Running your own race, and helping others run theirs

This past weekend I took part in a charity challenge, fundraising for the Dame Kelly Holmes Trust (DKHT) – a charity for which I am privileged to be Vice Chair. The ‘Lakes Challenge’ involved three elements: a hike up the Old Man of Coniston; a pretty brutal bike ride up a relentlessly steep hill (before the fun downhill bit); and a lovely (if you ignored the cramp and screaming muscles) kayak around Coniston Water. You can guess which bit I found the hardest!

We had a number of teams taking part, including some from our corporate partners. As ever with these types of weekends I learnt a lot (including that I am not great at sleeping in youth hostel beds), was reminded of so many things which it’s easy to forget about in day to day life, and met lots of interesting people,

We were all aiming to achieve the same thing – to complete the Challenge. As we started the first part of the day, the hike up the Old Man of Coniston, and quickly began to split into our teams, and then our own groupings within them, I was immediately reminded of an important lesson.  Each person had their own pace, their own strategy, their own way of coping.

In a world that often glorifies being first, it's easy to forget that success isn't about outpacing others—it's about achieving your own objectives, in your own way. Within the overall group we had a range of ability, fitness levels, and age (with me being the second oldest – when did that happen?!) Some found the whole day a real struggle, some found particular elements hard (like me on the bike), others were super fit and super speedy. The day finished with the staff team at DKHT handing out certificates for everyone who had completed the challenge. And guess what - everyone got a certificate. Because everyone finished. It may not always have been pretty, people had to dig very deep at times, some took their time, some raced ahead, but everyone finished. It was a brilliant reminder that the real victory lies in showing up, giving your best, and completing the challenge/reaching your goal on your terms.

But there's another layer to this experience that resonated deeply with me.

A participant in one of the teams was dealing with a slight injury and hadn't been able to train as much as the rest of her team. Despite these challenges, she completed the course—not by pushing through alone, but with the expert support of one of our guides, and the unwavering encouragement of her teammates.

As well as the fact that this participant showed incredible resolve, it also reminded me of the importance of the right support. At times this might mean 1:2:1 support, and at others it might mean from the team as a whole. One of the case studies that I covered in my book Staying the Distance looks at the first type of support from a business perspective, and is one that has always stayed with me. During David Morley’s tenure as Managing Partner at global law firm Allen & Overy (now A&O Shearman), he realised that there was a skillset that his partners were missing. And one which was going to be vital for the growth and continued success of the firm. Morley had decided to make coaching a key part of the firm’s leadership culture, and he used the following pitch to his (often sceptical) partners: ‘As a senior leader, you have roughly 100 conversations a year that are of particularly high value—in the sense that they will change your life or the life of the person you’re talking to. We want to help you acquire the skills to maximize value in those 100 conversations, to unlock previously hidden issues, to uncover new options, and to reveal fresh insights.’  That resonated, and off the back of this he was able to persuade his partners that they needed to develop their coaching skills.

1:2:1 support matters at times. And whether it’s from a mountain guide to help you get up that hill, or from someone in your organisation – or whether you are the one providing it – it really can supercharge someone’s ability to cope and succeed.

And so does team support. The smiles on this participant’s team’s faces, when they collected their certificates at the end, weren’t just because of their own achievement. They reserved a special cheer for their team-mate who had found it hardest, whom they had supported, encouraged, and waited for, and who finished the challenge alongside the rest of the team.

So, as you set your sights on your next goal, remember: it's not just about running your own race, but also about supporting others in theirs. After all, success is sweeter when it's shared.

For more on this or any aspect of leadership and performance, with a healthy dose of mindset, sport, and I hope usefulness thrown in, do feel free to browse through all the articles in the Huddle, or get in touch with me directly on catherine@sportandbeyond.co.uk. To order a copy of my book - Staying the Distance: The Lessons From Sport That Business Leaders Have Been Missing – click here . And if you’d like to help more young people have a champion in their corner, through the programmes that the Dame Kelly Holmes Trust run, please take a look here