Thoughts on consistency

I was at the gym today. It was after a bit of a break due to the lockdowns and restrictions. I was slightly nervous: it was one of the most intense classes the gym offers. But once the music started the instructor started showing the moves, it felt natural. Since I no longer really needed to be nervous about falling down, it got me thinking how amazing our bodies and brains really are.

I should not have been surprised: the concept of muscle memory is not new to me. It may include the word “muscle” but is really about brains and what learning really is about. When we repeat the same sequence, our brains start changing: new neuron links develop. Next time we do the same sequence, brains send altered information: the process is already incrementally improved. It is done subconsciously. We are not aware that this is happening, only notice that a specific skill is getting easier and easier, more subtle, elegant, perfect.

We somehow expect this process when our muscles are involved. When we learn a new dance or new training program. “It will soon get easier”, we tell ourselves. Consistency is key. If we persist, we will improve.

Yet we expect that leaders will be experts in their leadership skills from day one. Typically, leaders become leaders once they consistently demonstrate they can perform in their previous role, whatever that should be: consultant, engineer, a marine biologist. The skills they have been practicing are the ones needed for the role of the past. There might be some leftovers of it in the new leader’s role. But not as much as one might expect.

As I wrote in my previous post, leaders do not do tasks for others (even when they know how to – to the point of perfection), but teach, coach, mentor, and grow other people. This is an entirely new set of skills required to be good at! What do I mean by it? Two things:

• Nobody should expect leading others to be easy. We all start at a rookie level. Does not matter how old or how good in our previous role we are.
• Consistency: to become good at it, we need to repeat the same things again and again. Our vision, strategy, tactics, small snippets of coaching and mentoring, problem solving. Repeat. Then repeat some more. Just like training any other skill, until it becomes natural for our brain.