Focus on fitness and strength to achieve balance

I HAVE loved the outdoors for as long as I can remember. Growing up in New Zealand meant I was exposed to all sorts of activities - camping, fishing, badminton, rugby, rowing, to name just a few. Sports, and outdoor activities in general, have shaped my outlook towards life and also influenced who I am as a leader.

When I first took on my present role as head of Asia-Pacific for Roche Diagnostics close to a decade ago, I was keen to bring a sense of unity and team spirit in a region that is unique, diverse and culturally rich. How could I rally teams from the massively varying cultures across Asia-Pacific in an honest and authentic way to advance in a common direction?

So I turned to what I knew best - sports.

As a New Zealander, rugby is a unifying force in my country. Our national rugby team, the "All Blacks", is considered one of the greatest teams of all time, across all sports. They have a winning percentage above 75 per cent of all the international matches they have ever played over a time period of close to 120 years. For some context, that gives them a win ratio that eclipses Brazil in football and India in cricket and the most iconic Formula 1 teams.

I thought, could lessons from rugby about team culture be just as effective in a corporate environment? How do winning teams maintain their success mindset over decades and generations? Together with my leadership team, I set about answering these questions and, in 2016, it led to the genesis of APAC Spirit, a set of foundational concepts designed to reflect who we are as a team in Apac and to unite and guide more than 5,700 employees across the region.

Beyond cultural change, I find sports can give us invaluable insights in discipline, the significance of team before self, not taking wins or losses to heart but always looking for the learning opportunity, and persistence even in the face of adversity. It's also been a good way for me to challenge myself.

I remember, I took up training in the gym some years ago because I wanted to be the strongest "old bloke" I could be. In the pre-pandemic days, I had quite a hectic travel schedule, so getting into the gym was a good way to centre myself and be consistent, no matter where I was in the world or which time zone I was in. Committing 3 hours a week to that cause was something I was prepared to prioritise.

This fitness routine became even more important when Covid-19 hit. As providers of key diagnostics systems and Covid-19 test kits across the world, you can imagine how our teams went into overdrive!

With our personal and professional lives blurring into one, it became crucial that I disciplined myself, and committed to finding the time to switch off and build in some time for "regeneration". Staying fit and strong became not only a much-needed break from the computer screen but also an enabler to remain motivated under relentless pressure. I find training shifts one's mindset from event-based thinking to a journey approach which helps people stay connected to the bigger picture and purpose while dealing with the immediate challenge in front of them.

With unending virtual meetings and calls becoming the norm of work-from-home, I find that indulging in sporting activities is a good way to recharge myself. For instance, while studies recommend the average adult spend 150 minutes in some form of cardio metabolic activity a week, I decided to set a target of 800 minutes a week. I do this by training in the gym 3 times a week, and supplementing this with cycling as a means of transport instead of driving, and a session of mountain biking on the weekend when I can.

It was also my hope that by setting aside time to pursue a passion outside of work, it would set an example for others that we should all commit time to pursuing something that is of value to us, and allows us to unwind, recover and rest. Afterall, we need balance to be healthy human beings.

For me, training at the gym or doing any form of sports is not just about "getting in the right shape". It's about "getting into the right mindset".

As a fundamentally competitive person, having a new goal to work towards each time I step into the gym allowed me to keep pushing my limits - a mindset that I consciously bring into the workplace to see how we can always do better and consistently improve outcomes for the patients we serve.

Outside the gym, another activity that I've actively pursued is mountain biking. I liked that it not only allows me to disconnect for a few hours in the jungle tracks of Singapore, but also is a means of efficient transport that adds to my fitness goals.

While we are all coming to terms with learning to live with Covid-19, a lot of uncertainties and anxieties still exist. My message to everyone would be to make it a point to take the time to do things for yourself and do what you love and enjoy. By finding a few key things that can be done just 1 per cent better, you can achieve marginal gains that create an incremental and cumulative advantage in performance and results. This is as much a need at work as it is in our personal lives.

Lance Little, 56, is managing director of Roche Diagnostics Asia Pacific