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RELENTLESS FORWARD PROGRESS: The only way

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RUN!   IF YOU CAN'T RUN, WALK! IF YOU CAN'T WALK, CRAWL! IF YOU CAN'T CRAWL, GET SOMEBODY TO DRAG YOU! JUST DON'T STOP MOVING FORWARD! I have a mantra that I live by when competing in long distance running.  I believe in always making Relentless Forward Progress - no matter how good or bad I am feeling, I need to keep moving forward toward my goal.  You can easily draw the parallels to pursuits in personal and professional life.  A couple weekends ago I had the opportunity to witness another person making Relentless Forward Progress.  This is the story of what happened. It was the day before the Colfax Marathon - Denver's only city marathon - and I still had not decided whether to sign up or not.  I logged onto FaceBook to see what cool stuff people were up to that weekend.  A buddy who is a Marathon Maniac (Othman Doblany) was posting pictures of himself with other Denver runners from the marathon expo.  I got the urge to run the marathon.

TEAMWORK: It takes a village

Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much. - Helen Keller I am always amazed at the ingenuity and communal nature of human beings.  Whether we work like ants to build pyramids, construct railroads across a continent or help a single person take 6 million steps to run across America, there is strength in numbers. Earlier this week I was asked to speak about how ultra-running and my run across America was really a team effort.  For me it was very easy to deliver this message, because my decade long career at GE had taught me that a team of people can move mountains.  The following are some thoughts to be considered when building and developing teams for longevity. BUILDING THE TEAM It is art, not science. 1.   Leadership   For teams to function effectively, there must be leadership.  The team will eventually confront challenges and need to make decisions.  Sometimes these decisions can be made by a vote; other times, a leader will need to make the decis