I have recently been reading an excellent book In Search of Robert Millar. It is about the career of one of Britain’s most successful cyclists and former King of The Mountains in the Tour De France. Whilst reading I noticed a number of key lessons which are as relevant to leadership as they are to professional cycling.

Lesson 1: You need to be clear about what you want to achieve

One thing that came through from the book is that Millar had absolute clarity about what he wanted to achieve. He knew the end game. As a leader of an organisation, function or team you need to be clear about what you want to achieve. On a scale of 1 to 10 (where 10 is absolute clarity) how clear are you on what you want to achieve.

Lesson 2: You need to break your goals into steps

While it might be tempting to think that you can go from zero to hero, reality is completely different. Millar knew the steps that he needed to make in order to achieve his dream of being a successful professional cyclist. He viewed each step as another towards achieving his ultimate goal. How clear are you about the steps you need to take in order to achieve the success you want?

Lesson 3: You need to be willing to stick at it

The route to success as a professional cyclist is hugely demanding physically and mentally. And so is achieving success as a leader. There are many highs and lows along the way. Are you willing to go the distance and stick with it through the good and bad times?

Lesson 4: You have to make choices

In the early stages of his career, Millar trained with many others who made the choice not pursue cycling to professional level. Every time we make a choice about the next step it has consequences. It might mean relocating or taking some risk. As an aspiring leader you need to weigh up the pros and cons and then positively choose to act. Too often people are passive when it comes to their career and are surprised when they don’t achieve what they desire.

Lesson 5: You need to be your own person

Many fellow professionals thought Millar was introverted and odd. For example, he chose to be vegetarian at a time when most of the thought was that cyclists needed lots of red meat. What is clear throughout the book was his desire to be his own person even if it made him odd in the eyes of some others. As a leader you might have a similar set of skills, experience and attributes as everyone else. So what is it that makes you stand out from the crowd as your own person?

Bottom Line - Professional cycling just like leadership is demanding. So what lessons can you draw on from cycling or other sports that could help you to be an even better leader?

By Duncan Brodie

And now I invite you to take advantage of my free audio e-course Leadership Success available at http://www.goalsandachievements.co.uk/

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements (G&A) works with professionals, teams and organisations to develop their management and leadership capability.

With 25 years business experience in a range of sectors, he understands first hand the real challenges of managing and leading in the demanding business world.

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