I Took Over One of the Most Prestigious Media Firms While Training for an Ultramarathon: What I Learned Becoming CEO of The Atlantic

Leadership lessons | Productivity tips | Business strategy | Ultramarathon mindset | Media transformation
Becoming CEO of The Atlantic — one of the most respected media firms in the world — was already the biggest challenge of my career. But doing it in the middle of training for an ultramarathon changed everything.
In this article, I’ll share the hard-won lessons on leadership, endurance, digital transformation, content strategy, and personal growth from this unique intersection of professional intensity and physical perseverance.

Table of Contents

My Unexpected Path to CEO
The Ultramarathon Mindset Shift
Leading a Legacy Media Brand in a Digital World
Culture, Innovation & Resilience
Productivity Hacks from Endurance Training
How to Build High-Performance Teams
Content Strategy Lessons from The Atlantic
What Every Leader Can Learn from Endurance Sports
Conclusion: Endurance Is the Ultimate Leadership Skill


1. My Unexpected Path to CEO
Long before stepping into The Atlantic’s CEO role, I had spent my career in digital strategy, brand building, and operational turnaround roles. But nothing prepared me for the dual challenge:

Revitalizing a century-old media institution, and
Training for one of the toughest endurance races on the planet.

At the time, I was running upwards of 80 miles per week — long runs before board meetings, tempo runs between strategy sessions, recovery miles after late nights.
This wasn’t just physical training. It became a leadership crucible.

2. The Ultramarathon Mindset Shift
Training for an ultramarathon redefined how I approached leadership. Here’s what I learned:
◆ Patience Wins
In a 100-mile race, early sprinting is a disaster. Similarly, transformational leadership demands steady momentum, not quick wins.
◆ Adapt to the Terrain
Unexpected hills on a trail race taught me to expect the unexpected in business — sudden industry shifts, burnout, and competitive disruption.
◆ Pain Is Informational, Not Punitive
When your legs ache at mile 60, your mindset changes. You learn to listen to the feedback — not fight it.
These lessons translated directly into how I approached digital transformation at The Atlantic.

3. Leading a Legacy Media Brand in a Digital World
When I took over, The Atlantic was already a respected journalistic institution with a legacy dating back more than 160 years.
But prestige isn’t a strategy.
Key Challenges I Faced

Transforming legacy editorial systems to digital workflows.
Expanding global audiences without alienating core readers.
Balancing quality journalism with sustainable revenue models.

Here’s how I approached each challenge.

4. Culture, Innovation & Resilience
◆ Build a Learning Culture
Media is evolving faster than ever. I prioritized continuous learning across departments — from editorial to tech to marketing.
◆ Empower Small, Cross-Functional Teams
We shifted from traditional silos to agile squads — small groups with editorial, tech, and strategy experts working toward shared KPIs.
◆ Make Resilience a Core Value
Just as endurance runners embrace variability in weather and terrain, we embraced organizational resilience — testing new formats, failing fast, and iterating.

5. Productivity Hacks from Endurance Training
Here’s what endurance training taught me about productivity:
🕒 1. Time-Block for Deep Work
Runs require deliberate pacing. I applied the same discipline to deep work blocks — uninterrupted periods for writing, thinking, and planning.
🧠 2. Embrace Active Recovery
In ultrarunning, rest days are sacred. In leadership, they’re strategic. I scheduled real recovery time — no email, no Slack, no work — to prevent burnout.
📈 3. Use Small Wins to Build Confidence
Just as finishing a 20-mile run boosts morale, completing small strategic milestones accelerated momentum at The Atlantic.

6. How to Build High-Performance Teams
Leadership isn’t about being the smartest person in the room — it’s about building the right room.
Top Principles

Diversity of thought: Different backgrounds fuel creativity.
Psychological safety: People do their best work when they feel safe to speak up.
Ownership mindset: Teams perform best when they own outcomes, not tasks.

These principles helped us retain talent and accelerate innovation.

7. Content Strategy Lessons from The Atlantic
At a media brand like The Atlantic, content is both the product and the legacy. Here’s what worked:
✔ Prioritize Quality Over Noise
In a world obsessed with quick clicks, we doubled down on long-form, deeply reported journalism — and readers responded.
✔ Audience-Centric SEO Strategy
We optimized content in a way that honored editorial integrity and increased discovery:

Keyword research that aligns with real user intent
Topic clusters that build authority
Evergreen content that continues to drive traffic

This won both readership and SEO rankings.
✔ Experiment & Analyze
Short-form stories. Podcasts. Daily newsletters. Not every experiment succeeded — but each taught us something measurable.

8. What Every Leader Can Learn from Endurance Sports
Endurance training gave me leadership superpowers:
🧗‍♂️ 1. Embrace Discomfort
Meaningful progress always sits outside the comfort zone.
🚦 2. Patience Beats Panic
Endurance is never won at the starting line — and neither is sustainable business growth.
🔁 3. Consistency Trumps Intensity
It’s better to show up every day than to burn out spectacularly.

9. Conclusion: Endurance Is the Ultimate Leadership Skill
There’s a rhythm to both endurance sports and effective leadership — a cadence of preparation, persistence, and self-awareness.
If training for an ultramarathon taught me anything, it’s this:

Success isn’t sprinting to the finish — it’s enduring, adapting, and moving forward when others fall behind.

Whether you’re scaling a media brand or chasing your next personal best, remember this:
Your greatest competitive advantage isn’t speed — it’s endurance.