{"id":445,"date":"2015-08-05T17:31:06","date_gmt":"2015-08-05T17:31:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost:8888\/healthy-aging-magazine\/?p=445"},"modified":"2015-09-17T20:41:32","modified_gmt":"2015-09-17T20:41:32","slug":"driven-by-vision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/fall-2015\/fall-2015-features\/driven-by-vision\/","title":{"rendered":"Driven by Vision"},"content":{"rendered":"

F<\/span>or aspiring endurance athletes, finishing a full IRONMAN Triathlon is a daunting proposition and, in many cases, a lifetime goal. Lest you haven\u2019t heard, the IRONMAN<\/a> is a serious sweat day that includes a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike ride and a 26.2 mile marathon invented to triple test the limits of hearts, legs and minds, hopefully between sun up and sundown. Many who do one of these say \u2018that\u2019s enough.\u2019 And, then there are those who repeat the challenge as if one is never enough.<\/p>\n

One of those never enough guys is fifty-seven year old Steve Nelson, who also happens to be the much in demand CEO of UnitedHealthcare<\/a> Medicare & Retirement which, if it were a standalone business, would rank 59th on the Fortune 500 list. That job in itself would exhaust most.\n[awesome-gallery id=1406]

(Left) Nelson and wife, Keri, after completing Tour de Tonka. Photo: Nelson family (right) Steve Nelson. Photo: Scott Amundson, courtesy of UnitedHealthcare<\/p>\nNot enough for Nelson. He\u2019s finished four IRONMAN Triathlons, sixteen half IRONMANS, ten marathons, countless bike races and who can count how many thousands of pool laps?<\/p>\n

As if all that isn\u2019t enough, Nelson didn\u2019t become an endurance junkie until after he hit forty.<\/p>\n

So why, at middle age, would an already successful business leader, proud father of four, loving husband and faithful churchgoer, need a new world to conquer?<\/p>\n

As a lifelong athlete, he admits to discovering a middle-aged need for a new athletic purpose beyond running a few times a week or exercising just to keep fit. Surprisingly, it was also the appeal of a multi-sport discipline that requires complicated juggling of time and focus as well as planning and dedication, values that he promotes, by example, to the people around him.<\/p>\n

Nelson wanted a coach who could not only help him improve but would also provide a training plan that could fit into his demanding schedule. Enter Dave Scott, who earned the nickname \u201cThe Man\u201d for winning six IRONMAN\u00a0World Championships and is now considered one of triathlon\u2019s preeminent coaches. Scott says, \u201cHe\u2019s driven but also realistic in his goals. And he doesn\u2019t procrastinate or whittle away his time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Caption:

Nelson training for IRONMAN New Zealand competition. Photo: Nelson family<\/p><\/div>\n

Scott has helped him structure his training to fit a busy schedule and focus on goals that may be less stringent without diminishing the challenge. For example, Nelson\u2019s best IRONMAN time was 12 hours, 48 minutes. Now he strives to always \u201cbe in the twelves and finish by 8:00 PM.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most importantly, in addition to the strategy and discipline that triathlon training requires, he admits that \u201cI also appreciate the fact that triathlon training makes me disconnect from the world for a couple hours a day. I get a lot of good thinking done when I\u2019m training.\u201d\n[awesome-gallery id=1392]

(Left) IRONMAN swim start. Photo by Hugh Gentry\/IRONMAN (Right) Cyclists competing in IRONMAN. Photo by Nils Nilsen\/IRONMAN<\/p>\nFor Nelson, a big part of his thinking time deals with the pressures and challenges of leading 3,300 employees and delivering a healthier life challenge to millions of Medicare subscribers every day. It\u2019s something he doesn\u2019t take lightly and one of the key reasons why he finds triathlon a perfect vehicle for driving the message of finding purpose and meaning in life, particularly more powerful as one ages.<\/p>\n

Getting older appears to be the key. For most people, the forties and fifties are when self-examination takes a turn from \u2018What do I want to do?\u2019 to \u201cWho do I want to be?\u2019 It\u2019s a time of renewing vision, lining up priorities and making sure they all mesh.<\/p>\n

Nelson is a good example of that. As he nears sixty, he places high importance on life balance and leading by example, two critical factors that are needed as a dedicated family man and a master athlete as well as a busy CEO and the face of a company that is dedicated to helping people live heathier lives.<\/p>\n

His Type A personality is particularly suited to such challenges. He\u2019s one of those guys who relaxes by doing more, thrives on multi-tasking and sets high standards for himself and others.<\/p>\n

In everything.<\/p>\n

As the CEO of UnitedHealthcare\u2019s Medicare\u00a0& Retirement division, Nelson has a heartfelt responsibility to set a vision for the company\u2019s customers who are at or near retirement age by driving UHC\u2019s core message: \u201cHelp people live healthier lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under Nelson\u2019s leadership, the company\u2019s specific responsibilities to the 65+ generation have been translated into supporting local initiatives like sponsoring the Connecticut Masters\u2019 Games, a polo team in the Villages in Florida, a \u201cSenior Prom\u201d in the Denver area and employee volunteer programs across the country that are designed to build healthier communities through engagement in things like outdoor fitness stations, community gardens and food drives.<\/p>\n

Thierry Attias, president of Momentum Sports, the company that runs a professional cycling team sponsored by UnitedHealthcare puts it another way, \u201cSteve Nelson is a big picture guy. He\u2019s a big thinker who can grasp concepts for the greater good. He can translate sponsorship of a cycling team into inspiration for better health, fitness, goal setting…things that he believes in and practices himself.\u201d\n[awesome-gallery id=1404]<\/p>\n

With four grown children, five grandchildren and a wife who also likes to run and cycle, Nelson balances his training, racing and business with attending games, hiking with his wife and regularly devoting Sundays to church and relaxation. It all goes back to who one wants to be later in life. For Steve Nelson, he figures it\u2019s setting a good example as husband and father, business leader and athlete. As he advances in age, his vision of a life of meaning and purpose is more about the convergence of those commitments and the example it can set for others.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnything is possible if you get engaged,\u201d he says. \u201cYou own your own health, you make the choice.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UnitedHealthcare CEO, Steve Nelson, who manages to juggle family and full-throttle business activities with Ironman races.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1549,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fall-2015","category-fall-2015-features"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=445"}],"version-history":[{"count":50,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2487,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445\/revisions\/2487"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}