Is Your Business Going for Gold?

Olympic Gold MedalThe Gold Medal – the highest award in Olympic competition. Who doesn’t want to be a gold medal winner? Every time I tune into the Olympics I am inspired by the stories. The passion and dedication of each athlete as they strive for excellence is almost unbelievable. They do it for their country, their sport and for themselves. They are training and competing to achieve their full potential.

When you look at your business – are you going for gold? Are you striving to be the best in your industry, your city, your country? Would your customers award you one of these scarce medals?

There are many business analogies made every time the Olympics come around: the importance of a vision, strategic planning to peak at just the right moment, goal setting, and constant training to upgrade skills. But what about the culture that is created around the athlete or the team? Often the only time this comes to the forefront is when an athlete changes coaches or a coach is fired. “It just wasn’t the right fit anymore” is one phrase given up at the time as the explanation for the shift. Sometimes the athlete has outgrown the coach and needs a different coach to take them to the next level.

As the leader of your team, driving a winning culture is just as important as all the strategic planning. It’s your behaviors and beliefs that set the tone for the organization. If you want to achieve the most success in all aspects of your business and take your place on the podium, then you need to have the right culture to support the effort. It’s about creating a culture of winning.

The definition of success is different for all of us. For some it’s about being able to put enough food on the table to feed the children. For others, it’s about giving back to our communities through philanthropy. Or maybe, just maybe it’s about helping those around us reach their full potential as human beings, shifting them from passive passengers on this planet earth to engaged pilots. Where have you set the bar on the definition of success for your business?

A strong positive culture produces winning results. The status quo just isn’t good enough anymore. And simply relying on a default culture is like stepping up to the starting line with no plan and no idea where you’ll finish. How does your organization shape up against the competition when it comes to culture?

Olympic athletes are successful because they have passion, they’ve received training from the very best, and they have a vision to reach the pinnacle. But most of all, they’ve created a culture of support around them, a culture that allows them to reach their full potential. Imagine if your employees were passionate about their work. What if they were to receive on going training from the very best to elevate their skill set to the highest level? What If your people, processes and policies were all aligned to the ultimate goal. And what if the culture of the organization was purposely designed to support all the efforts? Who knows what greatness you can achieve!

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