With the embarrassment of France’s opening ceremonies, I felt it was a good time to get the focus back on the athletes themselves. The following are six leadership lessons we learn from Olympic champions like Katie Ledecky, Simone Biles, and more!
Champions Love “The Grind” And Never Find It Boring
The Grind is the lonely work, the day-to-day activity, which you must do to be successful. It is the part of the job no one sees and congratulates you for. Champions not only enjoy the grind, they never find it boring. It is because of the private grind that they get cheers in public. Katie Ledecky, the greatest female swimmer in history, is one such champion.
In a recent news conference, Olympic swimming coach Anthony Nesty said, “I think she enjoys the day-to-day more than she does competing. That’s why her career has been steady from day one, where she broke out for the first time. I can tell you she wants to swim forever because she enjoys it so much, and to be doing it at this level for that long, it takes a special person.”
What Nesty’s words teach us is champions who love the grind are steady and maintain their performance for extended periods of time. Champions who love the grind are special people.
Champions Get Motivated By The Impossible
Average is overrated. In Ledecky’s memoir Just Add Water: My Swimming Life, she writes, “The more far-fetched an objective appears when I come up with it, the better. If, when I say my goals out loud to my coaches, they sound unfeasible — that’s when I know I’m on the right track.”
She adds, “The impossible is what motivates me every day to go to the pool. It’s so satisfying, so epically rewarding, when you start chipping away at those idealistic goals. Nothing has made me more committed to my training than choosing a scary goal and taking the steps to go after it.”
Champions are never reduced to a level of mediocrity. They are motivated by what others only dream about.
You can purchase Ledecky’s book by clicking HERE or on the image provided. #CommissionsEarned. You can learn about her leadership by clicking 3 Things The Very Best Leaders Do To Continue Getting Better – Lessons From Record Breaking Katie Ledecky.
Champions Trust Their Training and Execute
Champions are never satisfied and are continually looking at what’s next. In this The Athletic article, 100 meter swimmer Gretchen Walsh said, “Everyone always says, like, I’m just a bathtub swimmer (short distances), can’t do the long-course pool, but I think I finally proved to myself that I can do both. I know that I still have a lot of room to grow in terms of long-course but having (made the world championship team) as Round 1 and building up from there, I’ve already taken so many lessons that I learned from that meet into my training.”
Walsh understands that not only is an Olympic Gold medal the expectation for her, it may take a world record to completely silence her critics. Still, that is not where her focus is.
She added, “I had a talk with my confidence coach, and we were just saying, all I have to do is execute. Nothing more, nothing less. Just execute.”
When you are in high-stakes environments and much is expected from you, trust your training and executive. Nothing more, nothing less.
***Update*** In her first swim on July 27, 2023 she did set an Olympic record for the 100 meter butterfly.
Champions Deal With Pressure By Focusing On Their Execution
Gabby Thomas is one of the world’s most accomplished sprinters. She embraces the pressure that comes with it. She told The Athletic, “Great athletes are under pressure, and I just understand that. And so, if I want to be a great athlete, if I want to be among the names of Sanya (Richards-Ross), Allyson (Felix) … you just have to compete under pressure and accept that’s part of it.”
Thomas understands that pressure breaks rocks, but it also creates diamonds. To handle the pressure, her memory is her greatest asset. She added, “There is a lot more pressure when you already have medals, when people know your name. But there’s also comfort in knowing, ‘OK, I have done this before.’ I just feel that maturity. I feel like, ‘OK, I’m going to go out and execute and I’m not going to let the nerves get to me.’ And that’s a feeling that just — you can’t explain, but it is so comforting to know that.”
Your memory reminds you that if you have done something once before, it is possible to do it again.
Thomas teaches us that when you trust your memory and preparation, you can focus on your execution rather than the pressure itself.
Champions Continually Innovate
Simone Biles is the greatest and most influential gymnast in history. Biles is so talented she has five signature moves named after her.
On Friday, July 27th, she submitted a new move on the uneven bars to the International Gymnastics Federation. the move is called a Weiler-kip. It is a move on the uneven bars which The Athletic calls “essentially a rotation around the bar to a handstand — followed by a 540-degree (one-and-a-half) turn.”
If she hits it, this will be her sixth signature move.
Champions are never satisfied with the status quo. They are continually pushing the boundaries, taking new ground, and breaking through obstacles. They often go where no one has gone before.
Biles is about to do it for the sixth time.
For more on the leadership of Simone Biles, click 12 Leadership Quotes And Lessons From Olympians Simone Biles And Usain Bolt.
Champions Have A Sense Of Urgency
While Biles never seems satisfied, others can appear to become complacent or stale. In its final two exhibition games, the heavily-favored United States mens basketball team defeated Serbia by only four points and Southern Sudan by only one. These were sobering results. The team needed a wake-up call. So much so head coach Steve Kerr needed to create a spark.
He told The Athletic, “(It’s) just effort and energy, play after play after play. This is different. This is not an 82-game season (like the NBA). They’re not going to play 125 games total with preseason and playoffs and all that. It’s literally six games. And watching the tape, we’re jogging through some possessions, not hitting bodies on box-outs. And so it’s time. It’s time to lock in on that. And as I said, that’s for all of us — coaches and players — to get to that point.”
One of a leader’s responsibilities is to raise the organization’s level of urgency and get them to lock in…. before it’s too late.
For more on the leadership of Steve Kerr, read 10 Reasons Golden State Warriors Head Coach Steve Kerr Is A Great Leader.
Conclusion
From these five champions, we learn the following leadership lessons:
- Love the grind and never find it boring.
- Get motivated by the impossible.
- Trust your training and execute.
- Deal with pressure by focusing on your execution.
- Continually Innovate
- Have a sense of urgency.
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These quotes will take 15 minutes to read and a lifetime to apply. Let’s get started. You’re about to get smarter and better as a leader! #CommissionsEarned