Building The Daily Discipline To Lead At The Highest Level

Forbes

09-07-2025

Julia Rafal-Baer, CEO and Founder, Women Leading Ed and ILO Group.
Leadership under pressure is not for the faint of heart. The pressure is constant, and everybody is watching. That's the shared reality for leaders in business, education, public life and beyond.
And too often in education, leaders are asked to take these top jobs in systems that are outdated, designed for past challenges, while being expected to navigate pressure and drive bold, new progress.
Overcoming that reality, transforming systems, accelerating outcomes and achieving strategic goals as leaders requires an inward understanding of ourselves and an enduring and daily commitment to our own growth.
World-class athletes provide a powerful model for inward improvement for high-impact leaders. Elite athletes excel because they train their minds as much as their bodies. It's the inner athlete that defines how they show up, both in competition and, critically, in daily practice.
Athletes live in pursuit of something specific. Clear. Measurable. Purposeful. They spend years training to shave a tenth of a second off their time or to jump just half an inch higher. Not to beat someone else, but to reveal more of what they are capable of.
I had the chance recently to host a fireside chat with six-time Olympic medalist, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, at our annual summit. Top women in education leadership from states across the country heard about the lessons that propelled her to sustained greatness. We delved into resilience, grit and the discipline required to not only break through barriers but stay on top.
Widely regarded as one of the greatest athletes of the 20th century, Joyner-Kersee's greatness didn't come from talent alone. It came from discipline and a commitment to chasing her own limits, day after day.
As someone who coaches and develops leaders navigating high-stakes decisions every day, I see a troubling pattern: Too many leaders are burning out, not because they aren't smart or capable, but because they believe grinding harder is the only answer. They put more time in at the office, or at night or on weekends, thinking that if they just push through, they'll get to 'the other side.'
What they don't realize is that at the top, there is no other side. And if leaders haven't developed the inner habits that sustain clarity and calm amidst the chaos, they are more likely to burn out and break down.
Top executives like New York Times CEO Meredith Kopit Levien and Courtney della Cava of Blackstone recently pointed to the importance of stamina over time as a critical trait for successful leaders. As these two top corporate executives also know, leaders who are able to build the habits and practices to improve and endure in leadership are those who move from simply surviving to thriving and achieving transformational results.
Clarity. Discipline. Purpose.
When we think of athletic excellence, we often think of focus, laser-sharp, no-distraction, eyes-on-the-prize focus. That's not just a physical skill; it's a mental one. And it's one we all need to cultivate.
Here's how to start:
Athletes chase measurable goals. Leaders must do the same. Define what success looks like for you, not just in abstract terms, but with clarity and precision. What does a successful week, month, quarter or year look like? How will you measure progress toward your long-term vision?
Whether it's giving more effective feedback, financial decisions or mastering new tools, if it matters to your leadership, measure it. You can't train when you don't track.
Athletes train every day; high-impact leaders must do the same with a focus on mental, emotional and strategic growth. Carving out daily time for reflection is a powerful place to start. It can be as simple as asking yourself a series of targeted questions and being completely honest with yourself: What did I learn today? Where did I lead well? Where can I do better tomorrow? Build that structured reflective time into your morning or evening routine and protect that time like it's your calendar's most important meeting.
The world's best athletes have coaches and data to track progress and constantly refine their game. Leaders need that too. They need trusted advisors and peer communities who will challenge them honestly and constructively. One of the most effective strategies in this area is a coaching collaborative. In my own practice, we pair senior leaders with individual, one-on-one coaching, then bring the coaches together to identify common themes, challenges and opportunities across the team. These collective insights are elevated to top leadership and their coach to drive deeper alignment, sharper decision making and real progress on strategic goals. Building a system for getting feedback and acting on it is an essential component in training your inner athlete and improving as a leader overall.
The best athletes are as serious about recovery as they are about pushing themselves in their most intense training sessions. In weight training, for example, growth doesn't happen during the lift. It happens in the pause, the rest. Muscles repair and grow stronger in recovery. Without it, they break down. Leadership is no different.
Leaders need rest to perform at their best. Recovery time, quiet and solitude and stepping away from the noise isn't a luxury, but a fundamental part of intentional recovery for leaders to stay sharp and show up strong.
Being The Inner Athlete
Jackie Joyner-Kersee didn't wait for the world to give her a lane in the Olympics; she trained for it. Olympic training is a daily practice of focusing on measurable goals, getting honest feedback on progress, holding oneself accountable, pushing for progress and recovering with intention. Leaders at the top of their industries need to do the same.
The challenges in business, education and public service aren't going away. They demand the kind of leadership that's forged under pressure, but grounded in purpose. They need the kind of leaders disciplined enough to get better every single day.
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