Improv Your Olympics

The Olympics! The most amazing athletes gather to compete, and it's spectacular.

I will never make an Olympic team. I'm going out on a limb here and say that you won't either. Not because you're not awesome—because you are! Not because I'm not awesome—because I am!

No, we won't compete in the Olympics for many reasons. You also don't always get the job you want for many reasons.

Why we are big losers

We tried our hardest and we weren't good enough.?Sadly, this is the case. You can work your buns off, get all the right training, make all the right connections, and still not make the team. Sometimes, you're just not the best, even when you try.

While I absolutely believe that just about anybody can learn to do just about anything, there are a limited number of slots on an Olympic team and there are a limited number of positions available at your dream company. Sometimes someone is just better than we are.

We didn't try our hardest and we weren't good enough. Did you slack off in high school gym class? Yes? Well, now you feel silly, don't you?

There are literally millions of jobs you can get without working all that hard. But there are consequences to doing so. If you don't want to try all that hard, that's fine! You don't have to! But don't whine that you didn't make the top team when you opted for the lazy girl job.

You (and your parents) didn't know the right people. Simone Biles is freaking amazing, but what if her parents (her biological grandparents) hadn't been willing to pay for gymnastics lessons? What if they were willing to pay for them, but there wasn't a good coach around?

Yes, some people move to get their children the best training or whatever. Some don't. As a child you don't get to control that. You control what you you do the best you can, but sometimes those connections make the difference between the fast path to top and the much more difficult path.

I had a recruiter tell me he'd never known anyone who got hired by applying online. I crossed him off my list of quality recruiters. If it's all networking, you're losing out on some great people who don't have the right connections.

You have bad timing. What if you were the absolute best shot-putter in the whole world in 2023 but then you broke your arm? You don't get to compete in the 2024 Olympics. Is it your fault? No. Just bad luck.

You may be the best person for a particular job but someone else is in it. So you won't get a shot.

Why are you whining about all this stuff we can't control?

I'm not much for whining, unless you've made me hike somewhere. (I live in Switzerland, where I can take a gondola to the top of a mountain, walk around, and look at the view like a sensible person.) So why did I bring up all this stupid stuff?

Because a lot of life is just unfair. If you're reading this, you have the internet, speak English (the language of international business), and have the time to look at things on LinkedIn. That means that while life is unfair, it's mostly been unfair in your favor. Your life is probably better than most people's.

Never the less, life is unfair and some people get things you don't, even when you deserve them. You'll run into people who are prettier, smarter, richer, and with better connections than you have. You'll miss out on a job because the hiring manager was dumb, or you were the 11th person to apply and the recruiter decided to just look at the first 10 people. Whatever.

You have two choice: You can whine or you can "yes, and." For those that have been reading this newsletter for a while, you figured "yes, and" was going to make an appearance soon, right?

Whining make you stuck. Yes, and makes you move forward.

No you didn't get this job, but there will be another. You didn't make the Olympic team. Well, you can have fun competing on a local level. You don't have the talent to be a neurosurgeon? Well, then practice a different field of medicine.

Years and years ago Simon Cowell told a hopeful singer "the good news is, you know you'll never be a singer." Ouch. But what a blessing! Instead of whining and working toward something she'll never accomplish, she could "yes, and" her life. "Yes, I will never be a professional singer and I will now do X."

And as long as we're talking about whining, just because you didn't have the luck to get the top spot doesn't mean you can't be happy for those that did!

And It also doesn't mean you can't try again next year, or next week , or even tomorrow. You can improve, and people who work hard tend to find they get luckier.

Coming up!

If you want to improve your knowledge, skills, and abilities, please join us at HRLearns

If you've ever thought about being an HR consultant, or your are an HR consultant, don't miss this presentation from Kara D Kelley, SPHR, SHRM-SCP .

If you want to know about what the non-compete rule really means, don't miss this presentation from Eric Meyer , Amy Epstein Gluck , Leigh Ann Buziak , and Michael Elkins .