If you set the pace you control the fight.
In boxing one of the earliest lessons you learn is how to pace yourself, how to stay relaxed when you need to and how to ensure you can go the distance. You can’t go full out the entire fight. You learn when to use maximum energy and when to conserve your strength so you make sure you last the distance.
The most graphic example of this was the legendary rumble in the jungle where Muhammad Ali tricked George Foreman with the now famous “rope a dope” strategy. Leaning back on the ropes and goading him to keep throwing punches until he ran out of energy.
The person who sets the pace usually wins, if you set the pace you control the fight.
Business leaders who win know how to pace themselves and pace their teams, they have a huge advantage over those who don’t. In business to get to the top you learn how to pace yourself to be at your most effective when it has the most impact. Like boxing you can’t go flat out all the time, if you do you stop being effective.
Unlike boxing, in business you may not have anyone to point it out for you.
I have been guilty in the past of letting the world set the pace. When you build a business there are always more things to do than can be done. If you don’t set the pace you won’t win the fight and often you won’t last the distance. So many of us have had stress and health issues, don’t spend the time we should on other parts of our life and don’t understand that it is us and us alone that sets the pace.
Large companies understand this too, Apple, Google, Toyota and most others who led their category set the pace for their industry while the rest of the industry reacts and tries to keep up with them.
As leaders the impact of the pace reaches far greater than just ourselves, we set the pace for all those in our teams as well. Even if we can handle the pace we set for a while (sometimes years or decades) before it gets us, we can burn others out along the way.
Pacing yourself and your business is about using energy on the things that have the most impact and not wasting it on those that don’t. Leaders that are the most successful are usually less stressed and prone to stress than those who try and emulate them. They know when to push for a deadline and when to reset, when to ask more from their team and when to ease up, most of all they have worked out the few things that make the biggest impact and they put their energy into achieving them.
Learning to pace myself in the ring has changed the way I operate everywhere in life, from taking regular holidays to learning to say no to more and focus on less. It’s a skill that I can continually improve and it has made my life and the life of those I interact with more enjoyable and productive…
“The smart fighter wins not by his strength or speed, but his control over the pace of the fight”
Please send comments or questions to my twitter address @benridler, I have another 6 boxing lessons for business blogs underway and welcome suggestions for any others.
Kia Kaha
Ben
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