Want to know how I’ve helped eight and nine-figure companies double or triple their size while making work easier?

Pavel Tsatsouline, known for introducing the kettlebell to the United States, has probably impacted my approach to fitness and training more than anyone else. And because leadership and team performance share so many parallels with fitness and athletics—he’s impacted my views there as well.

Pavel got his start in the former Soviet Union, where he was a physical training instructor for the Spetsnaz. When he came to the U.S., his no-nonsense, scientifically grounded approach began to attract attention. He’s helped the Navy SEALs, Army Special Forces, Marine Force Recon, NFL teams, and MMA fighters with their training programs.

I discovered Pavel nearly 20 years ago when I was asked to lead a strength and conditioning class at a gym. I quickly became a fan, diving into his books and videos. Recently, while refreshing myself on one of his training programs, I came across something I had somehow missed over the years. Lights began to click on. I realized that he was articulating something I had observed in my work with leaders—but hadn’t put into words.

The Foundation

Before I share my Pavel epiphany, let me introduce his foundational concepts and how those apply to leadership. Pavel has a set of principles that apply across his training programs. They are:

• Don’t ‘work out’—instead ‘practice the movement.’
• Always leave one rep in the tank.
• Rarely let yourself get out of breath.
• Rest frequently and adequately.
• Don’t do any additional work that isn’t needed.

This produces more strength, power, and endurance with fewer injuries.

Most programs and gyms encourage you to ‘feel the burn,’ ‘embrace the suck,’ or ‘train insane or remain the same.’ These mantras stress intense effort. And they can achieve results. But their results come with a high cost: fatigue, burnout, and injuries.

In contrast, Pavel’s approach is simple, easy, and designed for maximum sustainability. It’s common to hear testimonials from people who found that his programs not only made them stronger but also helped them recover from chronic injuries.

But back to my point. The leadership parallels are clear:

• Don’t just put in your hours, practice your skills.
• Don’t max out your energy, stress, time, finances—leave margin.
• Only rarely should you need to run to keep up.
• Rest frequently and adequately.
• Don’t do any additional work that isn’t needed.

When I suggest concepts like this to leaders, they often push back. There’s a near-compulsive belief that working harder is the key to working better. And, yes, grinding hard can achieve results—but it also comes with its own high costs: burnout, mistakes, degradation of family and personal life, cost to health, etc.

My hope is that my approach to leadership and organizational performance is also simple, easy, and designed for maximum sustainability. Because that is what I want for you. And so many of my clients have experienced the benefits of this approach. (Even though I didn’t have a name for it before!)

So, what’s more important to you—working hard or achieving results?

The specific concept I encountered in my recent re-read was this: 100% effort should be rare. It creates injuries and doesn’t produce enough results. Amateur athletes should only push towards ‘all out’ effort about 40% of the time. Elite athletes should dial that back to 20%.

The rest of the time, work at about 80% effort.

For leaders, this leads to a very useful rubric: Plan to achieve 100% of your results by giving 80% effort 80% of the time.

Only 20% of your time should require an ‘all-out’ effort. The rest of the time should be at a solid but comfortable pace.

Why?

You need margin. Otherwise, something has got to give. If you are consistently overextended in any area (finances, health, energy, relationships, time, etc.)—something will break. And nothing will perform optimally.

Yes, you likely are getting results. But at what cost? And what if you could get better results with less effort?

What about growth?

My most successful clients have doubled or tripled the size of their companies (even nine-figure companies)and are putting less effort into it now than they were before.

Most of my clients are growing their companies. They often take an ‘all hands on deck’ approach to growth, and there is definitely a time for that. But be careful to plan for it to fit within the 80 X 80 framework.

I recently had a conversation with a client who is averaging around $40M/year and wants to grow to $60M. My advice? “Plan to become a company that can carry $60M with 80% of the effort, 80% of the time.”

If they overextend to get to $60M, the chances are high that they’ll ‘injure’ something on the way there. Key people will burn out or quit, someone will make a critical error, a major opportunity will be lost, and so on.

It’s common for companies to stretch as hard as they can to hit a financial goal, only to exhaust themselves in the process and fall way back down the revenue ladder—sometimes as far as 50%. Once that happens, the belief sets in, “We can’t grow; we can’t be that size; it’s safest to stay where we are.” Then they’re stuck.

Conclusion

Pursue growth. Achieve your goals. But do it the smart way.

Take good care,

Christian

P.S. If you need help building the 80 X 80 growth plan for your company, contact me.