Same with marathons, same with leadership.

Another benefit of being present as a leader is being more engaged with your team. It’s tough for someone thinking of 11 months’ time to ask themselves how their staff are doing right now and what they need to put in their best performance. Be present, but also think about others’ present states. A happy team is a productive one, after all.

Have a great week and remember – life is about the journey and not the destination. Focus on running well, leading well, and you’ll be just fine.

There’s no doubt about it, businesses are getting squeezed from every side like never before. With load shedding back, the rand weakening, land expropriation casting uncertainty on the property scene and the price of electricity increasing, it’s tough to try and keep costs down.

While you can certainly hope for Eskom to get their comeuppance, it’s best to try and work with what we do have. Here’s how to keep the lights on in an uncertain time:

Skimp on the small and unnecessary:
The first port of call is the least painful – try and cut down on what’s not absolutely vital. If your company does beer and pizza each Friday, level with your staff and tell them that you’re trying to spend money on them where it counts, like an awesome end of year party. Limit entertainment expense budgets for your sales staff and executives and see if there are any non-essential stationery items, like post-its or highlighters, you can buy every second or third month only. Funnel this freed-up cash straight into your overheads such as water and lights.

Keep your eyes on the road
Petrol is another expense that has been unforgiving lately, so another real way to reduce costs is with company vehicles and transport. Ask frequent travellers like sales reps to try combine trips and keep fuel spend low and, if new vehicles are required, try the pre-owned route and ensure you look at fuel-efficient makes. If you’re able, try to have out-of-office meetings over Zoom or Skype, saving you travel and time!

People pleaser
In any business, the most expensive and valuable asset is people. During tough times, it helps to cut back on recruiting new staff and rather focus on cross-training the people you already have instead. This is also likely to save you valuable time as these existing employees already understand the company culture and you already know they’ll gel with the rest of your workforce. However, don’t skimp on training these transplants – you’ll really want them as upskilled as possible. Invest time in them and be sure to explain how this will be valuable work experience for their futures in the company and beyond.

Take out insurance
Specifically, regarding load shedding and the chaos it causes, a great purchase can be business interruption insurance. For those who can afford it, business interruption insurance the overheads that your business continues to incur despite the drop in income that things like load shedding might bring. Remember, some policies will cover load shedding while others won’t, so be sure you check before settling on one.