Unleash the Drive
The second article in relation to sport is in today's wsj.
It talks about the maverick nature of the US Olympians.
For me there are two interesting aspects to this article. The first is covered in the extract below, which talks to getting out of the way once a purpose has been defined by the athlete. This is completely in line with my post on Motivation 3.0.
"Then comes the hard part, that long slog between gifted youngster and grizzled medal contender. The USOC must recognize that its goal isn't to churn out merely competent athletes by the dozens, but to identify and nurture a few full-blown geniuses. And geniuses often march to the beat of their own drums. Early in his career, for example, Mr. Miller was the first to use shaped skis, while his coaches dismissed them as a gimmick for recreational skiers. And Ms. Vonn, at the urging of her husband, defied conventional wisdom and became the first woman to race—and win—on stiffer, longer men's skis.
"An American version of "Own the Podium" might look like a cross between a school voucher program and venture-capital funding. The USOC and the individual sports federations should offer seed money to the most promising young athletes, and then have the foresight to step back and allow them maximum freedom to think—and train—outside the box. If there's a lesson to be learned from this magical Olympiad, it's that the only thing more important than discovering prodigious talent may be having the good sense to stay out of its way."
The second aspect is about what level of financial support makes sense. How do we understand the delta between financial support that's enough to aid but not too much to get too comfortable and less driven. The article talks about Team Canada's "Own the Podium" program which as of Friday has only delivered them 17 medals. 7 short of their Torino performance. This program has provided $105.6 Million to their Olympic team versus America's $58.2 Million.
The US Olympians have had to be scrappy to get funding. Take the American speedskaters who lost their sponsor to bankruptcy - DSB Bank - and turned to Stephen Colbert to raise $300,000 for the team. Or Shannon Bahrke, bronze-medal mogul skier, who started her own coffee line to support her training.
The truth is no one remembers silver or bronze winners, so gold has to be the goal for all these athletes. Once you have gold, you go into overdrive to become a recognized face to ensure future sponsorship and perhaps an easier journey to the next Olympics.
It's all hard work but based on the comparison with Canada, hard work pays off in more ways than just financing. It creates a drive in all the things you do.
Full article here http://bit.ly/deuUqY
