3 Significant lessons leaders and businesses can learn from Olympians

The performance of Olympic athletes represents the higher heights we can all aspire to attain in our professional duties. 

They show uncommon commitment to their craft, discipline, and mental stamina that few professionals dream of.

Every four years, the Games brings together the world to celebrate excellence and dedication to sportsmanship. In the process, we cheer, celebrate, and cry with athletes as they experience the joys and pain of the competition.

Almost every human emotion is displayed during the Games. The games offer leaders and professionals great lessons that make our endeavours more glorious.

Every Olympian demonstrates long-term orientation, embraces constraints, focuses on their goals and celebrates their performance and the games they are part of.

Focus on the long-term; it’s an infinite game 

Olympians go through four years of preparation for every competition. Many athletes spend 4000 hours preparing for a sport that lasts only forty minutes in the Olympic Games.

After the Paris Olympics Games, some athletes have already started preparing for the next four years.

An athlete will wake up tomorrow for a morning run because of the Olympic games. Every athlete appreciates how their actions today affect their goals in the next four years.

An athlete who starts competing as a teenager may be able to participate in not more than 5 Olympic competitions if they keep working on their craft.

However, businesses play an infinite game because they exist to serve humanity. Unfortunately, most leaders prepare only for the next quarter.

The short-term orientation of business leaders leads to suboptimal outcomes for communities. Leaders are better off working with an Olympic cycle. Instead of prioritizing next quarter’s sales, leaders should build resilient and adaptable businesses that meet customers’ needs.

Usain Bolt, eight-time Olympic gold medallist, arguably the greatest sprinter ever, said, “I rained for four years to only run for nine seconds. There are people who because they do not see the results in two months give up and quit. Sometimes failure is brought on by oneself”.

In a world of instant messaging and applause, you need to continue to put in the hours on your most important goals, even if you don’t see results in four months.

Anticipate and prepare to address potential constraints to success

Most decorated Olympians win by embracing constraints. They do not anticipate and train for perfect conditions.

They train for the most improbable. They do not assume they will not have clear conditions on the day of the competition.

They understand that it is normal for weather conditions to be worse and equipment to malfunction on the day of the competition.

The current 100-meter gold medallist, Julien Alfred, practised in the rain because it could rain on the day of the competition.

It was raining on the day of the final, and she did her best to win in Paris.

Consider Michael Phelps, one of the most decorated athletes with eight gold medals, who had to overcome a significant constraint to win his 8th gold medal.

In the 2008 Olympics, he has already won 7 gold medals. Winning the 8th will put him in an elite category of Olympians. He was well prepared to achieve that feat.

As soon as he jumped into the swimming pool, his goggles began to fill with water. It was an unfortunate event.

There was no time to rectify the situation in such a highly competitive sport where every second counts.

He had to compete. He remained calm and went through what he had learnt during training. He had been practising swimming with malfunctioning goggles with his coach.

They had trained for every possible scenario that could go wrong. He had practised and knew the number of strokes he had to make from one end of the pool to another.

With malfunctioning goggles, Michael Phelps swam his way to victory.

A helpful question every professional can ask as they prepare to perform their craft on any occasion is, “What constraints must I overcome to win? In a world complex that is rapidly changing, any strategy that ignores to address this question is bound to bend to the harsh realities of the marketplace.

Do not focus on the competition when competing

When athletes do not succeed at the Olympics, they wait another four years to compete again. Yet almost all Olympians do not focus on the competition.

They focus on their preparation and the finish line or the goal they have set for themselves.

We have witnessed many athletes surrender their lead during competition because they turned to look at the competitors around them instead of running with all their energies towards the finish line.

Serena Williams, who has four Olympic gold medals, says, “I don’t compete with others. I compete with myself to be better than I was yesterday. I don’t focus on my opponents. I focus on my own game”.

In my strategy sessions, getting leaders to focus on their game rather than the competition is a great challenge. Indeed, the target is the customer, not the competition. Focusing on the customer enables the business to serve customer needs better.

One sport that athletes run for themselves is the Marathon. Last week, I watched the Marathon in Paris as athletes ran to finish the race and checked their time after 50 people had already run past them. They were running for themselves.

Though they were not among the top performers, they kept running.  Olympians enjoy applause before and after their performance.  When they perform, they focus on executing their routines excellently. At the end of the race, they celebrate each other.

They know how hard each athlete has worked to be at the Olympics. One of the most beautiful scenes from the recent Olympics is the US silver and bronze medallists honouring the Brazilian gold medallist by bowing.

Businesses and leaders can celebrate each other as they work collectively to provide goods and services that make communities better.