Marie “Lootie” Léautéy did what most people would never dare to attempt.
She ran the equivalent of 700 marathons across four continents in 697 days – roughly a marathon every day for nearly two years. Her journey across four continents totaled 28,249 kilometers, without a single injury, and wearing through 16 pairs of running shoes along the way.
No coach. No pace car. Just her and a stroller named “Bob”, carrying everything she needed to survive.
But what makes Lootie’s story relevant to leaders isn’t just the scale of her achievement. It’s how she did it. And why.
Leadership Starts at the Factory Floor
Before she was an ultra-runner, Lootie was a CFO. And like many leaders, she knew that success didn’t come from blindly following a script. Early in her finance career, she learned that if you want to lead effectively, you need to get down to the factory floor and understand the machinery. That same mindset drove her marathon strategy.
“I stripped everything,” she said. “I wasn’t going to follow the standard science. I started with my body, my metabolism, my biomechanics. If you don’t understand how your machinery works, how can you protect it?”
That’s leadership. Not just doing more, doing smarter. Building awareness. Designing performance from the inside out.
Purpose Is More Than a Poster
Most companies have mission statements. Lootie had a motto:
“I’m running around the world to gather a unique sensorial experience of it, and have tremendous fun doing it.”
She used it every day – not as a mantra, but as a decision-making tool.
When borders closed during the pandemic, she was rerouted through Europe adding 8,000 unexpected kilometers, and still – she came back to that line.
Her focus wasn’t how far do I have to go, but why am I doing this?
Leaders often drift when they can’t connect daily effort to deeper meaning. Performance sags. Motivation dips. Cynicism creeps in. But when purpose is clear, the path – even a tough one – becomes easier to trust.
Rethinking Performance: Metrics That Matter
Lootie’s goal wasn’t time. It wasn’t even distance.
It was presence. Curiosity. Mastery.
She averaged four-and-a-half hours per marathon, pushing a 30-kilo buggy full of supplies. But she never ran against the clock. She ran with it – pausing to watch kangaroos in Australia, dip her toes in rivers, or connect with strangers in Montana saloons.
In business, we often fixate on pace: quarterlies, KPIs, outputs per hour.
But what if we asked:
- What did I learn today?
- What perspective did I gain?
- What conversation changed how I think?
Those are performance indicators too. They build resilience, agility, and trust.
Recovery Isn’t a Luxury – It’s a Strategy
Her run days were followed by what she called “recovery with purpose.”
Whether it was meeting locals, walking ancient cities, or accepting spontaneous dinner invites, recovery wasn’t about escape. It was about connection. She restored her energy through community and conversation.
As leaders, we underestimate the ROI of recovery. We hustle harder instead of slowing down to recalibrate. But burnout isn’t a badge. Neither is white-knuckling your way through uncertainty.
As Lootie proved, recovery fuels sustainability. And sustainability is a competitive edge.
Bring It Back to the Business
You don’t have to run around the world to operate with endurance and purpose. But you do have to prepare like it matters. You do have to define what success means beyond the spreadsheet. And you do have to return, daily, to a purpose that can carry you forward.
Whether you’re leading a team through transformation or stepping into a bigger role, the question remains:
Are you running toward something that matters? Or are you just trying to finish the day?
Make it count.
If this conversation resonated, here’s how to take it further:
Explore the FREE Team Assessment Toolkit from Sal Silvester.
It brings to life the very human workplace needs at the heart of leadership: Connection, Certainty, Contributions, Clarity, Challenge, and Community. Includes a masterclass video, team survey, Sal’s book The Deeply Human Workplace, and – most valuable – a complimentary insight session to help you translate all of this into real leadership action.
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