“Running Helps to Deal With Problems”: The Head of Lululemon Is About Sports
The head of the Canadian company Lululemon Calvin McDonald is a big fan of sports. He competes in one of the toughest competitions in the world, the Ironman triathlon series. Here’s how he prepares for races and keeps motivated to train regularly.
Canadian company Lululemon Athletica, founded in 1998, has grown from a small firm specializing in women’s yoga pants to a sports retailer with 574 stores worldwide and a capitalization of $45.2 billion in just over 20 years. In 2020, the company ranked 25th in BrandZ’s Most Valuable Retail Brands. And in many respects this happened thanks to its current CEO Calvin McDonald.
He joined the company in 2018 and took over as CEO in 2021. Prior to that, McDonald worked for five years for the Sephora perfume and cosmetics chain, which is owned by one of the world’s largest luxury goods manufacturer LVMH. Ideas McDonald sees as key to Lululemon are being active, striving for self-improvement and taking care of yourself. He tries to be a worthy representative of his company: McDonald loves sports and participates in Ironman races (a series of long-distance triathlon competitions) three times a year. To stay in shape and prepare for competitions, he maintains strict discipline and a rigid training schedule.
About “achievement” and Ironman
Like many Canadians, McDonald played a lot of hockey as a child. But he was not limited to this sport. “I ran a lot and fell in love with it,” says McDonald, who has run several major marathons including London, Boston, New York and Chicago.
He says that running is a good opportunity to think about important topics. “Depending on the circumstances and mood, while running, I deal with myself, with problems, I think about relationships with family and friends,” says McDonald. He says he thinks better on the move. “If there is a problem at work, I just go for a walk. Sometimes for three or four hours. Sometimes I run. So it turns out to put thoughts in order,” says McDonald.
Gradually McDonald moved on to triathlon and began participating in the Ironman. He believes that the love for this sport is due to his character. “I am that typical “achiever” who loves to win. But I understand that I will never take a prize in Ironman,” he says. According to the head of Lululemon, this is how he learns humility and rethinks the understanding of success. “Every time I race I compete against myself, I try to do my best on that day,” he says.
Ironman requires serious preparation, on the day of the competition you need to be in great shape. Therefore, McDonald trains daily. This, in turn, teaches you how to set priorities correctly and manage time competently, which he, the head of a large corporation, always lacks.
About setting goals
McDonald usually wakes up at 6 or 6:30 in the morning and first of all looks at what is planned for the day. He believes that a strict daily routine helps to find a balance between work and personal life. “When I get up, I think about the best time to train. I always try to have at least one or two workouts a day and swim in the pool in the morning,” he says.
The head of Lululemon believes that efficiency directly depends on the ability to manage time. “My philosophy is that you can get things done in a day, but you have to choose what is really important and not do what is not very important,” he says. Often McDonald tries to combine several things at once, for example, training and leisure with the family. “My kids ride bikes while I run,” he says.
The head of Lululemon pays a lot of attention to the correct setting of goals. So he outlines the landmarks and seeks a balance between what is now and what he wants to achieve. In business, goal setting promotes accountability and focus. According to him, their intentions should be periodically reviewed and adjusted. “I have always been a goal-oriented person, and my desire to stay healthy through sports has become a solid basis for planning my life,” he says.
He believes that reflection plays an important role in determining goals and ways to achieve them. “To do this, you need to move from a reactive state of mind to a more proactive one. For me, it means allowing myself to pause, think about what I have learned, how I want to express myself, grow and change something in the future,” he says.
Sources: Fortune, Like the Wind Magazine, LinkedIn, The New York Times.