MEPS: Four Steps to Leadership Fitness

“The groundwork for all happiness is good health.” 

Leigh Hunt, English essayist and poet 

 Who among us doesn’t want to start the new year out right? Even before the old year passes, many leaders are looking for ways to improve—personally and professionally. Regrettably, these good intentions are often intermingled with the realization that past attempts for improvement didn’t always provide the desired results. For this reason, many of us wonder if renewed efforts to grow and develop are worth the effort. 

The team at LEADon® would like to encourage you that leadership fitness is possible in 2023 and beyond. In fact, we’d like to share four steps that will enhance your overall health which, as writer Leigh Hunt poignantly relays, directly affects your level of  happiness.  Take a look at what our ‘MEPS’ method incudes: 

Mental Fitness 

Emotional Fitness 

Physical Fitness 

Spiritual Fitness 

After working with leaders around the world for decades, the LEADon team is more convinced than ever that intentionally focusing on these four areas of fitness will dramatically impact not only how well you lead but also how long you lead. And while we’ve had a few people express uncertainty at the need to attain balance in all four MEPS categories, after implementing our recommendations, those former doubters are now devoted to this comprehensive fitness plan. 

In order to get LEADon’s MEPS process started, ask yourself the following questions: 

• Mental Fitness: How am I striving to keep my mind actively engaged while also providing the breaks and rest it requires to function at maximum capacity? 
• Emotional Fitness: How am I balancing my emotions at home, at work, and everywhere in between? What am I intentionally doing to reduce the stress in my life? 

• Physical Fitness: How much time each week am I investing in exercise? Do I make healthy, nutritional choices on a regular basis, or does my diet need improvement? 
• Spiritual Fitness: What’s my level of peace and tranquility? Am I devoting time to matters that give me purpose and feed my soul? 

Once you’ve thought through these questions, take this to a deeper level by asking a trusted colleague, mentor, or friend for feedback.  What does this individual identify as strengths in your overall fitness? What component of MEPS do you both feel needs the most attention in the days, weeks, and months ahead? 

Speaking of such attention, LEADon offers a variety of resources that can help you strategically address all areas of MEPS. Below are some suggestions for improving your mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual fitness. 

• Mental Fitness:  Review our free posts at The LEADing Blog, such as “Fostering Creativity,” to discover motivating ideas for improving your mindset and leadership strategies.  If you haven’t done so yet, read The LEADing Edge: 9 Strategies for Improving Internal and Intentional Leadership (Wilke & Wilke, 2019) and Corporate Family Matters: Creating and Developing Organizational Dynasties (Wilke & Wilke, 2010). 

• Emotional Fitness:  LEADon has created a proprietary online metric, the Developing Emotional Competency Questionnaire® (DECQ).  After taking this thirty-minute assessment you will promptly receive your personal DECQ report which can provide over 170 specific data points on EQ strengths and weaknesses as well as recommendations for LEADon courses that address any areas that need improvement. 
• Physical Fitness:  In the online course LEADers Manage Their Health® , a LEADon team member and board-certified physician discusses various aspects of overall fitness. Specific strategies for proper nutrition and exercise are addressed as is the critical nature of finding peace and tranquility in order to optimize health and fitness. 
• Spiritual Fitness:  In addition to taking the LEADers Manage Their Health course, we’d also recommend you investigate LEADing with Personal & Professional Life Balance®. This online course details LEADon’s B.A.L.A.N.C.E. approach to health and wellness, and it also provides specific strategies to target areas that “feed your soul.” 

With these concepts fresh in your mind, we’d like to add one final insight from three-time Olympic gold medalist Kerri Walsh Jennings: “It’s going to be a journey. It’s not a sprint to get in shape.” Her words couldn’t be more accurate when it comes to achieving success in our  MEPS method to overall fitness.  So, take time to process your current level of fitness and future desires for personal and professional improvement,  Then, when you’re ready, contact the LEADon team so we can assist you and your Corporate Family® members in finding health and happiness in the new year.  We can be reached at 858.592.0700 or www.LEADonUniversity.com.