I did not start running to learn about leadership. I started because I was overweight, unhealthy, and standing at the edge of a life I knew I needed to change. But somewhere between mile one and marathon one hundred, the road started teaching me things I could not have learned in any boardroom.
Here are five lessons that stuck with me.
Pacing beats sprinting every time.
The fastest way to fail a marathon is to start too fast. It feels great for the first three miles. Then you pay for it at mile eighteen when your legs give out and the runners who started slower are passing you. Leadership works the same way. The teams that burn hot in Q1 and flame out by Q3 are the ones who never learned to pace themselves. Sustainable performance comes from consistent effort, not heroic bursts.
The wall is not a sign to stop.
In marathon running, “the wall” hits around mile 20. Your body has used up its glycogen stores and everything hurts. Most people who drop out of marathons drop out here. But if you have trained for it — if you expect it — the wall becomes just another mile marker. Leaders face walls too. The project that stalls. The quarter that grinds. The team that loses its edge. The ones who push through are the ones who expected it and planned for it.
You cannot do it alone.
I have crossed 100 finish lines, and I cannot think of one where I did not owe a piece of that finish to someone else. A training partner who showed up in the rain. A stranger who handed me water at mile 22. A coach who believed in me when I did not believe in myself. Leadership is the same. The myth of the solo leader is just that — a myth. The strongest leaders are the ones who build around themselves.
Recovery is not weakness.
Early in my running career, I thought rest days were for people who were not serious. I learned the hard way that recovery is when your body gets stronger. Muscles rebuild. Energy stores refill. The same is true in leadership. The leader who never takes a breath, who never gives their team room to recover, is not tough — they are building a brittle system that will crack under the next round of pressure.
The finish line is not the point.
When I crossed the finish line of my 100th marathon, I expected some kind of dramatic epiphany. What I actually felt was gratitude — for the journey, for the people, and for the person I had become along the way. The finish line was just a spot on the road. The transformation happened in the miles. Leadership works the same way. If you are only focused on the outcome, you will miss the growth that happens in the process.
The road has been a generous teacher. If you are a leader who feels the weight of sustained pressure, I wrote about all 100 lessons in my book One Step Forward. The short version: keep moving. One step at a time.
