Greatness within

Monday, August 5

I love the Olympics. As someone who gets to work with elite athletes often, there is nothing better than seeing the best in the world compete against each other. Greatness vs Greatness. As always, there are unique lessons to be learned from these competitions.

Is there a personality for greatness?

Katie Ledecky is quiet. She shows up, focuses on what needs to be done, executes, then moves on to the next moment.

Noah Lyles is loud (that’s putting it nicely). He jumps up and down, yelling. He plays to the crowd. He gives messages to the world through the camera lens.

Both are the best in the world at what they do. And each competitor that lines up next to them is just as different in personality.

Greatness is not about your personality.

Too often we watch events like these, especially as kids or younger athletes, and we want to mimic the personalities of these competitors. Nothing inherently wrong with that (every kid my age was Michael Jordan in the driveway, tongue hanging out as we hit a fadeaway to “win” the title). But we don’t need to act like someone we aren’t.

It is not their personality we should try to match. They are not us, we are not them. Our personalities are what make each of us unique.

What we should mimic is their work ethic, preparation, discipline, commitment, focus, mindset, confidence. Those are the things we can learn from and implement. Personalities make us 1 of 1, but these skills are what turn average competitors into the truly elite.

And it doesn’t matter if you are an athlete or trying to become a better leader, these are skills that translate.

You don’t need to act like the greats, but you can operate like them. That’s how you unlock the greatness within.
​
Keep chopping wood. 🪵🪓

-Kevin