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Today Barack Obama became the 44^th president of the United States. Leadership junkie that I am, I was up early with coffee in hand to watch this most magnificent and peaceful transfer of power.

Around 8:30 the President Elect and Mrs. Obama emerged from Blair House to begin what would be arguably the most important day of their lives. Then I heard TODAY host Matt Lauer, as he outlined the tightly-scheduled and pressure-filled agenda ahead, make the almost off-hand comment that the Mr. Obama still managed to get in his workout this morning.

That our new President plays basketball, and that both he and Michelle work out regularly, are already well known facts. And maybe we can only guess the precise impact of making time to exercise on this amazing success story. How Barack sustains his energy, focus and infamous calm ultimately only Barack can say. But the mind-body connection is well-researched and immensely powerful. More than just a way to proactively manage stress, regular exercise actually shifts the mind into a radically different gear – what Dr. Herbert Benson, a cardiologist, calls the relaxation response.

Put most simply, the relaxation response is an emotional and physiological
shift from what I call Crazy-Stress mode to Balanced-Ground mode. When we are on balanced ground, we experience a sense of well-being that increases our feeling of empathy and makes genuine connection with others possible. Even more, we release our psyche from the primal, fear-driven parts of our brain and we move into the upper echelons – our mental Oval Office – where visionary, creative and objective thinking reside.

Today is a day when once impossible dreams came true. So let me mark this occasion with my own pipe dream: if the busiest leader in the world wouldn’t start a day of his life without a little exercise and quiet time for himself, why can’t we all? Who might we become and what might we accomplish, individually and as a nation, if we did?

I normally adhere to the conventional wisdom to stay away from politics and religion when talking with two groups of people– business colleagues and customers, and family. (The Thanksgiving table with my family of origin can be a little like having Keith Olbermann, Rush Limbaugh and Tina Fey over for dinner. Entertaining, yes, but also dangerous.)

So I’m going to bend my own rule here, in service of a greater good. Let me start with a short disclaimer. I didn’t start out as an Obama supporter, although I have been fascinated with him as a leader from the get-go. My business is to help companies grow the kind of leaders they need for the realities of the world now and for their dreams of the world they’ve yet to create. So I specialize in working with high potential and emerging leaders. Obama didn’t emerge so much as he exploded onto the world’s stage and into the private screens of our TVs, PCs, cell phones and BlackBerry’s.

Like most High Potentials, Obama’s career has been characterized by a tremendous inner drive, intelligence and talent above the average, and a series of rapid promotions with a short time spent in each role. Unlike most HIPOs, what I see in Obama is a man who knows that if he tries to go it alone – tries to be the sole hero of the job and the story – he will fail. He must develop the leadership of the people under him to even hope to have the capabilities, capacities and scale required to address challenges at the door. By far this is one of the hardest personal breakthroughs leaders must make as they climb the ladder to the corner office. And one of the biggest reasons so many promising executives eventually fail.

Obama has something else going for him. He also understands the power of a vision and how to unite people behind his cause. What makes him particularly brilliant is how he systematically leverages the technologies of our times (email, texting, and YouTube especially) to enroll literally millions of Americans into his dream of the country and people we could be. And move us to concrete, doable, meaningful and shared action. He is expanding the power of one man into the power of the many.

So if you happen not to be one of the millions on Obama’s email list, check out the link below before he takes the oath of office next Tuesday. Regardless of your politics, as a citizen I hope it moves you to one act of service for your community in the coming week. As a leader, I hope it inspires you to what is possible for you and the world you lead.

http://www.pic2009.org/yourinauguration