Strong Leaders Serve with Teri Schmidt

The Power of Endurance in Leadership

• Teri Schmidt

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When was the last time you intentionally chose to push through discomfort to achieve a meaningful goal? 

If you're thinking, "Isn’t that part of leadership every day?"—then we're on the same page! But how often do you actually pause to assess those choices, anticipate the challenges ahead, and develop strategies to stay on track?

In this episode, I share the conversation I had with Greg McDonough on his podcast, the Chief Endurance Officer, where I share how an endurance mindset has shaped both my athletic journey and my work at Strong Leaders Serve. We explore how small moments of intention can fuel your ability to endure and thrive in leadership and life.

Resources:



Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/teri-m-schmidt/

Get 1-on-1 leadership support from Teri here: https://www.strongertoserve.com/coaching

Set up an intro call with Teri: https://calendly.com/terischmidt/discoverycall

Question for you. When is the last time that you made an intentional choice to regularly work through discomfort toward a meaningful goal? If you're saying, isn't that every day in leadership, then we're aligned and you're practicing what my idea is of an endurance mindset, but how often do you take time to think about what that intentional choice is to predict and plan for the discomfort that might come your way? And to come up with strategies to stay focused on your meaningful goal. Today, I'll share a conversation that I had with Greg McDonough on his podcast, the chief endurance officer, in which I share the story of using an endurance mindset. my athletic pursuits and in how I support leaders at Strong Leaders Serve. My hope is that this will inspire you to reflect on your own goals and how a bit of intention might be the key toward enduring on your path forward. I'm Terri Schmidt, Executive and Leadership Coach at Strong Leaders Serve. partnering with leaders and teams to turn potential into performance for positive change. And this is a special episode of the strong leaders serve podcast.

Greg McDonough:

Welcome to the Chief Endurance Officer Podcast. I'm your host, Greg McDonough. Each week we hear real time stories from athletes and CEOs on how to maximize performance through an endurance mindset. Let's get started. Well, welcome to the chief endurance officer podcast. I'm your host, Greg McDonough. I am super excited about our guest today. She has dedicated her career to making leadership easier and more effective. Her experiences span corporate to entrepreneurial settings. She's a host of her own podcast, strong leaders serve. Executive and leadership coach at the strong leaders, sir. Please welcome Terry Schmidt. Welcome, Terry.

Teri Schmidt:

Thanks, Greg. Really excited to be here.

Greg McDonough:

It's awesome to have you on the show. And as you know, we love to talk about endurance and the endurance mindset. So my question for you, Terry, how has your endurance mindset impacted your life unexpectedly?

Teri Schmidt:

Yeah, great question, Greg. And you know, as I was thinking about this, I started by thinking, what does the endurance mindset mean to me? Um, and so I came up with, it really is about an intentional choice to regularly work through discomfort toward a meaningful goal. Um, and so as I think about how that has, you know, life unexpectedly. Um, I think back to my journey to an Iron Man. Um, I've only completed one full, a couple halves. Um, but You know, that really played into it. It was an intentional choice. Um, of course I wanted to do it for myself because I felt like I hadn't stuck with anything in my life and I saw my husband do it and I'm like, that is, that is a worthy goal. But it had to be more than that for me because I had two young kids at home. I saw the time that it took him away from those kids. And so when we were training, we actually turned it into a family project. We called it project becoming our best. And we, um, focused both on our physical well being, including the kids in our workouts, but also how we were becoming our best people in serving the community. So we added an element of project volunteering, our family volunteering to that. So that's how it became a meaningful goal for me. And the discomfort I think is self explanatory, um, in that case. Um, but then also, you know, the meaningful goal. In the race, if anyone has done Ironman Texas, it, after they changed the bike course, it's now a two loop course on a tollway. Um, and so not, not a very exciting course. Um, but you know, I use that time to pray for other people. I'm a person of faith. So I would, you know, for a set amount of time, pray for a specific person then move on to the next person. So in that way, it added some meaning to it as well. Um, and then, you know, currently in my life. The unexpected part, I guess, is that has really flown, uh, flowed into my executive and leadership coaching. In fact, I think I can marry our leadership development model. It's a three phase model, but it fits perfectly with the intentional choice. The regularly deal with discomfort and the meaningful goal. Um, because the model is ground, grow, give, and it starts with grounding yourself and your strengths and values, figuring out what type of leader you want to be. Um, and then growing those skills that need to be developed for you to be the most effective leader. And then probably most importantly, that has an outlet. So the give part, you know, why are you doing this? Um, and I work with so many high achieving passionate women who want to make an impact. And helping them to walk through those phases takes kind of that overwhelm and that feeling of, you know, I want to make an impact. I want to do good for other people, but there are so many challenges facing me, different personalities, different things that the world is throwing at us. How do I get to that point? And that's really where the endurance mindset comes in.

Greg McDonough:

That's fantastic. Um, There's a lot of little breadcrumbs you left me to ask you questions about. So we'll get into those going back to near the beginning when you were talking about, you made, um, the Ironman training, a family affair, my wife and I did very similar when we towed the line for Lake Placid 10 years ago. And we started this blog called triathlon parents. And we talked about how do you get the balance? And, um, I'm curious with your children, like how is that volunteering continued in their life? Like that lesson learned. From that race in Texas. How is that? Path continued for them.

Teri Schmidt:

Yeah. You know, it, um, wasn't, it's not just in the activity of volunteering that they do volunteer in their community, but I think more of the mindset of there are people in our community who are, who are in need and we are all going to be in need at some point and that understanding that we are here to help each other. Through this, and it isn't about, you know, pulling yourself up by your bootstraps is great. Um, but having that community to support you and I'm guessing your experiences with triathlon would, it would echo, you know, that community part too. Um, but I think having them engage with and learn about the people that they were serving has continued to shift their mindset to the, the people that they are today.

Greg McDonough:

And then I'm also curious, um, When they look at other athletes and marathoners, runners, cyclists on their own, do they compare it to Ironman's I remember a story keeps coming up in my mind of we were at my wife and I were at Marine Corps marathon Many years ago and we're supporting the runners going by and we're holding our youngest in our arms and she goes well dad When did they do their swim in their bike? And it just kind of put things back into perspective of like what we show our children and the lens they see through any sort of fun stories that have come through your endurance training, your Ironman training through the eyes of your Children.

Teri Schmidt:

Yeah, you know, I think it is just that mindset and I hate to use the tagline, but you know that anything is possible they, you know, they have seen us do it, but then also we had an opportunity to run one of the aid stations for several years after that at Ironman, Texas, and they, they saw everyone from the pros coming through very early to those who were, you know, the last people through our aid station, and they were able to see, um, you know, with the Consistent training and the ability to deal with that discomfort and the ability to have a why for why you were doing it. The Great accomplishments you can make regardless of your starting point. Um, and so they are, you know, both, both involved in, in sports and other activities, and I think that has continued to carry them through that with consistent effort, they can accomplish whatever they want to accomplish.

Greg McDonough:

That's awesome. Um, so jumping forward to the work that you do now, working with leading Female executives, um, how does this intentional discomfort come into play when you're working with your clients?

Teri Schmidt:

Yeah. I mean, I think definitely the intention piece, you know, I've, the reason I got in one of the reasons I got into executive and leadership coaching is that I saw so many women that I could spot their strengths. I could see. The impact that they could have, but they weren't seeing them for themselves sometimes. And because of that, they were either trying to mimic other people or doing things that were, in a sense, leading to burnout because they weren't necessarily aligned with who they were as leaders. And so that intentional piece, um, again, getting to kind of our ground phase, that first phase of our leadership development model of knowing who you are and who you can be. What your strengths are has had an incredible impact. I had one woman I coach who said, you know, now that I see that my directness is not something that I have to shy away from, but I can use it effectively with my team. I feel liberated, you know, all of a sudden, I'm not trying to be someone else. I'm being myself and using it in an effective way. And my team is noticing. And, you know, that that has just Been wonderful to see to see women who are high achieving already, you know, trying to figure it all out themselves. Um, I've been there. Um, but then to be able to walk side by side them, to help them gain some new awareness that helps them be more effective in their work so that they can reach their goals and that their team can also have success has been wonderful. The discomfort, you know, comes from, I think that's just provided day to day. You know, we have to deal with people that aren't the same as us, who have different viewpoints as us, who, you know, may have some growth areas that, in a sense, um, maybe rub us the wrong way, um, and the world is always changing, like our, our VUCA world, our volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world. That provides enough discomfort. Um, for itself, and I think when the women are grounded in who they are, they can, instead of having those experiences, those uncomfortable experiences kind of wear on them, they can, in a sense, um, learn and grow through them because they have that grounding.

Greg McDonough:

So give me. An example, we've got an audience member who is, isn't grounded in themselves at the moment, right? What is an indicator, um, for somebody to say, Hey, or to step back and to sort of self examine, become a little bit more aware? What are the, like, what's an indicator that we should be looking out for?

Teri Schmidt:

Yeah, I, I think, you know, a lot goes to kind of the, the internal stress that you're feeling that comes from not being aligned. Um, and so if you're doing something that, that Just doesn't feel right. Um, and again, that's, that's going to take a little bit of effort in that you do have to take some time to step back and kind of look at the big picture instead of just going, going, going. Um, and sense in your body and, um, you know, look at patterns over time of how this, Acting this way just didn't feel right. Um, and that is a lot easier to do when you're talking with someone else, whether that be a coach, a mentor, um, a trusted colleague, because they can sometimes see where you are. Maybe out of alignment or, you know, are struggling in ways that maybe you can't, maybe you think it's just a result of the situation. You just have to power through it. When in reality, if you had that awareness, it wouldn't be so much powering through it. It would be falling back on who you are and finding a way to navigate it. Using those strengths.

Greg McDonough:

Certainly. And I'm asking these questions for selfish reasons. Um, I'm married to one of those very powerful female executives who recently was promoted to the CEO of her business. And I give her a lot of credit for the journey she's on. Um, so I'm curious with that, with my mindset and in one direction, and I've watched my wife like progress over her career, Terry, I'm curious of how that your coaching changes as. That executive progresses through her career, you know, from sort of the, the starting job out of college until you ultimately get into the CEO role. How does your coaching change? And your advice to her sort of change over time.

Teri Schmidt:

Yeah. You know, I, I say our leadership development model is kind of like a spiral staircase and that you don't, you know, complete the ground face and you're done, you know, you never, you never have to go through it again. Instead you're going through ground, grow, give, you know, repeatedly. And I would say what changes between the new leaders that we work with and the more executive, more senior leaders is really, you know, what are those uncomfortable situations that you have to deal with. that help you grow. Um, so the nature of the situation that they face is what changes. Um, and so where you have, for example, a new leader who may be dealing with, you know, one of the comments, most common challenges for new leaders, particularly those who are promoted within, you know, they're leaving their peers and maybe they're leading their peers now. Um, you know, how, how do I deal with the, that relationship change? How do I deal with, in a sense, that loss? That I'm feeling because I don't have these friendships anymore, necessarily in the same way. Instead, I have to be their leader. Um, and, and how do I use who I am and, and define who I am and share who I am to lead them effectively. That might be an example, um, of what a new leader might be facing. Whereas with an executive I coached, for example, you know, hers was more about, you know, how do I, Address the, the feedback that my CEO is giving me or that my team is giving me, um, that, you know, I, I need to be more direct and, you know, people should leave a meeting. Disagreeing with me, um, was one piece of feedback that, that an executive I was working with got, um, more around, um, you know, how do I lead in a way that seems more executive ish? Um, and, and still be true to myself and, and also, you know, I'm not aware of what's happening on the front line anymore. You know, I may be three or four levels up, or even more from that front line. How do I get there? Get the information that I need to make decisions and create a safe environment so that people, even though I have this position, feel comfortable providing me feedback, providing me ideas. Um, so definitely a, a shift in the challenges that are faced, um, but not necessarily a change in how we coach them through those.

Greg McDonough:

That's very insightful. You know, you left me another breadcrumb there when you're talking about having to be their leader. So you've been promoted into a new role and now you have to be their leader. I'd love your perspective on the difference between. How to become their leader versus just leading. If that makes any sense, right? Much in my opinion, leadership skills, sort of like you out there and you're leading and people will follow you as one set of leadership, but the other one is. Hey, you've just been tasked to lead a group who might not want to follow. Any thoughts or commentary around the differences between those two?

Teri Schmidt:

Yeah. I mean, I think it, the first situation you're talking about, it's, it's not uncomfortable. It's very comfortable. You're, you're out there just doing your job and, um, people are drawn to that. Um, and so you in that situation are very comfortable and, and feel like, um, You're being yourself and being your best self and aren't really concerned about the people necessarily that are following. It's just something that kind of happens as opposed to when you are their leader or you are their manager supervisor. Um, you have a responsibility for their performance and and because of that, um, you do have to. Pay attention to them, obviously, more so than you would if you were just kind of leading by example and and happen to to fall into that role. Um, so that requires so many more skills, whether it be building trust, um, setting clear expectations. Being able to provide feedback that helps them to accomplish and achieve those expectations and paying attention to what their strengths are and what motivates them. So you're much more so, um, I like to use the analogy of a gardener, you know, who is making sure that the environment is right for their growth and for them to be able to perform and produce, um, or kind of a, you know, orchestra director. Um, you're much so your focus is much more so on those who you are leading as opposed to in that first situation where your focus is solely on you and your performance.

Greg McDonough:

I love that analogy about the gardener. Um, Terry shifting gears on you slightly. You mentioned earlier, you saw a Pat, you had a passion in the coaching. What were you doing prior? Give us a little bit of background on you and how you got into what you're doing today.

Teri Schmidt:

Yeah, definitely. So I, you know, coached throughout my corporate career. Um, much of my corporate career was spent at JetBlue Airways, which was an excellent organization to work with. Um, was able to lead. Different teams there and really always enjoyed the coaching component of my leadership role the most there. Um, after that, actually, as, uh, we trained for the Ironman and had that family project, um, that kind of developed and, and grew on its own. And we had schools who wanted to bring in programs that were combining the fitness and the volunteering. Um, and so I started a nonprofit called stronger to serve, um, which did that for families, you know, organized. opportunities for them to get active and volunteer together. So we had a running club called run kind where we would run or walk for 45 minutes and then do a volunteering project right on site. Um, so we did that for, um, about five years. Um, and then I was just really hungering to, again, work with professionals in the corporate environment again. Um, and so went back to. What I love the most about my leadership position and got into the executive and leadership coaching. And that's, that's where we are now.

Greg McDonough:

I'm curious from the entrepreneur perspective, how is it being on the other side of, you know, working in a business, doing executive coaching and kind of the paychecks. Get written and the accounting gets done and the HR functions happens to now running your own organization. Give us a sense of how that journey's gone.

Teri Schmidt:

Oh yeah. I mean, it's, it's definitely challenging. Um, we talk about that discomfort you go from having a team and, and leading a team who, you know, you kind of set the vision, come up with the ideas, but you have people to bounce ideas off of. You have people to execute on tasks. You have people who have strengths that you don't have that can kind of. Partner with you to get things done most effectively, um, to being, um, currently I'm a solopreneur, so it's in a sense, just me. Um, and it's been a definite learning journey, um, and, and a lot of growth. And as I think about ground, grow, give definitely a whole nother spiral of that in that. Um, when you are the only person doing something and you are the person that is out there building relationships so that you can serve the people, um, that need your services, you know, it, it is a whole level of another level of self examination and coming to know yourself. And, you know, being comfortable in your own skin, um, so that you can serve them most effectively. So I definitely not without its challenges. Um, it, I loved a challenge, so fits right in with my personality, but definitely ups and downs and you don't have that security of a paycheck, like you said. So you know, that, that is always in the back of your mind. Um, and, and for me, it's always keeping the focus on who. is out there who could benefit from my services and, and how can I help get them to the next level in their career, in their leadership, um, and less about, um, worrying about where the money is going to come from.

Greg McDonough:

Yeah. I find that if you lead with your intention and what you want to, your passion, Many of the other things sort of fall in place. So I got to ask this question, who can, who does benefit from your services? Who like somebody who's in the audience thinking about, Hey, I should reach out to Terry. What is that person struggling with? Give us a sense of how that, that journey can. Can manifest.

Teri Schmidt:

Yeah, definitely. Um, I work with primarily women leaders. Um, and primarily those who are high achieving, who are eager to make an impact. Um, and who have a focus on leadership being, um, and our definition of leadership is courageously using your talents to make a way for others to courageously use theirs. So the women that, um, Really, um, succeed in our programs and with. Coaching, um, come from that mindset, you know, leadership is not about gaining more titles or status or power, except if it's, you know, power to support others and reaching their goals. Um, and so. Women who have that mindset, um, generally are those who benefit the most from my coaching in terms of levels. Um, I have a heart for new and mid level, uh, leaders because they don't get as much support usually. Um, but also love to work with executives and some of the unique challenges. that they face, um, particularly as they're getting to those higher levels where there might not be as many examples of female leaders around them that they can pull from. Um, and you know, I, I would just say I've experienced the power of coaching myself, um, in that, you know, I could be working on something in my mind for months. And then I talked to a coach in a 50 minute session and we've, we've got through it. So it gets back to that, you know, supportive community and how, although particularly as high achieving women, we like to do it all ourselves. Um, there is so much value in seeking out support from others and it just really accelerates. Your transformation from, you know, being overwhelmed and burnt out into having that impact that you're in leadership to have

Greg McDonough:

yet. There's something special around coaching. And I'm a huge fan. I've worked with my executive coach for probably 15 years. I've got triathlon coach. I've got like everything in my life has some sort of coach. But you're right. You mean the accountability, the power that that Brings together, um, you can unpack something that you've been struggling with for many, many months in a 50 minute conversation. Yeah.

Teri Schmidt:

It's amazing.

Greg McDonough:

Terry asked you a similar, I guess, slightly different question around endurance leadership. Like one of the habits I find in endurance leadership is striking the right balance. How does that come up into conversations that you have with your clients? Like the striking the right balance between work and life and community. Talk to us about that aspect of your coaching.

Teri Schmidt:

Yeah. You know, there, there are a couple of ways that, that comes into play. One being, you know, with regards to the word serve. So our business is called strong leaders serve, and sometimes, um, Women who I work with, who have that definition of leadership that I just talked about, may get into almost overextending themselves, um, and may think that they are serving their, their team members, um, or the leaders that they are leading by jumping in and rescuing instead of serving. So, um, I talk about, you know, strong leaders should serve, they shouldn't rescue. Um, and. What I mean by that is, you know, if, if someone is struggling, yes, it might be quicker just to do the task for them, but in reality, that's going to add a whole lot more time and stress to your schedule as the leader, um, because they are going to be dependent on you to do that task, and then they are not growing. So 90 minutes or even 45 minutes to help them to do that task? To be able to be more equipped to do that task. Um, so that's one way that leaders, I find once they have that shift in perspective are more likely to have balance in their lives and not overextend themselves. Um, and the other way is, you know, it can be really difficult, particularly for high achieving women, particularly for women who are parents as well, um, to say no. Um, and so. The work that we do in that ground phase of really defining your values and have heard once somewhere, and I can't remember, I apologize, I can't source it, but it was that priorities are values in action, so helping women to do that. Really get crystal clear about what their values are and what their resulting priorities are, can help them to set boundaries and achieve that balance that they are seeking.

Greg McDonough:

So taking that one step further in defining values, can you give us an example of when a person doesn't have their values defined and what that could lead into?

Teri Schmidt:

Yeah, definitely. Um, so let's say that, um, you know, someone has a situation where they are, um, just really seeking the approval of others and, and really seeking to kind of climb that ladder, um, the corporate ladder and, and constantly just snipping out so Approval and the next kudos and in a sense, um, that word is coming to me through Strava, but, um, um, you know, that, that could lead to a situation where, although maybe family is, you know, a primary value for them, they are choosing to do everything they can to, you know, work late at night to, um, miss their kids events to, um, you know, just make a lot of sacrifices on the home front, um, because they are seeking, um, something that is not necessarily. Aligned with their values, but is aligned with maybe what society is telling them that they need to be doing, you know, if you are a high achieving person, you get up to the C suite as fast as possible, and this is what it takes. Um, so for some, some women that, that may be perfectly aligned with their values, but if it isn't, it's going to cause a lot of stress, a lot of angst, um, and can lead to burnout as well.

Greg McDonough:

Certainly. And I suspect it also varies based on time, right? I could see situations in which you say to yourself, you know what, my long term value is X and I'm willing to do Y. Which is maybe uncomfortable or outside of your value spectrum for a given period of time. Yeah,

Teri Schmidt:

yeah, yeah, definitely. I mean, it's kind of like training for a big race, right? You know, you're not going to be dedicating that time to that particular goal forever. Um, but you have worked through how you can stay in alignment long term with your values while making this short term. Sacrifice

Greg McDonough:

100 percent Terry. How could an audience member get in touch with you?

Teri Schmidt:

Yeah, the best way is to connect with me on LinkedIn They can find me Terry Schmidt and would also love to have them listen to the strong leader serve podcast I have some amazing guests coming up also do some solo episodes so they can get to know a little bit more about my approach my beliefs And hopefully it will serve them in their leadership

Greg McDonough:

Fantastic. And we'll include those in our show notes for sure. Terry, any parting words for the budding female entrepreneur out there who's starting her journey?

Teri Schmidt:

Yeah, I think just, you know, seek out support, um, even though it might be against your national, natural inclination, find a way to. Both give and receive from the community that supports you.

Greg McDonough:

And then I have to ask the question, would you also put in there, well, let's have, let me ask you a different question, um, around setting goals that are outside of your career. So for me, right. One of the reasons I love doing Ironman races is it distracts me and motivates me in different ways. Do you see that as a powerful tool, uh, part of sort of goal setting and achievement?

Teri Schmidt:

Definitely, definitely. Yeah. I mean, I think, of course, you don't want to overload yourself with goals, but I think as much variety as you can get in there, you can learn. So much from different things that seem completely unrelated. Um, when you are working toward goals that are outside of your regular work goals.

Greg McDonough:

Awesome. Awesome. Well, Terry, thank you for being on our show today. Audience members. If you got some value, please like the show. Please subscribe, share Terry's message with your community, your friends and family

Well, thanks again to Greg for having me on his podcast and thank you for spending time with me today and allowing me to share a bit of my story that brought me to you. As always, I'd love to get to know you better and hear your leadership story as well. So please send me a text at the top of this episode. So please send me a text via the link at the top of this episode or reach out to me on LinkedIn. And until next time lead with this quote by Andrew. By Angela Duckworth in mind, enthusiasm is common. Endurance is rare.

Greg McDonough:

I really enjoyed getting into the conversation and hearing you say priorities are values and action. It's a hundred percent the case. And we were talking around striking the right balance. Yeah. And thank you for the work that you're doing. Those out there who are thinking about coaching, reach out to Terry. It's a powerful tool and it will propel you into things that you want to achieve in your life. Terry, thanks again for being on our show.

Teri Schmidt:

Well, thanks so much for having me, Greg. for tuning

Greg McDonough:

in to the Chief Endurance Officer podcast. To hear more inspiring stories and strategies around the endurance mindset, be sure to subscribe below or visit us at ChiefEnduranceOfficer. com. Until next time, keep pushing those limits!

Well, thanks again to Greg for having me on his podcast and thank you for spending time with me today and allowing me to share a bit of my story that brought me to you. As always, I'd love to get to know you better and hear your leadership story as well. So please send me a text via the link at the top of this episode or reach out to me on LinkedIn. And until next time lead with this quote by Angela Duckworth in mind, enthusiasm is common. Endurance is rare.