WHAT DID YOU LEARN ABOUT LOSING FROM THE 2010 OLYMPIC ATHLETES?

DOES LOSING MEAN FAILURE?
Of course! That’s the way many of us see it, except in the context of “The Biggest Loser” weight loss program. And even those losers fail.

After years and, in some cases, possibly a lifetime of commitment, training, and limitless personal sacrifices, what happens when you attain a medal other than gold or rank 4th or below? How do Olympians perceive that performance? How do they feel? As we heard in interview after interview, any of those performances can be extremely disappointing. But frequently, that disappointment may be tempered by the circumstances and whether the athlete felt he or she did his or her best. How did it happen? Is any rank less than gold seen as “failure”?

Perhaps, some athletes perceive it as failure, especially when their country heaped tons of pressure on top of them to bring home gold, as in the cases of the Korean and Japanese medalists in the women’s figure skating and every Canadian athlete, particularly the hockey team. Probably the media from most countries piled high expectations on its athletes, which were usually not attained, at least, by medal count. However, putting the event into a broader perspective, it’s only a few minutes in the life of an athlete, albeit significant, possibly life-changing minutes. Most athletes may have failed to achieve their goal in their respective events, but they are not failures. Failure does not define who they are.

REACTION TO FAILURE
Unfortunately, there are a few athletes who receive silver or bronze medals who exhibit screamingly bad sportsmanship because they feel they deserved gold. One example is Evgeni Plushenko in the men’s figure skating. His behavior was reprehensible. His verbal comments and body language were ugly. The net result: His distinguished quad performance among his competitors will be dwarfed by his bad sportsmanship in the memories of the viewers. Despite his skating virtuosity, his bad behavior may be his legacy in his attempt for gold in successive Olympics.

Contrary to Plushenko’s previous Olympic success, many 2010 Olympians failed miserably in their previous Olympic appearances. Others who prepared just as much never made it to the Olympics? How did those athletes overcome those failures to try again? Their reaction to persevere instead of giving up in spite of the major hits that they already experienced is what the Olympic spirit is all about. That’s what can inspire all of us to tackle our daily challenges in the workplace and at home, which are not nearly as grueling, maybe.

So how do you respond to disappointments and failure in your professional world? Some suggestions for how you might respond will be offered tomorrow.

COPYRIGHT © 2010 Ronald A. Berk, LLC