Olympic Sized Leadership Lessons
By Leanne Crain
The buzz around the office these days is, of course, one of the biggest events to hit Canada in a long while - the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In true BizXcel fashion, when we discuss the Olympics and the athletes, we also analyze the leadership lessons we can learn from them. As we cheer on all the competitors and wave our red mittens, let us take a few moments to reflect on a few of the important lessons we have taken away so far.
1. Doing more with less. While the times are getting better, budgets are still tight. The Olympics was no exception, starting with the opening ceremonies. The opening is meant to wow the world. If you watched the Beijing Olympics, you would have no doubt heard that China had spent over 100 million dollars to make that performance what it was. The 2010 Olympics operated on a much lower budget, and yet still had to live up to the expectations laid out before them. Using creative thinking and problem solving, the director had to come up with ways to use illusions and technology, rather than extra manpower.
2. Leadership requires humility, honesty and poise. Beginning with the day of the opening ceremonies, the Olympic committee has had to face many challenges. With the tragic loss of an athlete hours before the games were set to open, the committee had to face speculations, criticism and one of the worst outcomes they could have imagined. The leaders pulled the team together and came up with a game plan of how they could move forward, while still showing respect.
3. Quick decision making. There has been a lot of it so far! You may not have even noticed some of it, but I assure you it's there. No snow for skiing? Let's fly it in. Hydraulic lift not working on the caldron? The show must go on. Fence blocking the view of the outdoor caldron? Find a workable solution. Apologize if it's something you overlooked. Through it all, remain calm and optimistic. In watching the interviews with the committee members, not once have I heard them complain. Instead I have heard - "we have it under control" or "we are confident the snow is on its way" or "we are now aware there is a problem, we made a mistake, and we're fixing it right away".
4. Let's not forget the athletes here. Yes, they are a greatly talented group, but talent is only a small fraction of what got them to the Olympics. The rest of the path was forged by their pure dedication, sacrifice and hard work. You could be the most talented graduate of your education, but without the dedication and hard work, your talent will be futile. We should not forget how much it took those athletes just to get to the Olympics, let alone win a medal. True, maybe they didn't meet the expectations that were laid out for them, but they were out there giving it their all, working hard to achieve their goal. Failing to achieve your goal does not make you a failure.
5. If you do win, win with grace. Just last night I stayed up to watch the final Ice Dance event. If you didn't get a chance to catch it, the gold medal went to Canadians, and the silver medal went to their training mates from the US, followed by Russia in bronze. It was a historical time - North America has never reached the top of the ice dance podium before. As they brought out the gold medalists they did something unusual. Rather than getting up on the podium right away to accept their medal, they instead went to their competitors to congratulate them and thank them. Following that the comment was made by the Canadian team that they partially owed their success to the US team. Through training together as friends, but also as rivals, they consistently pushed each other to do better, and the end result was a side-by-side podium finish. The same is true in the workplace. If you work together, and constantly push each other to do better, you will be motivated to go beyond your perceived limits.
If you have been watching like we have, what leadership lessons have you been able to see from the Olympics? What has inspired you the most? We invite you to share with us! Send us an email, or join the discussion on our facebook fan page - we want to hear the leadership lessons you have found.
Finally, remember, when you cheer on the athletes, even through their upsets, be on the look-out for what you can learn from each one. Assess yourself against them - what could you learn? Meet as a team and discuss the lessons, and how you could apply them within. Above all else, cheer for those who are there, regardless of how they have placed. After all, they have put themselves on the line and dared to fail in front of the world, on the chance they might just have that perfect run they've been training for their whole lives and achieve the ultimate success for their country.
For more information on leadership, please contact Gary Gzik at ggzik@bizxcel.com
Leanne Crain is a Marketing Assistant for BizXcel. Her background is marketing and tourism, and she has over 12 years experience in the sales and marketing field.
