GOING FOR THE GOLD

By Deb Weidenhamer

Every four years we have an opportunity to watch the world’s best athletes compete for their lifelong dream.  As the United States Olympians in Greece prepared for competition this year, they received words of caution to keep their enthusiasm capped, to “tone down” their excitement as to not offend other countries with their bombastic posture.  It seems so incongruous and counter tactical to what these athletes have been taught since they first entered into competition.   For every United States Olympic coach will tell you that at the level of competition in which these athletes compete, they are all world class talents and the only difference in their performance is ATTITUDE.

If attitude is the distinction between winning and losing then muting the athletes could prove detrimental in many ways. Certainly this is not a criticism of wise minds that in this perilous time recognize the need to make room for other’s beliefs, but it does raise several questions.  How can you ask an American who has been engrained with the idea of hard work equals big payoffs to be subdued in their excitement for arriving at the pinnacle of competition?  Who can ask an achiever to be quiet when they are experiencing the American dream for which they have labored so hard?  Most importantly, when will these super performers be allowed to come out of this submissive, restrained façade and celebrate their success?

Just as in business, sports or any pursuit, we have all learned that a winner believes in their dream even when there is no gold medal to hold firmly in their grasp.  And the biggest battle a winner faces is the naysayer who doesn’t want to see someone disappointed when they don’t achieve their goals.  They want to make sure that they “don’t get their hopes up”.    These are the people who I call “dream killers,” whose only purpose in the lives of others is to make sure no one around them reaches their potential.  They are well meaning even kind people who believe they are doing right by those striving for more.

It is not easy to push for more when the team is coached to squelch the zeal for victory.  Olympic athletes are so successful because they are clear about what they want – they absolutely know what they are trying to achieve and they have run the mental picture in their mind for years of standing on a podium, gently bending forward and feeling the ribbon of their medal as the gold is slipped around their neck.  They smell the bouquet of the roses in their arms and even hear the band strike up the national anthem as tears stream down their proud faces.  They have lived the victory so many times in their own minds that they already know they are winners.

This linear focus of knowing the goal is what sets business people apart as well.  In fact they are the ones who have learned to mute the words of the naysayer.  Business people who are achieving success play the mental movies of reward in their minds again and again.  Just like talented athletes they know that believing you can, the deep down inside your skin felling of your own worth regardless of your current performance -- is winning.   So I guess this year the athletes will have to celebrate deep down inside of themselves and know no self doubt or guilt about their utmost achievement.

Let us be thankful as members of American Capitalism at work that we can boldly celebrate our achievements, our clients and our employees and do it a little louder this year than most in honor of those who have been silenced as not to offend the sensibilities of those who have no hope.