Secure Base In the Office and Gym

As I've posted before, I'm a big fan of IMD Professor George Kohlrieser's advocacy of secure base leadership. Quick summary: as children we gain confidence to take risks (like learning to walk) because we have secure bases (like Mom) to pick us up if we fail (like falling down). We carry this pattern with us into our adult lives and Dr. Kohlrieser's contention is that leaders lead more effectively when they act as secure bases for others. In his book, Care to Dare, he argues that this supportive culture/environment is crucial for employees to have the confidence to stretch themselves and take risks - to play to win vs. playing not to lose.

This morning in the gym I was struck by an extremely apt illustration of this exact principle in action. Usually I work out without a spotter (a workout worst practice, by the way) because my main training partner is more than a thousand miles away in Florida. Also I'm never sure exactly how effective skinny Rice kids would be at spotting! This morning, however, there was a big Rice rugby player in the gym who looked like he could handle my weight so I asked him for a spot on bench press.

Anyone who knows my strength training philosophy knows that my metric of success is how much muscle fiber I am able to stimulate. When training without a spotter I am not able to stimulate as much muscle fiber as possible because I lift conservatively, not wanting to fail and drop the bar on my chest! With this spotter behind me I had the confidence to go all out this morning and I took my bench press routine to absolute, complete failure by working with more weight (strict form, of course) and doing more reps. When I finished a rep and was already tired, I still took the risk of doing another rep because I knew the spotter would save me if I failed. The result was that I was actually able to do several more reps! It was such a good workout that now I can barely move my arms.

Because of my spotter I was able to stretch myself and now my gains (with adequate recovery) will be much greater. This is exactly what secure base leadership is all about! I'm thrilled that Dr. Kohlrieser is bringing his top-ranked High Performance Leadership program (much of which centers on the secure base) to the US this year. I wonder how many of our country's private and public leaders playing not to lose instead of playing to win!

Domestic Hippies

I have completed my first week of life back in the US and what a productive week it has been! The time that I have not spent on enistic has been spent on very domestic activities. After unpacking my bags, Katie and I had to spend many evenings sorting through our stuff, deciding what to keep and organizing furniture for space efficiency. We made major progress and now there is a huge pile of stuff on the dining room table that we simply don't need. If anyone is looking for a microwave, a toaster, a coffee maker, a George Foreman Grill, a TV/VCR, a dumbbell set, or any number of kitchenware items, don't hesitate to let me know!

It wasn't all work this week, though. Friday evening we had dinner with Katie's coworkers at Indika, which was so, so good. The Indian food with a new kick is excellent, but the real standout is the cocktail menu--I recommend the Madras Mojito, although the chili dusted glass rim offers little solace from the spicy food.

Saturday began with a new gym membership. I'd like to join the new Rice Rec Center, but alumni can't join until 2010 so I joined 24 Hour Fitness in the meantime. My first workout there felt great! My membership costs 1/4 of that of a Swiss gym and the equipment is ~1,000% better. Nothing against Swiss gyms--I certainly enjoyed my time there--but it is really nice to be back in a place where they take this seriously.

After the gym, it was time for more domestic activities. Whole Foods, Central Market, the farmer's market, the recycling center--Katie and I are such hippies! We picked up lots of delicious, natural food--at least enough to last us the weekend! I was pleased that my little Smart Car got us around fine; I think it's going to serve its purpose very well.

Saturday afternoon we went to the Rice football game. This started off very well with a Rice Engineering Alumni tailgate but quickly went downhill with a 63-14 loss to the US Naval Academy. After such a great 2008 season, this year's slow start is tough to handle.

Sunday I reveled in two things: 1. more football all day and 2. stores that are open on Sundays!!!! I haven't had the possibility to go to the store on Sunday for two years and boy did I miss it! After brunch at Mango's, where I had jalapeno-cheese-stuffed french toast, we filled Sunday with more domestic hippie activities and some relaxation at home.

This will be another big week for enistic as I am pitching at the Austin Clean Energy Venture Summit. Wish me luck as I'm hoping for a big win!

Pics are in my facebook album.

Chance Encounters at the Gym

During my first week at my gym here in Lausanne I ran into an IMD staff member. Tonight I bumped into not only one of my professors from last year but a member of the Class of 2009 as well. Two pleasant surprises to distract me from my cardio and The Silmarillion audio book! :-) I'm not sure if this is what IMD means when it advertises the power of its network, but I'll take it!