Healthy employees can accomplish Olympic feats I’m writing this while the world is in the throes of the XXIX Olympic Games. If you’re reading this and don’t know what I’m referring to, you’ve been working too hard! Gymnasts who defy gravity, swimmers who eat 5,000+ calories per day, and volleyball players as quick and agile as bobcats have been dominating the headlines. These athletes are drawing on seemingly endless reserves of mental sharpness and acuity, precision, energy, stamina, focus and drive. So what does any of this have to do with you, your employees and your place of business? As anyone who knows me will attest, I can draw a parallel between eating well and just about any topic on the planet. Let me connect the dots for you to illustrate the comparison between well-trained, well-fed, highly competitive, winning athletes and your employees. Let’s pretend that you’re a world-class swimmer. It’s a given that you’ve been blessed with a genetic gift, but if that gift is never identified, nurtured and supported you won’t get very far. And once we’ve identified that you have the potential to be a winner, what else do you need? You need a pool. You need a coach. You need a swim cap, goggles, and a swimsuit. You need structure. You need a schedule. You need to eat right. You need to train and have someone to hold you accountable, regardless of how self-motivated you are. Apply this to your employees. You may have sales people, marketing staff, customer service reps, even yourself as HR director, CEO, or president of the company. Everyone performs a specific job and must, on some level, be gifted in their ability to perform that particular job. And within each unique specialty, you know from experience that to excel one must draw on seemingly endless reserves of mental sharpness and acuity, precision, energy, stamina, focus and drive. What do your employees need to perform at the top of their game and accomplish professional goals of Olympic proportions? The fundamental basis for excelling at anything we take on is exactly the same platform that an Olympic champion works from: a well-nourished mind and body. As the “head coach” for your employees, what are you doing to support a healthy, nourishing environment where they can flourish? Not sure where to go with that? Give me a call or send me an e-mail. I’m all pumped up from the Games and have lots of gold medal ideas. Cathy Leman is a dietitian, personal trainer and owner of NutriFit, Inc. in Glen Ellyn. She is the author of “Nutrition At Work: 60 Simple Ways To Eat Healthy On The Road And At The Office”. Contact her for copies and costs at www.eatwellgetstrong.com, by e-mail to nutrifit@sbcglobal.net or at 630-469-6548.

Posted on Monday, August 25, 2008 (Archive on Monday, September 01, 2008) Posted by jstoltz  Contributed by jstoltz

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