How Leaders Can Build the Mental Toughness of Elite Athletes

In business — as in sport — you don’t train for the easy parts. You train for the all-nighters, the pivot nights, the sudden layoffs, the eleventh-hour reversals. You train for uncertainty — because that’s when leadership matters most.

And let’s be real: Those business curveballs aren’t stopping. Supply chain disruptions, sudden technological advancements, financing constraints — it’s part of the rhythm we’re managing through.

The leaders I admire aren’t only smarter and faster. They’re the ones who stay calm, refocus their team and keep moving, even when the scoreboard reads zero. Mental toughness is what separates reacting from responding, panic from presence.

Let me offer ten principles that are the mental reps leaders can use to be tough. Think of them as drills for your leadership mindset.

Related: Why Every Leader Needs Mental Toughness

1. Treat the highs and lows like part of the training

Volatility is normal. The leaders who thrive don’t ignore that fact — they prepare for it. Like elite athletes, they know performance under pressure doesn’t come from hype. It comes from a strong foundation of leaders knowing that every challenge is required to get better. This foundation isn’t just a mindset of the leader and the culture. It’s also the operational backbone that lets your team bend without breaking. They are conditioned, trained and organized to deal with challenges as if they are a part of the normal course of business.

That’s where companies like R&K Solutions have unique insight. Working with organizations managing massive, fast-aging infrastructures, they see firsthand how fragile systems can sabotage all the preparation done by leadership. As Chris Barns, VP at R&K, puts it: “Operating with outdated, inflexible systems compromises an organization’s ability to compete. When leaders modernize their infrastructure, they’re not just upgrading tools — they’re building the capacity to make better decisions under pressure.”

Resilient leaders know perseverance under pressure can’t stop at the mindset level and culture alone. They build it into their systems, organizational structure and standard operating procedures, so when the peaks and valleys inevitably hit, the whole organization is prepared to flex and recover.

2. Use your scars as proof you can survive again

Every leader I know has a scar story. You’ve probably got many. A failed product launch. A key hire that turned out to be a disaster. A cash flow scare that nearly broke the business. A board presentation that went terribly wrong.

At 34, I had open-heart surgery — a complete surprise. It stopped my career cold, but only for a moment. What could’ve been a derailment became a reset. That experience taught me more about resilience than any boardroom ever could. I didn’t just recover — I reemerged sharper, more focused and clearer about what really matters.

Instead of hiding those stories, learn from them. Your scars, your backstory, build your values, leadership style and your authentic self. Better yet, use these lessons openly to teach others about what you learned.

I once worked with a CEO who built one of the largest online stores in their industry. For years, everything clicked. Then market conditions shifted. Inventory piled up, margins thinned, and debt stacked faster than revenue. Suddenly, they were staring down bankruptcy. It was brutal. But they didn’t give up. They had to restructure the business and its financial model and rebuild their team around a tighter, smarter strategy. Today, they’re not just back on solid ground — they’re growing again, with more resilience and less waste.

Resilience becomes cultural when it’s modeled, not just preached. Your history of survival is one of your greatest strategic assets. Scars aren’t shameful. If you and others learn from them, they can become badges of honor.

3. See every challenge as a puzzle, not a wall

When things go sideways, some leaders freeze. Others get fascinated. That’s mental toughness: retraining your mind to see friction not as failure, but as a puzzle begging to be solved. It is natural curiosity that can serve as a superpower when facing a challenge.

I always say: If it were easy, it’d be called a hobby. It’s not. That’s why it’s called work. And if it were truly easy, everyone would do it, and nobody would make any money. The better you are at solving what’s hard, the more valuable you become. This is called a competitive advantage.

That mindset isn’t just about attitude — it’s about a supportive structure. When leaders rely on outdated or fragmented systems or underdeveloped teams, solving problems becomes very hard as knowledge and data are not readily available to find root causes and/or solutions. But when those systems are modernized and people are developed, problems suddenly look more like puzzles you can piece together. As Barns put it, “Upgrading from outdated systems isn’t just about speed — it improves data quality, reduces errors and gives leaders the confidence to move faster and smarter.” In other words, better systems don’t remove the challenge. They give leaders the clarity and leverage to solve it.

Leaders who thrive aren’t the ones with perfect answers. They’re the ones willing to stay in the problem long enough, utilizing the right tools, to unlock better ones.

4. Build a “can-do” core

I’ve never met a founder who didn’t face doubt. But the great ones? They carry a quiet certainty underneath the chaos: We’ll figure this out.

That’s not optimism. It’s identity, backed by science. A 2021 study in the Journal of Business Research found that psychological capital — traits like resilience, optimism, and self-efficacy — has a measurable, positive effect on performance, emotional well-being and adaptability in uncertain conditions.

A growth mindset is the internal muscle that allows you to pivot, reframe and outlast. It keeps you from catastrophizing when the metrics don’t look great and helps you stay curious instead of crushed.

I’ve seen it play out like this: Some leaders have a solution for every problem. Others seem to have a problem for every solution. Guess which ones keep moving forward?

The good news? This isn’t something you either have or don’t. You build it — just like any other muscle. Start by remembering what you’ve already survived. Reflect on past wins that didn’t seem possible in the moment. Visualize what success looks like. Create a plan you can actually execute. Most importantly, surround yourself with people who remind you that doubt is normal, but defeat is optional. Have the courage to take action, even with the presence of fear and unknowns. Your confidence will be felt by the rest of the team, and they will look for solutions with you.

Relentless doesn’t mean reckless. It means resilient. It means betting on yourself again and again until the odds finally catch up to your belief.

Related: 2 Practical Ways to Build the Mental Toughness You Need in Business — and in Life.

5. Curate your circle like a team roster

You don’t need 50 advisors. You need a handful of truth-sayers and experienced advisors around you who you trust to provide valuable insights and don’t just tell you what you want to hear, but what you need to hear. An empathetic ear, with a critically logical mind and positive attitude next to you can go a long way.

Leadership is lonely, but it shouldn’t be isolating. We serve hundreds of top executives at incredible organizations, and just like any top athlete, they need reliable feedback from the sidelines and during the game: mentors or coaches who’ve been through it, teammates who can carry the load and peers who challenge your blind spots. And importantly: Your circle should share your values, not just your vision. That alignment matters most when things get hard. And one of the most important influences in your circle? Your life partner or spouse.

A 2024 study published in the Journal of Business Research found that a partner’s emotional regulation significantly enhances their counterpart’s psychological capital — things like optimism, resilience and self-efficacy. In other words, a stable, emotionally intelligent life partner can help you show up stronger at work, especially during high-pressure moments.

Whether it’s your spouse, coach or closest peer, the people in your inner circle don’t just offer support. They help you lead with more clarity, calm and conviction.

6. Ask for help before you hit the wall — anticipate disaster

We celebrate boldness in entrepreneurship, but we undervalue vulnerability. And that’s a mistake. As Andy Grove, the former CEO of Intel, famously said, “Only the paranoid survive.” He wasn’t advocating fear, but rather a mindset of preparedness. Confidence is critical, but so is staying alert to where things could go wrong.

Predicting disaster at the start is a key thing I do as a parent, leader and business owner. It allows you to look around corners. In fact, it allows you to avoid many of them. Too many leaders wait until things are on fire before raising their hand. But strong leaders know when to stop, pivot or call in reinforcements. Vulnerability accelerates progress. When you admit you’re stuck early, you give yourself — and your team — room to recover faster.

In my coaching sessions, one of the most powerful moments is often this: “I don’t know what to do here.” That admission isn’t weakness. It’s the moment strategy can finally begin. Vulnerability isn’t the opposite of strength. It’s what makes strong leadership sustainable.

7. Lead from your assets — not your fears

Fear is a mental weight. And in uncertainty, it’s easy to focus on what you might lose: the big client, the runway, the reputation.

But I coach leaders to flip that lens. Start with what’s left: your capabilities, your strengths, your team, your relationships, your values. Inventory what’s still working. That clarity will remind you of what you still have to build with. The “glass is half-full” mentality will make you think about what you have at your disposal to mobilize and take on an opportunity or challenge.

Gratitude is more than perspective — it’s a productivity tool. It gets you out of survival mode and back into builder mode.

8. Control the controllables

A 2023 report by Oracle found that 85% of business leaders experience decision stress, and most say the number of daily choices they face has exploded tenfold in the last three years. That kind of cognitive overload doesn’t just slow down progress. It burns people out.

Mental toughness means narrowing your focus. You don’t control the economy. You don’t control what competitors do next. But you do control your communication, your next move, your internal culture and your priorities. That’s where you put your energy.

Remember that the biggest power a leader has is not what to say “yes” to but what to say “no” to in support of clarity, focus and results. Leadership is hard. But it’s a lot harder when you’re trying to manage things no one can.

9. Make discipline your default setting

Resilience isn’t random. It’s built on ritual.

That’s why so many top leaders I know swear by non-negotiables: a morning walk, a blocked calendar, time with mentors, sleep schedules (this one is mine), reflection time. Not because it’s trendy. But because it keeps them grounded, especially when the business isn’t. Because when crisis strikes, habits hold, not hype.

And there’s data to back it up. A recent SHRM study of 620 senior leaders found that organizations identified as “thrivers” during disruption outperformed others in both employee well-being and business results — largely due to their investment in leader resilience and cultural rituals. Resilience isn’t reactive. It’s reinforced daily.

This is what athletes understand deeply: Your habits shape your capacity. You don’t rise to the occasion. You rise to your level of preparation.

10. When outcomes are unclear, anchor to identity

The industry and economy will shift. The goal line may be moved as a result. But who you are as a leader, that’s yours to own and honor.

Mental toughness isn’t about winning all the time. It’s about showing up the same way whether you’re up 10 or down 20. Anchor your behavior to your leadership identity — not just the latest result. Integrity, grit and adaptability — those are traits you can double down on no matter the numbers.

This cascades through the organization. Your steadiness will serve as a calming energy around you. Your greatest asset as a leader is your reputation; this is what people see you as, the experience they expect when working with you. Who you are should dictate how you lead. Not just how things are going.

Related: 15 Habits of Mentally Tough People

The opportunity inside the storm

One of my favorite principles? Never waste a good crisis.

Find a way to thrive on constructive conflict. Tension reveals what needs fixing. It tests your foundations. But it also sharpens your thinking. It invites bolder innovation, smarter systems and more honest conversations. This is where growth and progress happen.

Mental toughness is what allows you to see that opportunity when others only see risk. It’s not innate — it’s trained. The reps might be emotional, not physical. But the muscle is real.

So build it. Train for it. And when the storm rolls in, don’t just survive it — lead through it.