World-class athletes are a rare breed: it takes courage, perseverance, discipline and passion to reach Olympic levels. Athletes can teach us a great deal about leadership – including the fact that it’s not always about winning. Nowhere was this lesson more evident than in the inspirational story of racer Derek Redmond’s finish in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Derek was favored to win a Gold Medal in a running event – watch what happened.
Read more about Derek’s dramatic Olympic finish.
Here are some other leadership lessons shared by Olympic athletes – we’re offering key bullet points, but click through for the full story.
8 leadership lessons we learn from Olympic athletes
Four-time gold medal winner Sanya Richards-Ross shares her story and offers her advice:
- Visualize the end
- Build a team you can trust
- Seek out the best and learn from them
- Learn from your mistakes
- Practice every day
- Warm up before an event
- Exemplify the calm during times of chaos
- Never give up
Five Lessons Olympic Athletes Can Teach Business Leaders
British rowing athlete Greg Searle has wond both Gold and Bronze Olympic medals. He describes how the strategies used by elite athletes are very much the same employed by business leaders to compete at the very top.
- Find a vision; set short term goals to achieve overall success.
- Feedback is your best friend.
- Unshakeable self-belief: Self-confidence versus self-esteem.
- Controlling the controllable.
- Recognizing pressure as a positive.
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