Sports and startups have more in common than just their first
letters. There's pressure. Expectations. Belief.
Failure. Success. Ups and downs, highs and lows. In
fact, sports and startups have more in common than we may think.
So today, I ask you to put yourself back on that Little League
Baseball team, on the starting block during Country Club Swim Championships,
shooting from the free-throw line on your highschool basketball team or jumping
for that final spike in your last college volleyball tournament. Take
yourself back to the highest highs you received from athletics...as well as the
lowest lows. Sports can teach us more about startups than we realize...and
now is the perfect time to take a look.
With the upcoming 2012 Olympics
Games (which
I am counting down that days for!), we deemed it fit to post about how the
Olympics and startups go hand-in-hand with one another. So let's lace up
our tennis shoes, board the plane to London and experience the Olympics in a
different light...not as fans, but as entrepreneurs.
1. Expect the unexpected (and control the controllable)
When Kerri Strung arrived in Atlanta for the 1996 Olympics, she
probably didn't expect to impact the world with the most memorable Olympic
moment of all time. After a brutal ankle injury during her first vault,
Kerri still performed a second vault...and landed on one ankle in pure agony.
No, Kerri did not plan on being injured during the Olympics.
Nor could she ever have imagined landing a vault on a sprained ankle.
But she did, and she helped the US team beat out the Russians for the
gold.
In business, Kerri has taught us to expect the unexpected and to
control the controllable. Kerri could not control how the Russians or
even her own team would perform during the 1996 Olympics. But she could control her own
performance...even under unbelievable pain. Startups, beware: the
unexpected will happen.
Your gut reaction may be to panic or even stop the business all together.
Instead, control your emotions, control your thoughts and control what's
controllable--you could come out on top with the gold.
2. It takes more than just hard work
As entrepreneurs, we often hear that if we work hard enough, good
things will happen. But this isn't true. It takes more than just
hard work and determination to make it to the top. And Olympians
everywhere will tell you the same when it comes to sports.
Hard work + Dedication +
Support + Belief + Preparation + Luck
These values can be applied to sports and startups:
Hard work: Yes, it takes many 80-hour weeks, sleepless nights and
missed vacations.
Dedication: You have to be in 110%. No excuses, just
results.
Support: You must have a team behind you every step of the
way.
Belief: If you don't believe in yourself and in your idea,
you won't get anywhere.
Preparation: It's all about goals, visualization and preparing for anything.
Luck: The stars have to align a little bit too!
3. You need a team
And not just any team...a team made up of the right people. The 1980 Winter Olympics Hockey Team (the team that is portrayed in the hit
movie Miracle) didn't beat the Soviets for the win
because the team was made up of the best people. The team won because it
was made up of players that worked well together.
The same goes for your startup. Don't hire A+ students when
you can find a C student who is more dedicated, driven and passionate.
Create the team that believes in the idea as much as you do--not the one
who follows all the rules, avoids making mistakes and is perfect 99% of the
time. Startups make mistakes and learn from them...and the people
involved in the startup have to be able to handle that.
4. Failure is the biggest teacher of all
In 1988, Dan
Jansen, Olympic speed
skater, had a difficult Games. The odds were not in his favor when he
learned that his sister had died during the Games. After two catastrophic
falls during the Olympics in Canada, it didn't seem like Dan would ever
recover, not only from the tragedy, but also from his Olympic failure.
But then, Dan came back to the Olympics in 1992 to win his final
race. Failure wasn't an option for Dan...and he was determined to come
out on top to finish up his speed skating career.
Dan may have failed (twice!), but he didn't let that stop him from
coming back stronger than ever. It's important for entrepreneurs to
remember this same idea: failure is the biggest teacher of all. Learn
from your mistakes. Those real-life experiences are invaluable.
Just ask Dan Jansen.
5. Pressure is a positive
There are two ways that athletes handle pressure:
thriving and choking. It's those successful athletes that take
pressure-filled moments and turn them into positives.
Every great Olympic moment was met with pressure. But my
favorite story of all is that of Michael Phelps and his epic touch-out at the
Beijing Olympics against Serbia's Milorad Cavic in the 100 meter butterfly (and
not just because I'm a former college swimmer!).
In 2008, the pressure was on for Phelps. He already claimed
7 gold medals at the Beijing Olympic Games...and he was just one race away from
8. In one of the most incredible finishes in Olympic history, Phelps went
from a for-sure silver medal to 8-time gold medalist by touching out Cavic by
.01 of a second.
Greg Searle, director
of performance development at Lane4 and Olympic gold medalist says it best when
referring to pressure and business:
In a business environment there are
high pressure situations to be dealt with every day, but often that pressure
can help you become focused, sharp and at your best. The key is to recognize
the symptoms and embrace them. You have to reframe the situation so it ceases
to be a threat and becomes an opportunity.
6. Visualization and goals are important
Ask any Olympic athlete what the most important preparation tool
is in athletics and more often than not, they will not say a proper warm-up,
stretching or lucky rituals. They will most likely respond with visualization.
Athletes must decide on a goal and visualize the achievement of
that goal months (even years!) before competition day. Visualization
enhances confidence, boosts motivation and allows for maximum performance.
All Olympics teams believe so much in visualization and goals that they
bring dynamite teams of sports psychologists on the road with them.
Visualization is important for entrepreneurs to attempt as well.
In a survey by Stephen Covey of 23,000 employees, only
37% understood clearly what their company was trying to achieve. Only 1
in 5 were enthusiastic about the company's goal and only 15% felt the company
was enabled to execute the overarching goal.
Make your startup better. Start implementing goals.
Then, visualize them.
What will we learn from the 2012 Olympic Games? I cannot
wait to find out. Until then, you can find me chanting "USA! USA!
USA!" from the comfort of my desk at Think
Big...no rest for the
entrepreneurial!
