Achieving a Personal Best (PB) Performance
HYVVU looks at the similarities of achieving a Marathon PB with how a Hotelier might operate to achieve a PB.
Achieving a PB performance in a Marathon requires dogged determination, both in physical fitness and perhaps more importantly, mental strength.
As a runner since the ripe old age of six and a half, I was fifty before I contemplated running my first Marathon, which I completed in a time of 4:48:57. My PB now stands at 3:46:24. Running and particularly Marathon running is a solitary sport; it is you against yourself. However, one seeks solace and support from fellow runners. Advice and guidance from professionals in the sport to achieve your optimal performance are crucial.
The support and camaraderie of a club is also important, for the benchmarking of one’s performance against runners of a similar standard or capacity, or those who are faster or with an improved technique.
The training and preparation are essential and a critical success factor, and, as in other fields, there is a plethora of opinion – it is sifting and sorting what is appropriate for you and your circumstances.
The time commitment to “putting in the miles” is massive, and time spent apart from other commitments, such as family and friends, requires strict planning and dedication.
It is the single-minded determination that pushes you (particularly when one ventures out on a bitterly cold winter morning) through and beyond the limits and boundaries that normal, sane people live within. To keep going when your body screams at you to stop – to have the mind set and will power to keep digging deeper until you have no more to give.
Some choose to listen to their iPod or similar when running. I use the time for meditation to set my mind free to explore all those places we tend not to visit sufficiently in our normal busy daily life – to think creative thoughts and ideas that can inspire you and others or just to let your mind roam free away from phones emails and all the modern trappings of our hectic lives, listen to nature and your body, soul and mind. In other words, to escape into a world outside of the ordinary routine.
I am sure that you, as the reader, will begin to see where I am coming from. The parallels between marathon running and our professional lives - particularly in hospitality - are striking.
Success rarely happens by accident. It is built upon:
The setting of clear, quantifiable and achievable objectives
Setting aside the time required for planning and structured preparation
Drawing upon the support and camaraderie of a strong team
Seeking external expertise where skills or perspective are required
Measuring results through benchmarking and meaningful KPIs
Continuously and objectively assessing performance, adapting where necessary
Implementing with discipline, doing the hard graft
Accepting the sacrifices required to achieve a goal
Providing leadership that aligns effort with ambition
Maintaining the mental discipline and resilience that sustains momentum
In marathon running, neglect any one of these elements and the result will quickly reflect it. The same is true in hospitality.
At HYVVU, this mindset underpins how we work with hotel owners and operators. Achieving a Personal Best in hotel performance is not about short bursts of activity or reactive decision-making. It requires clarity of ambition, structured planning, rigorous analysis and disciplined execution.
Benchmarking must be honest. Objectives must be realistic yet stretching. Performance must be measured, reviewed, and continuously refined. And above all, leadership must create belief, because mindset ultimately drives outcomes.
Just as a runner benefits from the guidance of experienced coaches and the support of fellow athletes, so too do hotels benefit from an informed external perspective. Sometimes the greatest improvements come not from working harder, but from working smarter - with the right structure and challenge in place.
In both arenas, there will be moments of doubt, fatigue and frustration. But with preparation, resilience and commitment, limits can be redefined.
To borrow the familiar refrain heard at many a finish line:
“Never again… until the next time.”
And that is perhaps the true hallmark of achieving a Personal Best, in sport and in hospitality alike.