Gut Check in Boston

I think it's fair to say that the marathon is as much a mental race as a physical one. But the conditions at this year's Boston Marathon took that mental game to a whole other level.

With temperatures in the 30's, an icy, pouring rain deluging the course, and headwinds that gusted over 30 mph, racers said there were moments when they were completely blinded by the rain, it felt like you were just running in place.

Desiree Linden, who was the first American woman to win the Boston marathon since 1985, said, "My hands were freezing, and there are times when you were just stood up by the wind. It was comical how slow you were going, and how far you still had to go." Indeed, the winners for both the men and women posted winning times slower than the course has seen since the 1970's.

With conditions so miserable, Linden said she thought about dropping out early. She argued with herself and tried to justify it by thinking "it just wasn't her day." She reportedly felt so broken by the weather that she wanted to drop out after a couple of miles, but decided to stick around in case she could help one of her fellow Americans. Linden ended up assisting two runners, Shalane Flanagan and Molly Huddle, allowing them to draft and help them catch up to the pack.

I've run a few ultra-marathons in my life. And I know something of the way your mind can work against you when your body is in pain; the way it coaxes and coddles and creates arguments for stopping, for easing up, for quitting whenever the going gets rough. Then there are moments when that gentle nudging transitions into downright screaming: like when the alarm goes off at 3:45 a.m. so you can get 20 miles in before the day starts; when you are 39 kilometers into a 50-kilometer race and the next water station isn’t for another 5 miles; when you are at the base of a hill that was aptly named “King Kong” and the uphill just stretches on forever. In every race and every run in preparation for that race there are a million different moments of truth…how bad do you really want this?

I find that it's no different in business. There's enough fear and misgiving and risk involved in professional endeavors that your mind tends to work against you, creating disaster scenarios, convincing you that failure is inevitable. And in the face of all that fear and doubt, your mind wants you to ease up, to take the easy road, to turn back, or just stick with the status quo.

But I have also found that, just as in marathons, the really good stuff, the mind-blowing success and unbelievable results, are out beyond the fear and discomfort. In our company, we've experienced the most success when we push past our comfortable boundaries to accomplish what used to be impossible. You have to ignore your doubts, and help your team to ignore them too.

I have experienced this firsthand. Two years ago, we made a big push to take our company to the next level. We wanted to give our people the chance to set significant goals and achieve them. We made changes and started tracking a lot of key performance indicators. Not only did we insist our team commit to achieving really bold targets, we set up accountability protocols and got really specific about reporting our results. To be honest, it got ugly for a while, with company culture taking the biggest hit.  

There was more than a bit of reluctance and fear when we started. For being in an industry that is constantly changing, our company did not adapt as quickly as we anticipated to the changes we were seeking. As we stumbled our way through our first check-ins and accountability meetings, the doubts were quick to creep in, and by the second quarter I began to wonder why we started any of it in the first place. Did we have a chance of making this work?  

Admittedly, it took us a while to get our stride and increase our pace, but by the end of the last quarter of 2017, our people were performing and succeeding like never before; the majority of our team not only hit their goals, they well surpassed them. Not only that, but employee engagement and satisfaction are now at an all-time high.  

The restoration industry is currently in the middle of very challenging circumstances. With tightening margin pressures, employment shortages, rising interest rates and material costs, it's easy to give into fear, become a victim and listen to the voices telling you that you really don't stand a chance. But doggedly and persistently moving forward by setting audacious goals--in sales, in productivity, in customer service, or in other areas of focus--allows you to make progress even when conditions say you should be standing still.

As we set our company goals, we should remember that pain or apprehension are not indicators to stop. Discomfort is not a signal that something has gone wrong. As we push the boundaries of how we currently operate to reach higher standards of achievement and quality, we're going to feel it. Bone deep, probably. And at that point, the key is to keep going.

Brooke Castillo, founder of the Life Coach School, says, "Remember if you don't feel like working on your goal, that is normal. Discomfort is the currency of your dreams." There is a price for what we want--whether its growing our business, or raising the standards of excellence in our product, or improving the productivity of our teams. This price, inevitably, creates discomfort; it creates pushback and resistance and growing pains. But it is also how we get better and, ultimately, how we win. I try to remember that when it feels like today maybe "isn't our day," and then I just keep putting one wet, soggy foot in front of the other.

The finish line is out there; usually on the other side of the mountain or straight through the icy downpour. Most of the time, I find I just have to embrace the discomfort and really dig deep to get there. And just maybe, I will find another runner or two to help along the way.

Rachel Stewart is general manager at Titan Restoration of AZ.