What’s happening: Ashley Faithful, founder of AF Training, has identified consistent patterns among Australia’s top performing executives after years of working closely with leading business leaders.
Why this matters: Understanding how top leaders structure their time, protect their cognitive resources, and maintain their resilience provides practical insights for anyone managing high-pressure functions where quality decision-making and consistent output are critical to organizational success and personal well-being.
High performance among Australia’s top executives has nothing to do with working longer hours or enduring exhaustion. It’s about developing daily routines that protect cognitive resources and boost energy when it matters most.
Ashley Faithful, founder of AF Training, has spent years working closely with some of Australia’s most effective business leaders. Across industries, ages and leadership styles, the patterns are remarkably consistent.
“High performance is not by chance, but developed,” says Faithful. “The leaders who consistently deliver results, navigate complexity with clarity, and inspire their teams do so not by chance, but through deliberate choices and disciplined routines.”
Outsourcing structure
One of the most striking habits Faithful observes is how top executives conserve decision-making energy by removing or outsourcing choices that don’t require their direct input.
“High-performing leaders must constantly make difficult decisions and therefore must conserve their energy to make the right decisions when they are needed most,” said Faithful.
Instead of deciding when and what to train or what to eat every day, they hand that responsibility over to a coach or a system. This protects their mental bandwidth and ensures that cognitive reserves are spared for critical business decisions.
The approach reflects a broader understanding that energy, focus and resilience are finite resources that require intentional management.
Data over opinions
Nearly every top executive Faithful trains prefers statistics over opinions when it comes to performance information. They track business KPIs, in addition to sleep quality metrics and training load data.
“Data gives them confidence in the process,” says Faithful. “It also meets their need for measurable results. Something that is deeply rooted in key leadership roles.”
When the numbers show progress, they remain consistent. When data signals fatigue, they adapt without ego. This focus on metrics improves both physical progress and mental acuity throughout the day.
The preference for objective information over subjective advice extends to all aspects of their routines, from business strategy to personal well-being.
Training as a strategy
High-performing executives view their bodies and minds as integral tools for leadership, with training sessions representing deliberate investments in these assets.
Exercise isn’t about appearance or checking boxes. It’s about improving cognitive performance and maintaining high energy levels over long days.
“They know the far-reaching benefits of exercise. How resistance training is necessary to improve longevity, strength and resilience,” Faithful said. “How cardiovascular work, mobility and recovery practices are equally important to achieving their optimal energy levels, goals and readiness metrics.”
These leaders do not fit into their work. They structure everything around maintaining and optimizing their most crucial resource: themselves.
Faithful also notes that top executives consistently invest in strengthening important relationships, both at work and in their personal lives. Professionally, they maintain connections with colleagues, clients and teams through regular check-ins and mentoring. Personally, they make time for family, friends and their own mentors.
“The leaders I work with know that sustainable success isn’t just about strategy or productivity, it’s also about people,” said Faithful.
Strong personal support networks increase resilience, perspective and overall well-being, laying the foundation for sustained high performance.
What Faithful has learned by observing these patterns is that executive leadership excellence requires designing days that protect and strengthen finite resources. These are not just theoretical concepts, but actionable, repeatable habits that transform leaders’ performance, well-being and influence.
This article is based on insights from Ashley Faithful, founder of AF training.
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