Gold Medal Standard: The Intersection of Ambition and Achievement for Women in the Workplace

Olympians are driven by an unyielding ambition.

They pursue excellence and have high standards.

You may not be looking to achieve gold at the next olympics, but my guess is that you too are in pursuit of excellence and have gold medal standards in the work you do.

You might not have featured on TV screens across the globe over the past few weeks aiming for world records, going head-to-head against the world’s best, winning gold medals, or setting personal bests in your sporting endeavours.

However….

You may identify as someone who is ambitious, driven, committed to your work and focused on how you show up for your clients, team and company.?

But there are no medals at work.?

Watching the Olympics, we can all appreciate the effort, the skill, and the training that goes into being masterful at their sport and craft.

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Here are a few ways that you can take inspiration from these incredible athletes to get to new heights in your career.

1. Training.

Olympians have rigorous training schedules, often pushing through physical and mental barriers to master new skills and be the best.

In the corporate world this translates to continuous learning and skill development. This could include planning out courses, workshops, webinars to attend for the next 6 months or seeking out mentorship.

If staying competitive and moving towards your goals is what you have in mind then investing in your growth is crucial.

2. Overcoming setbacks.

Setbacks are far from uncommon in athletes, injuries, illness, changes to schedules or events, losing races or matches that you feel you should’ve won, but these athletes are resilient.

In your career you will face setbacks. These could include being overlooked for a promotion, facing redundancy, having a difficult boss, tight deadlines, projects that missed the mark.

If moving forward is your goal, then setbacks can be planned for and building your resilience muscle like these Olympians will move you closer to your goal.

3. Celebrate.

Olympians celebrate their wins! Big time! They’ve worked hard, overcome obstacles, been consistent in their endeavour to achieve and when they make it…they celebrate.

I don’t think this needs much explanation, but celebrate your wins too.

For more on this topic including how you can build resilience and adopt a growth mindset like an Olympian, you can listen to episode 114 of The Aligned Achiever podcast at https://siobhanbarnes.com/114