One of the great things about our job is that we get to travel around the world and work with some of the highest performing executives in the business world. Because of the demands of our personal travel, as well as the demands of having to be our best in front of our clients, we also get to experience the demands of today’s business world. This has made every day a lab experiment where we are constantly interviewing our clients to discover their latest challenges and trying new Mindset, Nutrition, Movement, Recovery, and Preparation for Key Event strategies to see what works, when it works, and how it works. With that said, we wanted to share an observation that we’ve made at Tignum.

By the nature of the clients Tignum partners with, almost everyone we work with is extremely talented, very driven to succeed, and in many ways swimming. To us, this is the business executive equivalent to getting to work with Roger Federer, Phil Mickelson, or Jenson Button to help them get just a little bit better for just a little bit longer. Just like top athletes quickly learn that they can’t always win, they can’t always be on top of their game, their coaches support them to try to help them get a little closer to their full potential.

At Tignum, we realize that the list and intensity of the external performance killers (i.e. travel, media, email overload, multi-tasking, long hours, shareholder/owner pressure, etc.) is growing. Because of this, even highly talented and skilled executives are constantly sliding up and down the continuum of sinking, floating, and swimming. In fact, without the best sustainable high performance strategies, our clients tell us that they are spending more and more time struggling to swim. It’s as if the waters are getting rougher, the tides are stronger, and the under current is more deadly. We are seeing the result of this when the CEO of Lloyds Banking Group has to step down, when US Presidential candidates have 57 second brain fogs, and when top leaders make poor decisions.

Sustainable High Performance isn’t a finish line; it’s a constant challenge. It requires a new level of awareness, a new level of preparation for key events (personal preparation vs. content preparation), a new level of support, and new strategies (Mindset, Nutrition, Movement, and Recovery) designed for today’s business world. There is no better feeling than being a swimmer, and all of our clients have experienced it. Swimmers are energized by the thought that there is untapped potential within them and when they develop it they maximize their reach in ways they never thought possible. True high performers live to impact others and this is why they are often so frustrated when they feel like they are floating or sinking. The good news is, we are all in the same seas, and you are always just one choice away from moving towards swimming again.

Imagine the payoff when Roger Federer wins two more tournaments, climbs one spot up the ladder, or gets into the zone against one of his top rivals. Now imagine when you are swimming (at work and at home), full of energy, executional stamina, mental agility, and resilience. What’s your payoff?

As always, we would love to hear what you think.

Jogi Rippel & Scott Peltin

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