Scale: How Healthy Business Growth Requires Rhythm, Not Rush

A Personal Introduction: The Ultra-Marathon Epiphany

Many years ago, during my first ultra-marathon, a 56km race along one of the world's most beautiful routes, the true meaning of endurance became painfully clear. I had covered 30km, but with 26km still to go, my tank was completely empty. The official clock was ticking, and with every ragged breath and laboured step, the threat of being forced to retire from the race loomed larger. In that moment of near-failure, I realized my strategy was wrong. I needed a marathon mindset.

The shift was immediate and intentional. I abandoned the frantic rush to beat the clock and adopted a new rhythm. The strategy was simple but effective: Run 1km, then walk 100 meters. Take 30 grams of carbs every 20 minutes. Find other runners moving at a similar speed and settle into their pace, sharing stories to watch the kilometres melt away. It was this disciplined rhythm, not a desperate rush, that carried me to the finish line.

This is the exact mindset required to build a healthy, scalable business. In a world that glorifies the sprint, the most resilient and successful leaders understand that sustainable growth is an ultra-marathon. It requires a deliberate rhythm, not a reckless rush.

1.        Deconstructing the "Marathon Mindset"

In a business culture obsessed with speed, disruption, and overnight success, the Marathon Mindset offers a powerful alternative. It is a strategic philosophy centred on building an enduring, resilient organization, not one that burns out in pursuit of fleeting wins. To apply it, we must first understand its fundamental principles.

The marathon mindset stands in stark contrast to sprinting. It is not about quick bursts of energy. Rather, it’s a philosophy that embodies what I call "steadfast perseverance and unwavering patience for long-term outcomes." The distinction becomes clear when applied to real-world commitments:

• A one-hour online course is a sprint; earning a four-year degree is a marathon.

• A temporary job is a sprint; building a career that requires thousands of hours of investment is a marathon.

This approach runs counter to a society accustomed to instant gratification. We are surrounded by "instant coffee" and "instant food," which fosters an expectation that success should be just as readily available. But as a deeper look reveals, nothing really is instant. Behind every product that seems instantaneous, someone else has invested hundreds of hours in preparation and groundwork. This hidden effort is the marathon that precedes the sprint. The strategic danger of an "instant" culture is that it can lead us to eat the seeds we should have waited to grow, sacrificing long-term provision for short-term consumption.

With a clear understanding of what this mindset entails, we can now explore how its core principles of rhythm and patience directly translate into the mechanics of sustainable business growth.

2.        Rhythm as the Engine of Scale

While moments of inspiration can spark strategic shifts that leave competitors in the dust, the true engine of scale is not found in grand gestures but in disciplined consistency. Even in the age of generative artificial intelligence – these truths remain. In fact, innovation is quickly levelled out by the persistent plodders that convert innovation into practice. The path to healthy, defensible growth is paved by the high-quality execution of daily, weekly, and monthly routines that propel a business forward.

These rhythms are the essential "footsteps" of a successful business journey. What footsteps did you leave in your business yesterday? We need to create structure, foster alignment, and build momentum over time. Key examples that we often undervalue as random distance markers include:

• Daily early morning shared coffees to connect the team.

• Weekly management committee meetings to ensure strategic alignment.

• Fortnightly sales calls to drive revenue and gather market feedback.

• Monthly sharing of results to maintain focus and accountability.

• Annual strategy setting to define the long-term vision

However, simply having these routines is not enough. It is the quality of these moments that ultimately determines their impact. This quality depends entirely on leaders who show up "well" and with a "full reservoir of capacity." Maintaining these rhythms is not just for the business. It is a sustainable practice for you as the leader. It builds your own capacity and prevents the burnout that comes from a culture of heroic, depleting sprints. The fact that you have a regular late-night to chase deadlines is not a sign of your dedication – to me it is a sign of a business-life that is lacking in marathon rhythm.

"If you believe that sustainable success comes from aligning wellbeing with performance, then this space is for you."

While these consistent rhythms build momentum, the marathon mindset also prepares leaders for the inevitable challenges that threaten to break that pace.

3.         Weathering Storms: Perseverance Through Adversity

Adversity is not an exception but an expected part of any long-term journey. For a leader committed to a marathon, resilience is not a bonus trait but a core competency. It is the ability to endure setbacks, absorb pressure, and maintain forward momentum when the path gets difficult. A marathon runner’s perspective on pain is instructive. The question is not whether you will encounter discomfort, but when.

The mindset is geared toward being strong and enduring through the storms because, as I always believe, "The thrill of crossing the finish line tomorrow becomes your driving force today."

I’ve tried to live this principle not just on the race course, but in the boardroom. In several startups where we hoped our impact would be instantaneous, but the reality was a decades-long ultra-marathon. That decade was not a straight line to success; it was a journey of patience, marked by many small victories that slowly gathered momentum into bigger ones. Most businesses I've worked with are the same. I have yet to see a project where you can snap your fingers and see profits a few months later. It often takes years of planning, toiling, and striving.

This capacity to persevere through the long, quiet years of building is the hallmark of the marathon mindset, reminding us that the greatest rewards are rarely found on the shortest paths.

4.        Your Finish Line: A Final Thought

Healthy, sustainable business growth, true scale, is the product of a deliberate rhythm, not a frantic rush. Like that ultra-marathon years ago, the finish line is reached not by burning all your energy at once, but by finding a consistent, repeatable pace that allows you to endure the entire distance.

Through this lens, let’s reimagine leadership as a performance practice; one that builds capacity, not exhaustion. When leaders show up well, their teams thrive, innovation flourishes, and the entire organization gains the stamina to succeed over the long term.

As you move through your week, consider this: Where can you replace a rush with a rhythm in your own leadership practice?