????在上月舉行的沃頓領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力研討會(huì)上，德勤（Deloitte）的人才開發(fā)總管比爾?佩爾斯特隆重推出該公司新建的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力學(xué)校：德勤大學(xué)。該校位于德州Westlake，簡稱為“DFit”的健身房面積1.2萬平方英尺，是這座耗資3億美元的設(shè)施中的重要建筑。

????DFit不僅僅是一個(gè)便利設(shè)施，它在培訓(xùn)計(jì)劃中也起到關(guān)鍵作用。某些面向頂級(jí)高管的計(jì)劃要求參加者清晨6點(diǎn)就起床到體育館鍛煉，然后再開始領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力培訓(xùn)。“就是想讓他們出點(diǎn)汗，”佩爾斯特說，還要讓他們學(xué)習(xí)出差時(shí)的鍛煉技巧。最初，頭頭腦腦們會(huì)抱怨太早就被叫醒了，但在計(jì)劃結(jié)束之后的反饋中，大多數(shù)人認(rèn)為健身項(xiàng)目絕對(duì)應(yīng)該保留。

????好吧，人們?cè)陂_動(dòng)腦筋前喜歡到健身器械上活動(dòng)活動(dòng)，但健身是否真的能讓人成為更好的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)？確實(shí)有這方面的正面證據(jù)。下面是一個(gè)極端的例子：根據(jù)作家兼企業(yè)家查爾斯?加西亞所著的《白宮大佬領(lǐng)導(dǎo)經(jīng)驗(yàn)談》（Leadership Lessons of the White House Fellows）一書，戴維?彼得雷烏斯將軍（現(xiàn)任中央情報(bào)局局長）聲稱身體強(qiáng)健是優(yōu)秀領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的最重要品質(zhì)。彼得雷烏斯將軍當(dāng)時(shí)是駐伊拉克的多國聯(lián)軍部隊(duì)總司令，他帶領(lǐng)部下每天進(jìn)行75分鐘的強(qiáng)化鍛煉，包括俯臥撐、引體向上和沖刺，目的是為了讓他們沖破體能極限。我們大多數(shù)人恐怕都不能承受這樣的嚴(yán)酷訓(xùn)練。

????不過即使不在彼得雷烏斯將軍手下訓(xùn)練，我們也能受益于他的戰(zhàn)略，那就是通過共度難關(guān)來培養(yǎng)團(tuán)隊(duì)精神和堅(jiān)毅品質(zhì)。領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者通常就會(huì)在這樣的嚴(yán)峻形勢(shì)下脫穎而出。這也是大學(xué)招生委員會(huì)熟知的法則：比如說，如果你想申請(qǐng)羅德獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金（該獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金享譽(yù)世界，獲獎(jiǎng)?wù)叩玫皆谂＝虼髮W(xué)學(xué)習(xí)機(jī)會(huì)，其中包括美國前總統(tǒng)克林頓——譯注），運(yùn)動(dòng)員的經(jīng)歷就會(huì)給你加分。一個(gè)人運(yùn)動(dòng)生涯表明他有足夠的精力和紀(jì)律去克服困難，取得成功。

????那是因?yàn)檫\(yùn)動(dòng)在挑戰(zhàn)個(gè)人體能極限的同時(shí)，還能揭示人的真實(shí)面目。任何人在空調(diào)辦公室里都會(huì)顯得鎮(zhèn)定自若，但是如果一個(gè)人在大汗淋漓、乳酸水平飆升的時(shí)候還能保持團(tuán)隊(duì)精神，他肯定不是一般人。這樣的人往往能在公司下一次面臨危機(jī)時(shí)帶領(lǐng)大家從容應(yīng)對(duì)。

????但大多數(shù)人都沒有時(shí)間或者體力去堅(jiān)持每天的基本訓(xùn)練。即便如此，只要保持簡單的經(jīng)常性鍛煉就能幫助我們培養(yǎng)良好的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)品質(zhì)。根據(jù)美國著名的醫(yī)學(xué)中心梅奧診所（Mayo Clinic）的研究，每周三天、每天30分鐘的鍛煉就會(huì)導(dǎo)致在體內(nèi)和大腦釋放化學(xué)物質(zhì)，幫助提升免疫系統(tǒng)活力，還能防止某些抑郁癥狀，保持清晰思考和勝任工作的能力。越來越多的研究表明，鍛煉確實(shí)能幫助人體生長新的腦細(xì)胞，增強(qiáng)記憶，還可能延緩老年癡呆癥之類疾病的癥狀。

????“在我們這個(gè)職業(yè)服務(wù)領(lǐng)域，加班加點(diǎn)是家常便飯，”佩爾斯特說。“我們也經(jīng)常出差。如果在這樣的工作安排下還能抽出時(shí)間來鍛煉，那你肯定具備長期抗壓工作的能力。”

????軟件公司SAS的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)課程效仿了人類績效研究所（Human Performance Institute）的“公司運(yùn)動(dòng)員（Corporate Athlete）”培訓(xùn)計(jì)劃。該課程名為“高效領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力及精力（Leadership and Energy for Performance）”，簡稱LE4P。90天強(qiáng)化培訓(xùn)的目的就是讓學(xué)員學(xué)會(huì)如何調(diào)節(jié)個(gè)人精力，實(shí)現(xiàn)高效領(lǐng)導(dǎo)。最初這項(xiàng)計(jì)劃僅面向頂級(jí)高管，現(xiàn)在也慢慢向下延伸。目前約有50名SAS員工已經(jīng)完成該課程，很多學(xué)員還成為了熱心的倡導(dǎo)者。

????他們看起來精力充沛，強(qiáng)健的身體起到很大作用，作為SAS人才管理和領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力培養(yǎng)團(tuán)隊(duì)的一員，克里斯?滕斯托爾說：“在鍛煉的當(dāng)天，他們效率更高，注意力更集中?！倍硪粋€(gè)好處是，“他們?cè)阱憻捴胁粩嗤黄谱晕遥缓蟀涯欠N韌勁也帶到工作當(dāng)中。”

????At a Wharton leadership conference last month, Deloitte's managing principal of talent development, Bill Pelster, was showing off his company's new leadership school in Westlake, Texas, called Deloitte University. A key piece of real estate on the $300 million facility, he said, is DU's 12,000 square-foot fitness room, called "DFit" for short.

????DFit is not just an amenity. It plays a key role in Deloitte's training programs, Pelster says. Some of the university's programs for top executives require participants to wake up at 6:00 in the morning and hit the gym before starting the leadership training part of the itinerary. "The intent is to get them into a good sweat," Pelster says, and also expose them to techniques for working out when they travel. At first, the leaders might complain about the early wake-up call, but most of them say, in their feedback after the program, that the fitness portion should definitely stay.

????So people enjoy hitting up the elliptical before working their grey matter, but does exercise actually make people better leaders? There's evidence that it does.

????It's an extreme example, but General David Petraeus (who currently heads the CIA) reportedly said that physical fitness was the most important trait for good leadership, according to author and entrepreneur Charles Garcia's Leadership Lessons of the White House Fellows. Granted, Petraeus, who was then the commanding general of the Multi-National Force in Iraq, led his troops through a 75-minute daily regimen of push-ups, pull-ups, and wind sprints designed to push the group beyond the point of exhaustion. Most of us could not keep up with that routine.

????But you don't have to train under Petraeus to benefit from his strategy, which is to cultivate teamwork and toughness by putting people through a rough situation together. Leaders tend to emerge from such situations. It's something that admissions committees have known for a long time -- if you want to be a Rhode's Scholar, for example, athletic experience is a mark in your favor. Having played sports is a good indicator that an applicant has enough energy and discipline to hack it.

????But most of us don't have the time or brute strength to go through a basic training routine every morning. Even so, the simple act of scheduling regular workouts can help develop good leadership traits. According to the Mayo Clinic, 30 minutes of exercise a day for three days a week will release chemicals in the body and brain to help boost the immune system and stave off some effects of depression, certainly a drain on a person's ability to think clearly and work well. There's also a growing body of research that exercise can actually help generate new brain cells, improving memory, and perhaps delaying the effects of diseases such as Alzheimer's.

????"Being in professional services, we work incredible hours," says Pelster. "We also tend to travel a lot. The individuals who can do that and still exercise, they can handle the pressure of this life for the long-term."

????Software company SAS modeled its leadership course after the Human Performance Institute's "Corporate Athlete" training program. SAS' course is called "Leadership and Energy for Performance," or LE4P. It's a 90-day intensive training on how to manage energy to lead effectively. At first, the program was only open to top SAS executives. Now it's trickling down the organization; about 50 SAS employees have completed it so far and many of LE4P graduates have become somewhat evangelical about the experience.

????They seem super energized, and fitness plays a big part in that, says Chris Tunstall, part of the talent management and leadership development team at SAS. "The days that they work out, they're much more productive, they're much more focused." Another benefit is, "they come out of their comfort zone, [then] they can take that mental toughness and put that in a business situation," Tunstall claims.