Olympic Leadership

If you have been watching the Olympics I hope you have been enjoying the competition. With each event they give away a bronze for third, silver for second and gold for first. Leadership is a lot like the Olympics. It isn’t about being first or competing with other leaders instead it is about working hard to do your best that you can do. Athletes in the Olympics have reached the height of their sport. They have worked endless hours and suffered injuries to reach this level of competition.

Over the next several days I will look at the gold, silver and bronze level of leadership. It isn’t that one is better than the other but it is more like one is a step closer to the other. Sometimes in the Olympics the difference between first and third is a mere hundredths of seconds. One small error can move someone from the gold medal favorite to the silver medalist. You also well see athletes who four years ago came in third but worked hard over the four year period to reach gold.

In the women’s gymnastics vault final last night everyone said that the gold medal was McKayla Maroney’s. No one could beat her and she nailed her most difficult vault But her second vault found her falter on her landing. Needless to say she won the silver not the gold. The difference was a mistake. Leadership is like that one small mistake can tak you from golden leadership to silver leadership.

Each day I will look at each of the individual medals and how you can achieve each as a leader. I hope you enjoy my Olympic leadership series.