It’s not about choosing between “either/or.” It’s about choosing “and!“ It’s about integration.

It’s about business life and family life and personal life. At the end of day. At the beginning of day. In fact, all day long. 24/7.

It’s about orchestrating that pivotal balance between business life and private life.

I worked with a client who was excellent in strategic thinking. The more complex and challenging the project, the more he thrived. Not only was he strong in analysis and planning but also in the execution. This he delegated with confidence and patience.

That was on the business front.

On the personal front, it was a very different matter altogether. When it came to health, he had long ago stuck his head in the sand. And there it remained, until his last physical check-up. This had not gone at all as he had hoped.

The advice to watch his diet and to seriously consider taking up some type of sporting activity had met with a silent nod. There were other more pressing and important matters on the business front targeting his attention.

When we met to consider how best to trigger excellence in leadership, I shared my conviction that leadership begins and ends with self-leadership. And when we took a helicopter view of how he was orchestrating the various strands of his life: business, family and personal, the health issue surfaced to the top with a roar.

I asked my client what was stopping him from putting a smart objective in place for his health. The answer was: “nothing.“ So, I asked where the challenge might be. And the answer was: “self-discipline.“ On this project, delegation was not going to be an option. Or was it?

Invited to put on his strategic thinking cap, he chose one concrete action step: an appointment with his family doctor to undergo a complete health check-up within the month.

Together they came up with two action steps. Both of which he could exercise anywhere in the world; at any time of the day or night.

Excuses fell silent. Discipline was deployed to execute the steps.

Two years down the road, his action steps have become habits. My client now views his annual health checks like project reviews: milestones to be worked towards.

Health, like leadership, does not just happen. It needs to be exercised. Daily.

And, like leadership, health is a key element in the equation when it comes to triggering excellence. In everything we do.

How does your health sound? When was the last time you seriously took the baton on that front?

photograph:  © shefkate / Fotolia.