11 things we can learn from the Olympics

I did enjoy watching the Olympics.??Aren’t the human race amazing, the things they can achieve???And it’s wonderful that the world can put aside its differences and come together, just for fun really, for two weeks of celebration of sporting achievement.

But what can we, as mere mortals, learn from watching these amazing dedicated/obsessed people???What can we apply to our ordinary lives, and our work?

Here are my 11 thoughts:

Success

1.??????Being even slightly better than the others is enough to win – and it’s the same with sales, for example.??So, small improvements are worth making.??Read that book!??Go on that course!??Ask that person for advice!

2.??????Don’t give up if you're trailing, and don’t assume it’s in the bag if you’re ahead -?it’s not over until the last yard.??This applies to sales, negotiating, and project management just as much as the 100m relay.

3.??????Put?everything?into whatever you do.?Don't finish with gas in the tank (the Norwegian who won the triathlon didn’t, while the Brit who came second did).??We all want to be proud of what we did, and even if we fail we want to know we gave it our best shot. Work is the same – but maximum effort into it, for yourself as well as for your company and your customers.

4.??????It is so easy to MISS your thing, whether it’s table tennis, diving, or selling or running projects or solving engineering problems – the athletes all only found it because of a coach or friend or because of a chance event.?I got quite into fencing, and I only discovered it because I heard a weird clanging noise coming from the end of the corridor and I went to investigate, and when I stood there staring they invited me to have a go – and I did.??So keep looking for “your thing”, it’s out there somewhere - and help your children to find theirs, keep trying different things until they find the one that clicks.?

Happiness

5.??????Not everyone can get an Olympic gold - you need talent as well as hard work to be the best in the world - but everyone can be GOOD at something, if they just do the work.???You don’t need talent, that’s just an excuse - you can be good at ANYTHING if you want to.

6.??????Competitiveness - we love the Olympics (and sport generally) but in the UK the schools are moving away from it, and it’s true, competitiveness not a strategy for happiness - because most people can’t be number 1, and even those that do can’t sustain it.??Are we right to reduce success but increase happiness???I don’t know for sure, but I think so.??Yes we need a few high achievers to give us progress, but we’ll always get them, so maybe it’s the right plan to focus on the happiness of the many?

7.??????What makes YOU happy??Even golds, and certainly silvers, often don’t.?So think before starting anything big, before investing huge amounts of time.?Maybe dabble in many activities rather than excel in one??Be OK at tennis, OK at the saxophone, OK at oil painting.??This will give you more happiness in total.

8.??????Teamwork is known to make people happier - the GB sprinters and the cyclists and skateboarders, they were cheering each other on, which was wonderful to see.???Compare that with the Jamaican 100m ladies sprint winner – incredible achievement but nobody there to congratulate her on the track, not even the other runners from her country.

Management

9.??????Leadership and strategy - e.g. the UK rowing, and the USA 100m relays, both underperformers, were great examples of how it’s vital to have a leader, and to have a plan if you want to succeed at anything.?

10.????Ability to inspire others – the athletes were all inspired by someone else, boxing (inspired by Nicola Adams), the cyclists inspired by Chris Hoy, etc.?We all have a duty to inspire others, in our everyday lives – are you mentoring anyone?

11.????We all have a massive need for recognition.?That’s all a medal is, really, “Look what I did!”??“Yes, we think you’re amazing, we salute you”.???And the AMOUNT of effort that people put into getting those medals….?So: can you give recognition to team members, employees, friends, loved ones, children, even parents?

onwards and upwards!

Chris