During times of uncertainty, we all need to train like marathoners, but be able to run like sprinters. We need to develop a physical and mental capacity that is defined by grit, persistence, self-confidence, optimism, speed and courage. We have to face our fears, looking at uncertainty in the eye with an empathetic and forgiving smile, and then move forward with gusto. We have to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. We have to be informed, knowledgeable, relevant and most importantly teachable. Great athletes achieve their full potential by questioning the impossible, reaching higher than most, and developing the discipline and mindset to find winning opportunities during times of uncertainty.
Colin Nanka[1] has tackled rigorously the process of re-invention by working hard towards defeating average. Nanka[2] is the senior director, enablement for North American Sales and Leadership Development at Salesforce[3]. He leads a team of experts who work with the biggest and most successful companies around the world as they embark on their digital transformation journeys. In his spare time, he competes in multi-day, self-sustained, adventure races in the world's most treacherous terrains, including the Sahara Desert, Gobi Desert, Iceland, Grand Canyon, Atacama Desert, and Antarctica. Most recently, Nanka challenged the notion of being average by running multiple back-to-back marathons in Patagonia[4]. Nanka has climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa, raising money for a local school.
I asked Colin Nanka to share advice on how you can build a predictable learning framework that allows you to reach your full potential and how you can see crisis as an opportunity to grow.
"Sitting with my back against the wheel well of a jeep in the Sahara desert, I knew I had a choice to make. I had just mentally pulled out