Do You Have the Professional Stamina To Go the Distance?

May 12, 2019
|In Article
|By lawrenceandco

“I got the stamina. I can close.” – Michael Phelps, Olympian

“There is no problem that doesn’t have some underlying need for more optimism, stamina, resilience and collaboration.” – Jane McGonigal, American designer

“Resilience is all about being able to overcome the unexpected. Sustainability is about survival. The goal of resilience is to thrive.” – Jamais Cascio, futurist

 

About a month ago, I did a kick-off session for the Executive Education Program we offer – based on my book, Your Oxygen Mask First – for T&T Supermarkets, Canada’s largest Asian retailer.

At one point, CEO Tina Lee offered a great perspective on our work saying that what we really do is help people to build professional stamina.

I thought that was a great insight. Just like the physical stamina that athletes need in order to play well, high-performers need to build strong emotional stamina or resilience to endure and enjoy the rigours of a long-term life in leadership. This only comes from developing the habits that help you to thrive – for Work, for your Self and for your Life.

Stamina is something Tina has in spades. Brought up in her family business, she watched her mother Cindy Lee grow one supermarket into a thriving chain of 23 across the country, with 5000 employees. She earned her MBA at UCLA before joining the business as Director of Strategy and Operations and was instrumental in negotiating the $225 million sale of T&T to Loblaws. When her mother retired in 2014, she assumed leadership of the company as CEO. Tina is a member of Young Presidents Organization (YPO), a Senior Advisory Board Member of the North American Association of Asian Professionals, and a member of the Canada-US Council for the Advancement of Women Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders (appointed by the Prime Minister’s Office). Oh, and she’s also the mother of three children.

The Challenge