What I Learned From The 2008 Olympics

I was really disappointed when the U.S women’s gymnastics team lost out on the gold medal last night not only because there were such high hopes, but also because of one thing that I think contributed to the lose. They didn’t lose because Alicia Sacramone fell on the balance beam or because she stumbled on the floor exercise[1]. The team could have overcome that. What they apparently couldn’t overcome was Alicia’s response to adversity. Alicia is one of the captains on the team, the oldest member, and had more World Championships medals than most of the gymnasts in the world. It would have been awesome if she could have used those things to fuel her fire and say “you know what guys I fell, but we are still in this!” What happened instead? She sulked around on the side, ignored the encouragement of her teammates, and made it clear that she thought “they were defeated”. The result? After a while, ALL of the team started to doubt themselves and it was apparent when two of the most rock solid gymnasts on the planet faltered and stepped out of bounds on the floor exercise. What does all this mean for you?

Yes, gymnasts like all athletes seek perfection. In fact for gymnasts it’s probably more important. The real test for elite performers isn’t the things that come easy or without adversity – it’s the things we don’t see coming. As a leader your attitude and ability to overcome adversity and hardship not only affects your ability to lead (and perform), but can also affect the performance of others. If you make a mistake or have hardship the only thing you can do about it is learn, and move on from there. Alicia is not the best gymnast on the team, but they looked to her for leadership.

This is the law of the lid which says “A person’s level of effectiveness is affected by their leadership ability“. Teaching others can can an exponentially positive effect… but not demonstrating how you would have people react can have an equally negative effect.

[1] It should be noted that most people who follow gymnastics thing that even with perfect routines the Americans would have been hard pressed to make up the point deficit they had.