“You want to know how I did it? This is how I did it, Anton: I never saved anything for the swim back.”

Vincent, Gattaca

THE BEST footballer in the world plays for FC Barcelona. Watching Leo Messi in full flight, especially at close quarters, is a sight to behold. Physical development is of course a key focus for any athlete, but it is development that didn’t come easy to Messi. Suffering from growth hormone disorder as a child, he had to endure painful daily injections in each leg from the age of 11 until he was 14. His undoubted natural ability is the core of his astronomical physical intelligence (PQ), yet this was made more special through years of training and adversity which led to the resilient player we see today, in spite of his relevant lack of stature at 1.7m.

The second chapter of total intelligence focuses on PQ. If emotional intelligence (EQ) considers the leader as a human being, here we view the leader as an athlete. This does not mean we expect managers to become marathon runners. Our aim is to detail key factors, the critical behaviours we presented in chapter four, that undoubtedly affect performance in a business as well as sporting context. In the same way that EQ allows leadership to be sustainable through the long-term commitment and loyalty of the people around you, PQ also creates sustainable value, countering the dangers of neglecting the body, including sickness, stress, and burnout.

Leadership development rarely includes our physical selves, yet a growing body of research in different fields, from cardiology to neuroscience and biochemistry, emphasizes the clear link between the brain and the body. Deep insight in either of these two areas increasingly needs careful consideration of the other.

Notions of the physical self are present in different areas of management, from the established science on body language over the years, to the rapid rise and subsequent backlash in the space of embodied cognition theory (ECT) during 2016[1]. Though not the originator of the theory, Professor Amy Cuddy brought significant attention to ECT through her TED talk and research on ‘power poses’ – highlighting the importance of adopting expansive physical postures as a means of improving confidence. We are aware of the physical effect of some emotional states – for example, if we are tired or sad, there would be a corresponding physical manifestation of that state. Yet ECT contends that the opposite is true: if we adopt a particular physical state, there will be a corresponding emotional or mental effect. So sit up straight in that chair! Social Presencing Theater (SPT) has been used by author and MIT academic Otto Scharmer in his leadership interventions to think about workplace relationships and the example we set as leaders[2]. An SPT session is like a human sculpture in which people physically represent their organization, play themselves as individuals, and move in ways that represent workplace dynamics. The idea is to surface issues that are preventing high performance.

Our own work has been guided by considering behaviour and habits, reminding busy professionals that they have a body. New behaviour which promotes movement and exercise may positively affect workplace dynamics, since the work environment will better support natural human behaviour. Simply put, it is a much more natural human trait to move and exercise than sit in a chair for eight-to-ten hours a day. Behavioural economics, psychology, wellbeing, and happiness are all areas of study here. The foundations of these benefits come from neuroscience and we now understand much more on the cognitive benefits of exercise, which we detail later in the chapter.

Sustaining Executive Performance (SEP)

The business case for multiple intelligence is something we developed in the Sustaining Executive Performance (SEP) programme. First created in 2007, SEP grew rapidly at Universitas Telefónica through delivery to all university attendees from 2012. It has been integrated in all programmes through short, practical sessions that look at areas including physical exercise, nutrition, sleep, and digital distraction, and specifically their link with the way of working. The main inspiration for SEP came from two main sources: the corporate athlete methodology, which showed that the physical self, and the sport domain (which relies on recovery and nutrition as well as physical development for performance) could offer valuable lessons for management. The work of Juliette and Michael McGannon on executive health, primarily at INSEAD, showed that such instruction had a place in management training. The result is that SEP has been delivered to over 20,000 managers around the world since 2010, including inclusion in executive education programmes at several of the world’s leading business schools. The SEP book was published by Financial Times Pearson in 2014.[3]

Figure 6.1. The Sustaining Executive Performance (SEP) model

Two of the five elements of SEP consider the body and PQ directly: MOVE, which regards incidental movement in a normal professional day and the dangers of a sedentary life; and TRAIN, which considers dedicated physical exercise. Another two are traditionally used in sport to support performance of the body: RECOVER, in which sleep is a primary concern; and FUEL, which focuses on the role of nutrition in business. The FOCUS element, though not concerning our physical selves directly, includes concepts such as mindfulness, which in many ways starts with the body through increasing an awareness of our physical selves, breathing, and the connection between body and mind.

SEP considers some of our basic human needs that contribute to wellbeing and performance in the long-term. Executive health is often an oxymoron. That is the more executive a person is, the less health they normally enjoy! The performance case allows us to take a broader view of management life – towards true sustainable leadership – which has wellbeing at its core, and further allows us to challenge certain long-held management orthodoxies. What does a successful business career look like? Intention, resolution, and aspiration for starters. Bold objectives, ambitious plans and, perhaps, the fruits of achieving those targets? Reserved parking, chauffeur services and business-class air travel may help simplify an executive life in order to focus on the business at hand, yet therein dangers also lie for health, which ultimately drives that business performance.

Consider the following statements, representative of a typical ‘successful’ executive. To what extent do they apply to your life today?

1. Spending a large part of the day ensconced in an office behind a large desk.

2. Glorifying four hours’ sleep. Being the first to arrive and last to leave.

3. Always online, busy, hyper-reactive, and multi-tasking.

4. Enjoying endless sumptuous business dinners. Mindless eating at home and work.

5. No time for, or legitimacy placed on, physical training.

We are realistic. Work is work, and from time to time our lives will represent part of the above profile, but we don’t think this should be fully representative at all times. Sustainable business performance is built on the foundations of health, and this is driven by cultivating more movement, recovery, focus, attention to food as fuel, and training time.

And this is the good news. Executive health need not be about taking that near sabbatical from normal life to fit in training for next year’s Ironman (although we see many of our alpha business leaders tackle such an undertaking with the same gusto as a grand business challenge). Admirable, yet perhaps not sustainable, and certainly not conducive to better business performance.

The far easier and more beneficial strategy for business performance is a change in mindset that comes from subtle behaviour change; new habits, routines, and ways of working. This is true for all elements of total intelligence and we take an in-depth look at the process of changing habits in chapter ten.

Changing the signs of managerial success may also create energy in the organization. When top executives have good habits, it motivates others. For example, all members of the C-suite of a top technology multinational that we’ve worked with no longer take the elevator. It may sound trite but it can make a big difference. Businesses should also realize that work is no longer about ’desktime’, and allow their employees more flexibility and trust to get on with delivering the best results.

So what are some of the other subtle behaviour changes, new habits and ways of working you could change in your own life and implement in the organization? A brief summary of the five elements of SEP is included below, with a focus on content closely related to PQ.

1. Move

This element looks to cultivate more incidental movement in a sedentary life – it is not about finding time separate from work to move, rather how to integrate more dynamism within typical work practices that will improve both health and managerial performance. When we move we energize ourselves, through increased blood flow to the body and brain, and an increase in metabolism. This is our first law of SEP: that movement creates energy, not, as we tend to believe, spends our energy.

The current professional environment is characterized by a largely sedentary existence that has serious consequences for our health, wellbeing, mood, and productivity. On a simple level we are seated excessively, with Harvard Business Review noting that “sitting is the smoking of our generation”.[4] This is due to the lack of awareness regarding the dangers of a sedentary life (as per tobacco pre-1960s) and for the effect that a sedentary life has on life expectancy, with research showing it to be similar as being a medium to heavy smoker. Forget about sky-diving then, having an office job may be one of the most dangerous things you can do!

We have designed and constructed a modern world in which movement is harder than ever. Yet there are significant business benefits of more mindful movement. Standing meetings, as practiced by many in the Agile programming field over the years, are much leaner and cut down the wasted time of poorly focused, overlong meetings that characterize much of the working week. Research by the Wall Street Journal and Harvard Business School found that 40% of a manager’s week is spent in meetings. A standing desk, used by Ernest Hemingway when writing all his books, may help contribute to the three-to-four hours’ daily standing time at work which gives the equivalent calorie burn of running ten marathons a year.[5]

Figure 6.2. Nudge poster from The Leadership Academy of Barcelona

Changing the design of a chair has been shown to improve brainstorming, with a more upright posture resulting in less criticism of the wild ideas necessary for innovation. Also in the creativity domain, a recent Stanford study found that walking improved creativity by an average of 60% compared to sitting[6] – so take that walking meeting. They are useful to build relationships, cover sensitive subjects, and drill down on a tough problem. Research has also shown that eliminating the chair altogether improves collaborative outcomes, with individuals less likely to defend their own territory. The conclusion was that when people had their own chair, it was a physical representation of defending their own point of view.

Finally, getting away from the desk has long been shown to result in more accidental encounters which drive innovation – a fact that is being reflected in the design of new office spaces by companies including Apple and Google. This is the movement imperative for business performance.

2. Recover

Recovery is valued as a key driver of performance in different fields such as sport. Yet in business it is largely ignored, with a machine-based view of work still prevalent in most organizations. That is, hard work in a linear, always-on fashion rather than responding to the oscillation of natural human rhythms. Work is work – we do not call for excessive breaks at the expense of getting things done, but point to the growing research and cases that show sustainable work performance is driven by an adequate attention to recovery.

The principal means of recovery is sleep, yet it may also include notions of break time, time outside, and in varying workspaces and tasks. Sleep has enjoyed a significant amount of attention in a business context over recent years. Even companies known for hard business cultures such as McKinsey and Accenture are turning their attention to the topic, making the call for sleep training for all managers in an organization and the installation of nap rooms respectively. A key message for a high-pressure environment where results are expected each day is that “a good day begins the night before”.

It remains to be seen however the extent to which the culture of such organizations, as evidenced by the behaviours of the senior leaders and the hungry young associates who aspire to be them, actually changes. It certainly won’t happen overnight.

3. Focus

Focus regards the ability to do quality work without distractions. Many of the societal and technological changes of the last ten years, principally due to the use of smartphones, are a significant source of these distractions, yet they may also come from a lack of a well-designed workspace or operations that prevent people getting quality work done. Our brains are serial processors, which means that multitasking is impossible, at least without the likelihood of making errors and/or increasing task time.

For any organization, consideration should be given to the high-quality, focused work that needs to be completed with accuracy, and the means by which that may be protected. Certain staff need to be reactive and on-call, yet recognizing that two different types of work exist, and that distractions can cause stress as well as error is important. On a simple level, are there enough workspace options that support private, focussed work? We will look at such questions in depth in chapter 11 on environmental design.

4. Fuel

What, when, and how we eat can affect our energy, mood, and decisions. Simple fluctuations in blood sugar can affect all of the above and can be easily remedied. A comprehensive view on available eating choices in and around the workplace, kitchen design (if appropriate), and eating areas for employees is increasingly required in the competitive workplace of today.

Eating while travelling is an area of specific difficulty we find in our executive coaching. Being hostage to the food available at an airport, train station, or petrol station can lead to a spiral of poor eating choices, compromised business decision-making, and weight gain. When we are tired or stressed (frequent companions during travel) we often make a beeline for processed starchy carbohydrates, high glycemic index foods which give us an instant boost through the rapid release of glucose into our bloodstream, but which leads to a cycle of spiking and crashing our blood sugar. Witness the behavioural changes in children after the consumption of sugar to realize that adult decisions could easily be affected too. Weight is gained through the surging of insulin which is stored as fat.

A simple remedy relates to a basic understanding of human anatomy: the size of our stomach is approximately the size of our fist, though a little longer. It stretches of course, yet this tells us that we can achieve satiety by snacking on an amount of food that fills the palm of our hand, such as nuts and dried fruit. Travelling with a ‘survival pack’ will therefore get you through the sticky moments of the journey until you reach a destination where a broader, healthier menu is available.

5. Train

Whereas MOVE regards incidental movement as part of a professional day, TRAIN looks at dedicated physical exercise. We consider how to legitimize and then integrate athletic training in a busy professional life.

How do you fit exercise into your life? Is it best to exercise before going to work, rising early as many busy executives do? Try and fit it in (and therefore benefit from the energy boost) in the middle of the day? Or wait until the end of the day after the core block of work has been completed? The choice will depend on the individual. We see most going for the early morning option but see massive potential in the middle of the day, and view this as being more common in the future as companies loosen their out-dated adherence to nine-to-five desktime.

As with the FUEL element, a consideration of dedicated physical exercise while travelling may be useful, with the tips noted below also useful for home. The key to exercising on the road often relates to hotel planning before the trip, and it’s not what you think. The three elements of executive fitness – incidental movement, aerobic (heart-rate) intensity, and strength-based exercise – can be achieved by not stepping near the hotel gym.

When booking a hotel, we advise looking for a multistorey building of at least seven storeys. Even if you only have ten minutes available, it is possible to complete a high-intensity interval session in the stairwell of the hotel, sprinting to the top before jogging back down. Such a session may be completed at a lower intensity or take into account a lower level of fitness by walking up and walking down. The heart rate will exhibit the same high and low rhythms as for any interval session. Stairs are gold-dust for the busy professional. As well as offering an easy opportunity to work on aerobic fitness and core strength, they offer a welcome mental break from the office environment.

Strength-based work is often the safest and most valuable when using one’s own body weight. No matter how small the hotel room, easy-to-do exercises such as planks are a small time commitment with big gain (try three sets of ten seconds in plank position with, five seconds recovery in between). The seven-minute workout, first developed by exercise physiologist Chris Jordan at the Johnson & Johnson Human Performance Institute, may also be easily completed within the confines of a hotel room and there are now many apps available to help guide this.

Figure 6.3. Holding the plank position

A final consideration for business travel is a suspension trainer, like a TRX. This is composed of two durable nylon straps that fit easily in a small bag and can be hung on the inside of a door to do a variety of body-weight exercises. Just remember to lock the door and put on the do-not-disturb sign!

The Sustaining Executive Performance model therefore takes many of the elements of the multiple intelligence view and makes them usable within the working environment. We see such behaviours as becoming part of the standard toolkit or basic managerial competence in the future. Indeed, many of the millennial generation already integrate some of these behaviours as a matter of course.

What is your own daily professional reality according to these five dimensions? We’re realistic, we don’t expect you to focus on maximizing all five at all times. Indeed, the best approach is to think about what you need at a specific time according to the professional context. For example, would exercise really be required at the end of a long day travelling, even if that travel was highly sedentary? Perhaps a short meditation, then getting to bed would be more beneficial. Use the following checklist as a reflection on daily habits within your normal working environment rather than an iron-clad prescription for new behaviour.

Table 6.1. Journey to the sustainable Leader

	Ticking Time-Bomb!		Urgent Change Still Required	Not the Worst, but Who Wants to be Average?	Good, go for Great!	The Sustainable Leader
Move	1	I’m always sitting down – sofa, car, office – and I don’t have many opportunities to walk during the day.	2	3	4	5	I don’t stop. I rarely sit down and have a good level of energy throughout the day.
Recover	1	I don’t sleep well, always waking up tired and going through my day feeling stressed and without time to take a break.	2	3	4	5	I sleep around eight high-quality hours each night. I know how to escape from the chaos that might ensue if required.
Focus	1	My day is full of distractions. I’m always online and feel like I have no time to do quality thinking.	2	3	4	5	I can disconnect from my smartphone and computer without feeling anxious, and am generally in control of my various devices.
Fuel	1	I simply eat what is in front of me. I have no time for breakfast, or a good lunch. I tend to snack often during the day.	2	3	4	5	I’m very aware of all my meal choices and the process of eating. I often prepare meals myself and think about the energy they give me.
Train	1	I don’t have time to exercise. It’s a luxury I can’t afford.	2	3	4	5	I always have a minimum three days a week with dedicated physical exercise. I know how to fit it in within a demanding professional schedule.

The neuroscience of PQ

The language and inner working of the brain isn’t an easy concept to grasp, but we aim to provide an overview of the main brain benefits through exercise here. As we age, the brain suffers a dynamic process of remodelling, which is known as neuroplasticity. This term refers to the capacity of the brain to change and reorganize in response to the environment – for example, during the learning process. The hippocampus, one of the main areas of the brain involved in learning and memory processes, has an important degree of neuroplasticity. When these processes are impaired in the hippocampus, different neurodegenerative illnesses, such as Alzheimer’s, and psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia or severe depression, may result. Research shows that aerobic exercise is one of the most effective lifestyle factors, often proving more effective than prescription drugs, to boost neuroplasticity in the hippocampus, and generally improve cognitive performance.

These studies show that exercise programmes of between three and 12 months improve cognitive status – including attention, executive function, processing speed, motor functioning, and memory – not only in healthy, young and middle-aged adults, but also for older cohorts and even in people with mild cognitive impairments or dementia. A regular exercise routine or programme is a key consideration. Research also shows that the executive function benefits accrued from exercise tend to dissipate 48 hours after the session. To clarify, executive function tasks are those cognitive functions including reasoning, problem solving, and planning, which though not exclusive to managers, will comprise daily managerial activity.

Coming back to the brain plasticity mechanisms supported by exercise, it is established that the benefits for cognition are grouped in direct and indirect effects. Regarding indirect effects, these are related to an improvement of health status, such as stress and sleep, together with a reduction of chronic diseases like coronary heart diseases and metabolic syndrome. Direct effects have been described in animal studies (mainly in rodents, though not super-rats!), which involve a stimulation of three distinct processes in the hippocampus: neurogenesis, synaptogenesis, and angiogenesis[7] [8] [9][10], described below.

1. Neurogenesis refers to the process of forming new neurons in the adult brain, relating to the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus as being one of the two brain regions where neurogenesis occurs. Studies in rodents shows that neurogenesis stimulation by exercise leads to an improvement of performance in memory tests.

2. Regarding synaptogenesis, this term involves the changes that take place in the synapses of the neurons, where aerobic exercise increases length, complexity, and spine density in the hippocampus. These changes induce higher rates of long-term potentiation, which refers to a strengthening of synaptic connections between neurons, boosting improvements in cognition.

3. Finally angiogenesis, or the formation of new capillaries, increases cerebral blood flow in the hippocampus, which means a greater supply of oxygen and glucose. This increased blood flow also stimulates both neurogenesis and synaptogenesis.

Memory, general cognitive performance, as well as increased creativity and problem-solving that we may infer from a greater supply of oxygen and glucose are therefore some of the direct cerebral benefits gained by exercise.

Our biochemistry, which we consider further in chapter eight, reveals further benefits. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is the most important protein generated by exercise, where higher levels are observed in human serum after exercise. BDNF also modulates energy metabolism and strengthens the synaptic connections between neurons. Vascular endothelial-derived growth factor (VEGF) and insulin growth factor 1 (IGF-1) are the other main proteins generated by exercise that support the above hippocampal processes. BDNF is also one of the main proteins generated by good sleep.

Aerobic exercise therefore has a key role in the performance of our brain. Much of the research has considered healthy ageing, with for example, cognitive reserve considering the protective effects against dementia and other brain disorders in older people who maintained higher levels of activity through their lives. However, other emerging areas (including learning efficacy for children) consider how we may become our best selves now through considering more of the physical dimension.

Building the right culture of PQ

The British distance runner Brendan Foster was once asked by an awed reporter what it felt like to be an Olympian. The reporter was clearly expecting some form of superhuman sensation – certainly not the fact that Foster was “tired… tired all the time”. Taking physical effort to the extreme will not allow the balance required for us to operate at our best on both a physical and intellectual level. A call for such balance can be traced back to the origins of the Olympics. The Greek philosopher Plato would lecture on the virtues of physical education, and the body-mind balance, with the goal to “bring the two elements into tune with one another by adjusting the tension of each to the right pitch”. Just as much a danger as neglecting the body, focusing only on the body to the detriment of this balance would result in athletes becoming unadaptable and sluggish, needing too much sleep.

A culture where people are empowered to move freely and defy the conventions of management orthodoxy, including sitting at their desks all day as a sign of ‘getting stuff done’ is required.

A subtle approach to the physical dimension is therefore required in the workplace. Design of the physical environment will help, as we detail in chapter 11, together with leaders serving as good examples through their behaviour. A culture where people are empowered to move freely and defy the conventions of management orthodoxy, including sitting at their desks all day as a sign of ‘getting stuff done’ is required. This is especially important, as people may feel alienated if they are currently out of shape or have never experienced much physical activity. Like Messi, most of us will have to contend with physical limitations to be our best, but therein also lies the value in PQ for leadership.

Some business professionals also suffer from a PQ data obsession. Wearable technology companies aim to incentivize the user and lock-in use of their products. Gaining a badge for 10,000 steps walked in a day is a positive feature. But what follows? Badges for 15,000, 20,000 and more. We’re then encouraged to spend our lives collecting badges rather than being more mindful of movement and relating that to other physical and mental factors in our professional day. For example, was I more energized as a result of walking 10,000 steps? Was my decision-making and creativity better or worse? The causal relationship should therefore be the focus, not the data in itself.

This is where we see an opportunity for managers to integrate notions of the physical self in an effective and sustainable manner. Reflection on practice and measurement are hallmarks of good management. As managers we are surrounded by a menagerie of metrics – customer churn, employee turnover, operational capacity, and countless others – in an attempt to increase company competitiveness. We are experts in examining the processes whereby different variables have different effects. Athletes too are experts in this process, with a view to maximizing their personal athletic performance.

Sport, like many other areas of modern society, has undergone a technological revolution, yet one of the most valuable tools for an athlete remains the training diary. Having a diary where one can reflect, add notes on physical and mental states, the weather, opponents, and of course the quantitative stuff – kilometres, seconds, centimetres – is the data on which progress and motivation is based. This is why tracking can be so powerful. Progress is fuel. It is the energy for continuing with practice. Transferring this to the professional domain, a training diary is recommended, or perhaps it is just called an executive journal. Studies have shown that keeping a journal has major mental health benefits for the modern-day professional. It allows us to be more mindful and offers a pause (normally at the end of the day) to reflect, be grateful, and think about where we’ve been and where we’re going.

Peter Drucker famously said that “we can’t manage what we can’t measure”. In a long, productive career, which Drucker himself acknowledged to now last 50 years or more, the physical self can no longer be separate from traditional notions of an executive life.

The career of an athlete is nowhere near as long. Messi is closer now to the end of his career than the beginning, with ever-closer attention paid to data collection, cause and effect, behaviour and culture in order to reap the benefits of his PQ for as long as possible. In the same way that PQ ought to be a vital part of leadership development, it should not be the only element in athletic development. Entering FC Barcelona’s La Masia football academy as a 13-year-old, Messi was introduced to a methodology that nurtures the intellectual and social development of the children they have in their care. Part of the reason for doing so is recognizing their responsibility, as many of the academy students will not progress to a professional career. Yet there is also a strong belief that the development of other facets of these young human beings will improve their footballing ability. Total intelligence – for sport, business, and life – is the cornerstone of our improved wellbeing.