Resilience, Performance, and D&I at the Tokyo Olympics

Andy Nicol

The Olympics is the greatest show on Earth and, even in these Covid affected times, they are living up to their billing.

We have seen remarkable feats of human endeavour delivering the full spectrum of supreme joy of winning to the despair of losing. I have always admired Olympic athletes who have to peak in their event at just the right moment in a four-year Olympic cycle. Of course, there are World Championships and Commonwealth Games in between Olympic Games but they don’t have the same significance or profile that you get for winning the gold medal in the Olympics.

To be in peak condition both physically and mentally when you are on the start line takes meticulous planning and preparation not just from the athlete but from everyone in their wider team. Many athletes win individual medals but they are all part of a team and would not be able to achieve their success without the team members doing their jobs as well. Teamship is very important in sport as it is in business.

I have taken so many parallels from the sport I have seen in the Olympics to what happens in business. Alex Yee has been one of the stars of Team GB winning a gold and silver medal in triathlon which shows how strong he is physically. But it was his mental battle that I was more interested in as he talked about his ‘imposter syndrome’ and his feeling of self-worth.

Impostor syndrome is a term used to describe feelings of insecurity or self-doubt, despite there being no evidence to support such a belief. He didn’t feel worthy when he started out but he does now. Thomas Carlyle said: “Nothing builds self-esteem and self-confidence than accomplishment” and Yee’s accomplishment means he comes away with a gold and silver medal from these Olympics and his confidence sky-high.

Imposter Syndrome is very prevalent in business and more and more people are willing to talk about something that just about everyone has had at some point in their life. I have at various different stages of my business career. You don’t need to win a gold medal to overcome this though, your accomplishment can be just a small action such as speaking out in a team meeting or writing a proposal. This will give you a little more confidence and feeling of self-worth.

Another business angle I was looking at was Diversity and Inclusion which is such a hot topic in business and in society at present. The two most enjoyable and exciting team events I have witnessed so far in the Olympics were two mixed relays; one in swimming and one in triathlon, this was where Alex Yee won his gold medal. Normally, sport separates males and females but in these two events there were two males and two females which made is so exciting. In the pool, each team could decide which person swam each different stroke which meant males were competing against females. This meant strategy was very important but this had to be followed up with execution culminating with very exciting races. In both cases Team GB won which was brilliant but it was the new way of thinking that won me over. Business is slowly understanding that the more diverse teams are, the better they will perform. But this diversity will not just happen organically; brave and courageous decisions must be made to allow it to happen.

In business, Diversity and Inclusion is not just about gender, it is about all under-represented groups having a voice and for that voice to be heard. Discovery is seeing what you have always seen but thinking what you have not yet thought. Business can make huge strides in Diversity and Inclusion by thinking differently. Swimming and triathlon did in the Olympics and it made a huge impact.

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