One of my favorite workouts is Insanity . And by favorite, I really mean I like the results. The workout itself is just brutal. Complete lunacy….hence the name. But, it’s effective. Really effective. Pure cardio, plyometric circuit training. Hard core. Fast. Efficient. Did I mention effective?

The trainer, Shaun T., exhorts during each session to “dig deeper”.  It’s the mantra of the workout – to reach down to the nether regions of your will to pull just another minute, another rep, another drop of sweat from within. This workout is challenging beyond any– capital A, capital N, capital Y – I have experienced prior. It’s no breezy jog, or elliptical session whilst perusing a magazine.  This is an all-in, gasping for breath, collapse-on-the-floor-at-the-end-workout. 

This “dig deeper” theme resonates with me regarding leadership. Am I showing up in my career, wanting to go through the motions of a day in the life without leaving sweat on the floor or skin on the court? Do I expect shredded abs *read fast-track advancement and rock star kudos* without the extra-mile effort? 

What am I doing today to be insanely committed to my success as a leader? If you “dig deeper” as a leader, what does that look like? Did you research the trends behind the changes in that budget variance report, or just plug in some generic crap explanation and hope no one will notice? Did you take the opportunity to confront the disruptive employee that caused a scene in the staff meeting this morning, or ignore it and hope it will go away? Are you studying for the certification exam that you want to pass this year to position yourself as a credible and distinguished leader in your field, or did you hand another hour of your attention over to mindless television programming or web surfing?

Too often we’re delusional enough to think that ordinary effort will get us extraordinary results. Whether your fitness or your career, you’ve gotta pay to play. 

DIG DEEPER!!!!!