3 Powerful Business Lessons I Learned from Participating in a Triathlon

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You may have heard that achieving success or achieving success is a marathon rather than a . But triathlons — which require you to swim, bike, and run consecutively — are perhaps a more realistic analogy for the office, as teams often have to pivot into something new without giving up. When I attended one of these events, I came away stronger, not only in that belief, but also having learned three powerful news to apply in any corporate environment.

keep swimming

Triathlons can be of different distances, depending on your level. If I did, the swim was about a mile in total - a quarter mile, half a mile wide, and a quarter mile to shore. I had the chance to do the event with my younger brother, even though we were in different age groups. But huge waves slammed the shore. As my brother's group left, I could see people turning around. By the time my brother and his heat were out, he and the other swimmers had used up most of their energy.

I struggled against the waves. I needed to recover and regroup, so I tried to float a bit. But the shore seemed to be receding, not drawing closer. I became more anxious and panicked instead of calming down. I managed to navigate around the first buoy and swim the half mile thanks to the fact that I struggled less against the currents. But I constantly looked back to check on my progress, and as I approached the final quarter-mile of the swim, I was exhausted. I knew I couldn't swim anymore.

It was a terrifying realization. Yet in that chaotic moment there was also an almost ridiculous resignation. Was I going to drown? Most likely. Did I live well? Yeah. I was ok with sinking to the bottom and making new aquatic friends on my way to an aquatic grave.

But just as I started to drop into the water, my foot hit something. The background. Beautiful and glorious Earth. And if that was the bottom, I decided, I couldn't stop moving and drown. I gave the last of my strength to get up and give a gigantic reach. Took me about 5 feet and then a wave pushed me another 30 feet towards shore. At that time, I was waist deep and could stand up and walk. I got to land thanks to that one, picked myself up, made it through to the bike part of the race and finally finished.

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Lesson 1: Perseverance overcomes adversity

Just when I was ready to give up swimming, I discovered that I was much closer to shore than I thought. We often don't see how close we are to security and resolve in business either. Years after my triathlon, when I was just starting my first business, we found ourselves in a situation where, despite having an investor on the hook, we weren't going to make a payroll. We have scheduled a meeting to announce the news to everyone. But at the last minute, we remembered that we had been selected to participate in a pitch fest. The pressure was intense because we knew that if we didn't get the $50,000 prize, we wouldn't have any other way to pay our people. It was as if we were about to drown.

Thanks to our performance - the last strong move we had left - we won the $50,000. But that wasn't the end. As I was returning from picking up the check in San Francisco, the investor we had supported called me. They were going to give us $3 million, enough to fund us for a year and a half. The experience reinforced what I had learned in the water: Keep going beyond adversity, toward what you want, because if you refuse to sink, you're probably much closer to your goal than you think.

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Lesson 2: Looking back will only slow you down

In the water, looking back didn't help me. What I should have done was keep my eyes on where I needed to go so I could focus and stay comfortable. Likewise, today's large corporations are forward-thinking. They can't see the , but they use a strategic combination of prescriptive analytics, income stream diversification, human capital development, and scenario planning to prepare for what might come their way. They react quickly with courage and humility when something goes wrong,...