A few observations from the Olympics…

I tweeted this the other day – Would you win an Olympic medal for your work? Would you even qualify to compete? Excellence is not just for Olympians. Why are you waiting?

And today in the paper I read about Coach K. “He’s brilliant,” Kobe said of Krzyzewski Sunday. “He communicates very well. And he’s fun. Doesn’t take himself too seriously. We all have enjoyed him immensely.” High praise from a pro ball player and it underscores that the principles of leadership truly are universal.

Communicate! How many times have we heard this one? It is a stand alone chapter in my new book, Construction Leadership from A to Z. It is regularly cited by leaders and followers as an essential ingredient in leadership. SO, What have you done lately to become a better communicator? Read a book, take a class, ask for feedback???

Make it fun! Nobody is shooting at you. The stakes are high but they are not life and death (for most of you). Humor is powerful and it helps people relax and excel. Too serious is too tight and too tight isn’t fun. Michael Phelps said he was tight when the Olympics started. When they didn’t win gold on that first medley he relaxed a bit and he swam better. Did you see the NBA players dance with joy after winning the gold? They were having fun doing something quite serious, representing all of us, and Coach K made it fun. Heck, Lebron James even poured water on him at the end. You don’ do that to guy who isn’t fun. There are many things you can do to make it more fun at work but the first thing you need to do is relax and give yourself permission to laugh and to have fun. Your quest for perfection is getting in the way of having fun. Your quest for excellence can be very fun.

And what is wrong with a silver medal? How many examples of poor sportsmanship did you see from those who got second? Then there were those who won silver and were overjoyed by it. Run a personal best and get second? Not sure how you can complain about that. Excellence is about the effort as much as it is about the result.

You cannot do it alone. This is a key leadership theme for me. Each competitor had a huge support group, formal and informal, family, coaches, and fans. Who is in your support group? Do they know it? Do you thank them? Or are you waiting for the big event to say thanks. Don’t wait. And your employees are in your group. Let them know it.

I could go on.  I already knew the results because I checked online but I enjoyed watching. Excellence in any endeavor is inspiring. Easy to measure in London, harder to measure in your world but still worth pursuing.

What did you learn watching the Olympics?

Would you win an Olympic medal for your work? Would you even qualify to compete? Excellence is not just for Olympians. Why are you waiting?

This entry was posted on Monday, August 13th, 2012 at 1:34 pm and is filed under Excellence, Leadership. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.