You need to be a great leader but not all of the time

I was talking recently with George Petrakos, a colleague who used to coach sports people and teams and has taken that experience into his wider coaching. We were discussing preparation, training, discipline and performance.

He said something that made me think. “In the end it all comes down to ninety minutes once a week.”

Athletes train constantly. They analyse performance, practise routines, build strength and stamina. But none of that matters unless they perform in those ninety minutes when the whistle blows. That’s when it counts.

Business leaders often forget this simple truth. We talk about leadership as if we must operate at peak performance every hour of every day. That is neither realistic nor sustainable.

Sport understands something that business often ignores. Performance comes in cycles.

• You train.
• You recover.
• You prepare.
• And then you perform.

The ninety minutes matter.

The leadership equivalent of the ninety minutes

In business there are moments when the quality of leadership genuinely matters.

Most days are not those days. Most days are about steady execution, thoughtful conversations and keeping the organisation moving forward.

But then there are the moments when the leader must be at the very top of their game.

• A critical client negotiation.
• A crisis that threatens the organisation’s reputation.
• A strategic decision that will shape the next five years.
• A difficult conversation that defines the culture of the leadership team.

These are the “ninety minute moments” in business. And when they arrive, the leader must be ready.

This connects directly to a principle I often talk about with senior leaders. The idea of Only You Can Do.

As organisations grow, leaders must constantly ask themselves a simple question.

What are the things that only I can do?

Not what I could do; not what I enjoy doing: but what genuinely requires my judgement, my authority and my experience. Those are your ninety minutes.

The mistake many leaders make

Many leaders exhaust themselves on the wrong things.

• They attend every meeting.
• They involve themselves in operational details.
• They respond to every issue personally.

In effect, they are trying to play ninety minutes every day.

That approach does not produce great leadership. It produces tired leaders making mediocre decisions. Elite athletes understand that training is essential but so is recovery.

After intense performance comes rest.

There is a reason professional athletes use ice baths, physiotherapy, nutrition and sleep as carefully as they use training drills. Recovery is not weakness. It is part of performance.

Leaders need the same discipline.

What is the business equivalent of the ice bath?

For leaders, recovery looks different but it serves the same purpose.

• Time to think.
• Time away from operational noise.
• Time to reflect on decisions rather than simply reacting to events.

Some leaders achieve this through structured reflection at the end of the week. Others use long walks, reading or conversations with trusted advisers. Many experienced CEOs deliberately protect thinking time in their diaries.

• What matters is not the method.
• What matters is recognising that leadership requires recovery as well as action.
• Without recovery there is no sustained performance.

Preparing for the moments that matter

The best leaders do not try to dominate every moment. Instead they prepare themselves for the moments that truly matter. They build capable teams so that most decisions do not require them. They delegate responsibility and authority. They create space in their own time and attention.

Then, when the ninety-minute moment arrives, they are ready.

• Clear thinking.
• Calm judgement.
• Decisive action.

In sport the crowd sees only the ninety minutes. They rarely see the hours of preparation that make those minutes possible.

Leadership is much the same.

You do not need to be a great leader all of the time.

But when your ninety minutes arrive, you must be ready to perform.