“She understands that to show your art, you are better off training hard enough to avoid shattering the image with a splat. She may meander from subject to subject in answering questions, but she did not wander off in practices.”
—Sportswriter Philip Hersh about Olympic Gold Medalist Alysa Liu
It was one of our wonderful coaches at Vim Executive Coaching who brought forward the story of Olympic Gold Medal Alysa Liu. Ms. Liu made us all think about what it should – or should not take to be a champion. Among the many of the lessons she has taught us is to enjoy the journey, even the bad parts – especially the bad parts, and to not take ourselves too seriously when things don’t go as planned.
Her story is directly applicable to executive leadership.
The Shoe Closet
Several years ago Alysa was so personally disgusted with her training, performance and the pressures she put upon herself, she took her expensive ice skates and tossed them into a closet. She was finished. Done with it all. Skating had ceased to become fun. Though “world class, Olympic calibre” and all those superlatives, she was more than happy to forget she ever chased prizes.
It was friends, not co-workers, Olympic coaches or the sports media who convinced her to go to a rink and just have fun. She went out on the ice to “mess around” and having no pressure, landed a triple-axel on her first try. A light bulb went on. She realized if she skated on her terms, in her way, removing the expectations of others, the constant judgment of others, she might enjoy skating once again.
It was a lesson in re-conection, and more than that, a valuable lesson in mindfulness and self-compassion.
Let us not sugar-coat anything for a minute, she trained hard to get back. In fact, she had to plead with former coaches to give her a second chance. She had days of practice that were unpleasant, filled with sprains, bumps and bruises, riddled with unpleasantries, but she willed herself to enjoy the process on her terms. To that end, she was aware enough to know the music, costuming and experience that suited her unique talents. It was an instinct borne of knowing herself. When she eventually took to the ice in the Olympic finals, she thoroughly and genuinely enjoyed the moment. It was her moment, a moment that came from her center, not from the coaxing, insistence and direction forced on her by others.
Is Executive Leadership Much Different?
Virtually every week, we encounter executives who have become so burned out that they are considering “throwing their shoes in a closet.” They have disconnected from their organizations and from all of the motivators that interested them in their professions from the start. This is not just executives in traditional organizations but includes healthcare providers, nonprofit leaders and even sports executives.
They mindfully know what they need to achieve satisfaction but they receive a steady barrage of negativity, judgment, indifference or plain, poor advice. It doesn’t help that we live in an era when many podcasts, business speakers and educational resources explain there is only one way to achieve skills or results.
We encourage our clients that the tools to become great executive leaders are already inside them, and that in the mindful cultivation of those tools they can achieve great outcomes within the terms of their innate abilities.
You may never be able to skate like Gold Medalist Alysa Liu, but with focus, training and mindful intention your limits may certainly exceed the expectations you believe you can achieve. When mindfulness and belief come together, outcomes soar on the ice or off.