One of the core principles I emphasize to my advisory and coaching clients is the foundation of my leadership development platform: Health. This encompasses your physical, mental, and emotional well-being. As a leader, it's imperative that these aspects are robust to enable you to be the leader you aspire to be, both professionally and personally. Prioritizing your health is not just beneficial—it's essential for effective, sustainable leadership.

For me, a key to maintaining health is starting my day the right way with a morning walk. My one-hour walk provides the time I need to think about my day, focus on important aspects of my life, and clear my head. It's critical as a leader to carve out time to think and be free from the noise that inundates you throughout the day. As a CEO, my day often began with a crisis or a phone call before the first cup of coffee, leading from one issue to the next. While these calls and issues were important, if you're not properly set up physically, mentally, and emotionally to handle them, you can't be truly effective.

When I worked at Best Buy, Brad Anderson, the renowned CEO, was famous for his afternoon walks. I often wondered how he could possibly take an hour in the middle of the day to walk when he had a $30 billion company with thousands of employees to manage. The truth is, how could he possibly not? The time Brad took to clear his head and think without office distractions was likely his most productive time. It took me many years to learn and even more years to put it into practice, but I can now say unequivocally that my morning walk is the most productive part of my day, nearly every day.

My walk also has tremendous physical benefits, helping me complete my daily trifecta of healthy living—physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Prioritizing this routine has made a significant difference in my effectiveness and overall health as a leader.

Your personal time doesn’t need to be a walk—that’s just what works for me. It can be anything that gives you time to think and gets you moving. Movement is critical. Many people go to the gym or take a bike ride. The key is to commit to this time for yourself, making your time with others more productive, impactful, and fulfilling.

My partner Rita McGrath and I are working to help leaders and organizations be better every day – and having a blast doing it!  If you want to learn more about what we are working on, please contact me atron@uplandgroup.us, ron@valize.com, or connect with me on Twitter (@ronboire)

Our websites have a lot of great information on leadership and transformation, they are:

www.Ritamcgrath.com www.uplandgroup.us and impactpeers.com