“Life is like riding a bicycle- in order to keep your balance, you must keep moving.”
Albert Einstein

Cycling isn’t just a hobby for me. It constitutes a big part of who I am. It is such an innate part of my thinking now that recently, as I reflected on Jack Welch’s five Es of leadership, I started corelating several of the postulates in this treatise on business management with my experiences from cycling.

First documented in his book “Winning”, Welch’s five Es of leadership include Envision, Engage, Empower, Enable, and Execute. The universal nature of these principles apply as much to cycling and sports as they do to the business world.

Competitive cycling is often perceived as an individual activity, but it is way beyond that. Even the strongest champion of the peloton cannot win a stage or a grand tour without a team to support them. The same rule applies to leadership in the business context too. Engaging the team is essential to winning!

To win in cycling, one must have a well-defined approach, aligned to the end goal. In business too, envisioning is the process of defining tactics and strategies to win and communicating them effectively. I always emphasize setting a clear vision for my team. It is important to communicate this vision to the team in a manner that enables success to be achieved through careful planning and foresight.

Even if a team leader works individually at full capacity during a 300 km race with six domestiques, they will not be able to win unless there is a plan to work as an efficient team. If the leader is not focused and energetic, the domestiques will not invest their full power to keep them in the race. Similarly, for a leader in the business environment, it is important to energize and empower the team, helping them build resilience to tackle challenges head-on. Motivating a team to take ownership of their tasks fosters passion, builds trust, and creates a collaborative culture.

If even one or two of the six domestiques that have to keep the team leader in the race to win are not trained properly, the whole team will struggle. By themselves, the other trained domestiques will not be able to keep the leader in the race. Even if the team leader is in great shape, chances of winning get lowered significantly in such an instance. It is the same in business – if the team doesn’t have all the required competencies, the leader cannot win. Enabling the team with proper preparation is key to winning. As a leader, it is crucial to invest in the team’s development and provide them with the right tools, resources, and training to perform their tasks efficiently.

Executing may seem like the last stage of the process. However, without it, all of the first four Es are just a waste of time! Imagine – before a race, the team leader and their domestiques have defined strategy and tactics, learned them well, are highly motivated, and have trained in all earnest. However, on race day, they are more focused on their opponents, spectators, and the race’s glory than execution. Will they win? Similarly, the business leader and their team must remain focused and take calculated risks to overcome obstacles and reach the desired outcome.

Reflecting on all my rides, I realize that leadership, like cycling, requires discipline, determination, and a robust vision that drives the entire journey. Navigating through challenges is an essential part of leadership, and my personal belief is that it’s better to ride through a rugged path that is right for me than to cruise smoothly through one with no meaningful end. As leaders, we must draw parallels between our passions and our approach to leadership. Cycling has taught me about teamwork, strategy, tactics, and execution, and I apply these lessons extensively in my professional workspace.