What a phenomenal
achievement; 65 Team GB Olympic medalists, an uplifting and inspiring fortnight
and a certain ‘joie de vivre’ around the capital city. What a lot to celebrate!
Andrew Hunt, CEO
of the British Olympic Association has been talking widely about the magic that
the immense collaboration and support of our amazing sports men and women has
enabled in terms of success and medals.
Yes, they are incredible athletes in their own right however as so many
have attested and in some instances in a very moving way, it was also about the
team around them.
Be it in sports
or in business, it is very well documented that teamwork, collaboration and
cohesiveness really does pay dividends and that feeling of being part of a
community or something bigger than oneself is part of being human.
Last week I had a
meeting in Westminster followed by one near Green Park in London and I decided
to walk, as it was a nice day. Now,
this was right in the middle of the Olympic fortnight and my route took me past
Buckingham Palace – it suddenly dawned on me that perhaps this wasn’t such a
good idea and might make me late.
It didn’t. It was also a most palpable and memorable experience, there
were hoards and hoards of people (they were changing the guard too) but the
atmosphere was electric. There was
an immense feeling of camaraderie, support, happiness perhaps and just an
enjoyment of being part of something very big and very special.
I met one of the
Games Makers (the volunteers who gave up their time to work at the Olympics for
free) yesterday and he very humbly said, it was one of the most amazing
experiences of his life. He has
traveled the world and sat on the boards of some of the world’s most
illustrious companies, so he’s had some experience in his life.
The focus and
dedication of the sportsmen and women is just extraordinary, and as many of
them have said ‘ if you really want something’ you can. The Team GB women’s
hockey players who won bronze medals have talked widely about their pact and
commitment to each other some years ago in 2009 to train and live their lives
at gold standards. That’s just
what they did and made some monumental sacrifices along the way. They defined
their goals, refined along the way and now have the medals to prove it. If
that’s not inspiring, I don’t know what is.
Great success and
achievement comes from hard work, focus, teamwork, tracking progress and
celebrating the small stuff and the big stuff along the way.
So, if gold is
what you’re seeking in any area of your life - are you living or working to gold standards?
Or perhaps we
could all take a leaf out of Eric Idle’s book (Olympic closing ceremony) and ‘always
look on the bright side of life, de doo, de doo, de doo de doo.’ Not a bad
place to start.
