5 Lessons the Olympics taught me to do more of - and one to stop immediately!

Like many of you, I watched a fair amount of Olympic coverage over the past two weeks - Thank you NBCUniversal and Peacock for the great coverage. I'm sure most of you have your own takeaways and applicable learnings from the past 2.5 weeks (Please add in comments and share's below)- But here are mine on a Monday morning following the closing Ceremonies last night...

1. Coaching Matters

Watch every Olympian run off the court, field or track, and they immediately seek out their coach when their event has come to a close - either for guidance, support, or simply a huge hug of thanks. And don't forget about training partners (peers) and support from their broader teams. Just watch the celebrations in the stands from their family and friends

Why would we not need the same thing in whatever it is that we do? Why should we not have this level of celebration in business as well? Guess what, we can.

2. Embrace the Grind

Pay close attention to the interviews from every winner (or competitor) involved. They talked about their process, preparation, or journey to get there. They all embraced the work.

Katie Ledecky could have swam across the Atlantic a few times based on her practice schedule. The learning here is pretty simple: if you want to be great at anything you do, It's going to take work, a whole lot of work. There are no shortcuts to being great - None.

3. Is Winning the Only Thing That Matters?

The more challenging the task, the more joy in the celebration. Hard work is rewarded with joy in the effort - win or lose. Yes, every athlete wants to win - all 10,500 of them, but most do not (less than 10%).

If there's any hope for you to find joy in what you do at work, then focus on the process, not the outcome. Only one of these is truly in your control. The other (achievements and accolades) more often than not, may not go your way. So don't let the outcome define you. And as a leader, don't let it define how you give feedback, or how you reward your team either.

4. The Diversity of Humanity is Amazing

Big, small, tall, short, fast, powerful, black, white, old, young; The olympics prove that it takes all types. And the broader the diversity, the more exciting and the more rewarding the experience. How amazing was it to pull for distance runner from the Netherlands, the Chinese diver, the Ukrainian high jumper, or the American sprinter. They all had great stories, great obstacles to overcome, and amazing spirit. As a citizen of the USA, it was often easy to pull for the person or team from my own country, but honestly, like you, I often was pulling for an individual - that person who's story was undeniable.

Bottom line, the world came together for a few short weeks and it was awesome. We pulled for, and celebrated people from all over. Our offices, partnerships and relationships should mirror the same. We're better when we're different.

5. The Human Spirit, and Love for One Another is Alive and Well

Don't let what you read and watch tell you differently. Yes, our world is full of problems, and division, and hate are all present. But the vast majority of people care deeply for one another -and the Olympics proves this out - athlete by athlete, event by event.

Simply watch the joy in celebration between winners and losers. If you didn't see great sportsmanship (the love of your competitor) on full display, then you weren't watching what I was watching. Now our challenge is to bring it to the office and workplace everyday.

6. Great Performances Inspire Us to Step Out of Our Comfort Zone

But be careful! Like many, I was inspired to go out and do something I hadn’t done “in a minute” following the Olympics. So I tried out a little butterfly stroke in the pool this weekend. Fast forward 24 hours, and I’ve got a sore back! Good thing I didn’t grab the old skateboard hanging in the closet.

Lesson: Leave the Olympics to the professionals! I’m probably a little more equipped these days to float around in the pool on a couple of noodles with a beverage in hand - Ha