Saturday, August 11, 2012

Inspire Olympic-Size Team Spirit in Your Employees

I have a ton of respect for Olympians, no matter what their sport of choice. It's a lot of hard work that you mostly do because you're passionate about it, and you do it for your team and your country.
Growing up I had the opportunity to be a lifeguard at a local YMCA. It was a great gig because I got to save lives, but I was also able to coach our swim team. It was an eye-opening experience for me as a 16-year-old, because we also got to compete against other teams and win medals. Some of my proudest moments included getting a 7-year-old boy to dive off of the dock, a 10-year-old girl to perfect her kick, and a 14-year-old girl to get her butterfly stroke down. And by the end of my time with them, they all pushed themselves to do a really great job not only for themselves, but mainly for the success of the team. Two years in a row, we won gold!
Watching this year's Olympics, I see this familiar team-oriented behavior. Even though the U.S. women's gymnastics team captain didn't make the all-around, she was there in support of her teammates. And how amazing was it to watch the men's swimming relay, where the team rallied to get Michael Phelps yet another medal to become the most decorated champion of all time?

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