National Clothesline

For almost as far back as I can remember I’ve always enjoyed watching the Olympics.

I thought the competition during the ’60s and ’70s was a lot more interesting, though, because it was held during the Cold War era and the Eastern bloc nations going head to head against the West added a completely different dynamic and injected a whole different dimension to the competition which, sadly to say, is missing now. But just the same, the whole spectacle still remains just that… a spectacle.

And what can you say about the games in Beijing? “Over the top” might sum it up in a few words. This display will likely never be equaled again. When you have access to unlimited financial backing together with unlimited technical resources and add to that an unlimited supply of people and… Wow!

For me, however, more than all the fanfare, the colors, the flags, the theater, the many ceremonies and even the sporting events themselves, I’ve always been far more intrigued by the stories behind the athletes. For me, it’s never really been about who is the fastest, the strongest or who can jump higher on any given afternoon. Instead, it is about the journey, the personal struggles and the individual triumphs that helped to shape each athlete in their quest for greatness.

All that said, I care very much who wins, as well.

This year, as I watched the commentaries and the stories behind some of the featured Olympians, I couldn’t help but make the connection between athletic effort and the struggles we all face day to day in our businesses. What follow are just a few tidbits gathered from some hours in front of my flat screen HD.

Don’t let the competition dictate your strategy. It was Sunday afternoon when Constantina Tomescu-Dita of Romania broke from the pack Sunday to assume a commanding lead in the women's marathon.

Actually, that happened at about the midway point. I was especially impressed by the fact that she did not look backward. She stayed focused looking ahead.

Not until she turned the corner to enter the stadium was she able to see that her closest pursuers were a half-mile behind her. In the end, she ran her own race without worrying about what the competition was doing.

In the men’s 100-meter qualifying heat, Tyson Gay, a favorite to medal, failed to qualify. When interviewed after the race, he didn’t make excuses, didn’t complain. He insisted he’d done his best that night and it just wasn’t enough. He owned the moment and will be back to compete again another day.

People you do business with will respect you when you stand behind your actions. Do the best you can, don’t make excuses when things don’t go your way, learn from your mistakes and strive to do better next time around.

I watched an interview with Michael Phelps who gave much of the credit for his success to seven-time gold medal winner, Mark Spitz.

He has a deep appreciation for the athletes who preceded him and admits that he learned from them and was inspired by them to accomplish the things he’s done and looks forward to doing the same for those who come after him.

I find watching and listening to an athlete who wears sunglasses during an interview to be bothersome, especially when it’s night-time and the lights are on in the stadium. To me, these folks have a real star complex. They think far too highly of themselves than they ought to and many get out-performed by their competitors. Then what do you say. I find them unbelievable when I can’t see their eyes.

How about your business? Are you genuine? Are you real? Do your customers get to see and know the real you?

I have a difficult time watching events in which the scoring is subjective. Let’s face it. It’s easier to define a winner such as Yelena Isinbayeva, who cleared a crossbar at 16.5682415 feet in the pole vault, or our current superman, Usain Bolt, breaking the tape in 9.68 seconds in the 100-meter dash.

On the other hand, problems always occur with subjective scoring, as in gymnastics and diving.

I guess that’s why I prefer direct response marketing. Unlike image advertising or other forms of marketing, it’s objective and measurable. It leaves no question as to how you’re doing. You’re either successful or not. The numbers tell.

Like ‘em or not, one of the most dominant forces at the Olympic games were the Chinese divers. Both the men and women were equally proficient at both the three-meter and ten-meter events.

If my memory serves me correctly, they took home the gold in every event but one.

Actually, they had set a goal to win all of the events and fell short by one. And the way they did it was through consistency. They were spectacular.

Technically, they were superior, but even more than that they were consistent, almost mechanical.

When you do something over and over in the same manner you’ve been taught, it becomes second nature. You don’t have to think about it anymore; it’s part of you and you just perform.

The lesson to learn here is that in business, consistency pays off. You can’t conduct your work in a sporadic fashion, promote your services on an “every now and then” basis and still expect to grow and thrive.

Teamwork can be either a thing of beauty as in synchronized swimming (which I’m not particularly fond of, but still do appreciate) or it can be downright ugly as was displayed repeatedly in the men’s and women’s 4x100 relays. I love the relays. They rank at the top of what I program my computer to record. But this year proved to be a double disaster.

In both the men’s and women’s heats the US was favored to win at least the heat if not the overall final but, alas, the devil is in the details. The hand-offs were botched, the batons were dropped and both races were forfeited.

Despite having superior athletes in both races, the fortunes for the US were lost because the individuals failed to function as a team.

In business, it’s the little things that count. Yes, the details do matter.

Down two sets to a powerful and seasoned Italian team, the U.S. women’s volleyball team came from behind, against all odds to win a semi-final competition to put them in contention to play the perennial favorites from Cuba.

Most teams in that situation would have given up, but not the US women. Team USA actually played three consecutive five-match competitions leading up to this win.

In each instance, the U.S. had fallen behind 2-1 in sets, only to come back to win the fourth and fifth sets. It’s all about not quitting.

They’re the ones who say you can’t do this and you’ll fail if you do that. Look at the U.S. men’s water polo team. Ranked ninth and not expected to medal, they overachieved and took the silver behind the world-favored, powerful Hungarians.

The world was shocked when the US basketball team failed to reach the gold medal game in the 2004 Olympic games in Athens. Part of the problem stemmed from the fact that many of the players on that team failed to take the rest of the world seriously. They took it for granted that they would win.

Leading up to the Beijing Games, however, Coach Mike Krzyzewski was not about to let that happen. He realized the need for change and put together a team of some of the best players in the league, motivated them and led them to the gold medal for the US.

The lesson here — don’t think too highly of yourself and don’t underestimate the competition.

These are only a few tips taken from the 2008 Beijing Olympics. There are countless more but, hopefully, these will help set higher goals and reach greater achievements in your day-to-day business.