Episode 9: Ed Baker - An Executive's Thirst for Self-Improvement

Ed Baker has most certainly lived an accomplished and fulfilling life. He was captain of his cross country team at Harvard and then went on to Stanford School of Business. While there, he trained and ran in the Olympic Marathon Trials in 2007. Baker’s business credentials are also rather impressive, serving as Head of International Growth at Facebook and then VP of Growth and Product at Uber until the Spring of 2017.

What more could one person want to accomplish? What could possibly be next for this elite performer? Triathlon, of course!

Ed recently joined the Purple Patch team under the personal direction of Matt Dixon and this conversation takes place while Ed was at the recent Purple Patch Pro Camp in Scottsdale.  Yes, Dixon threw this triathlon newbie to the professional wolves and they had a feast. 

They also came away with many insights and lessons for any high-performing individual, and these are the nuggets that Matt and Ed discuss so thoroughly in today’s episode, including the:

• Benefits of maintaining an exercise or training routine even as a busy executive

• Value of having a coach to help you define goals and realize your full potential

• Similarities between sport and business - setting small goals and having the ability to check in frequently, embracing baby steps

• Many parallels between professional athletes and executives, including an insatiable thirst for personal evolution and growth

• Importance of nailing the basics both in work and life since that makes up 95% of performance success

• Qualities of successful people - humility, friendliness and a good sense of humor

• Word of the Week: Residence

 This is an episode for those who are on a constant quest for learning and self-improvement. The pursuit of success, whether it’s in business or sport, is truly all about the journey and putting yourself in situations where you can learn from others; even if those others happen to be professional triathletes!