Elements of Excellence
Tomorrow, for a brief 19-day period, we will all feel as one as we admire the thrills of victory and glean the lessons of defeat. Yes, every couple of years much of the world focuses its attention on a variety of athletic competitions, this time winter ones ranging from the well-known such as Cross-Country Skiing to the practically obscure Nordic Combined - where an athlete has to be an outstanding ski jumper and cross-country skier. What do these 15 events of the Olympics have to do with your business and life?
Brought To You By
First, a message from our Sponsor. Yes, these games are sponsored by our best friend and newsletter thematic raison d’etre: water – the perennial gold medalist in our lives. For you see, every single event – from icy ones like the nail-biting sweeps and brushes and sliding granite stones of Curling, the so-called "Chess on Ice", to the 11 different snowy events of Alpine Skiing – with all its triumphs and torments is made possible only through water transformed into snow or ice. So, whether you are competing by meticulously guiding a rock down the center of the ice toward the button or you are risking your life going 95 mph (that's 139 feet per second!) downhill without a seat belt, you are trusting that those transformed Hydrogen and Oxygen elements will act like you think they will. And, sure enough, our Sponsor does exactly what it is supposed to do.
It lets a puck slide effortlessly into a net. It lets one balance on their Snowboard. It lets metal blades glide. It lets a Ski Jumper catch their fall. It does all these versatile things perfectly well, as designed, every time. In any case, we genuinely thank our true Winter Olympic Sponsor. The games couldn’t be without you, dear water. Thank you. And, this begs the question, what is your business’ true Sponsor, the one or two elements you definitely can’t do without?
V Is For Victory
As you observe the games, notice all the breakthroughs and innovations at play. Check out the equipment. Those are no ordinary helmets or goggles. Look at those skin-tight Speed Skating suits. No matter the year, they look futuristic. What about the athletes' physiques? The nutrition, weight training, conditioning, coaching, mental discipline, and technical mastery required to become tantalizing images on your screen beamed from half-way around the world. Win or lose, you are witnessing innovation personified. These are the best of the best. Each athlete has learned their sport - typically at a very young age - and has inventively pioneered beyond their own limits and deliberately practiced with a coach’s support for thousands of days.
Hundredths of a second are the measure, as in Bobsleigh, Luge, and Skeleton. Biathletes hit targets 50 meters away using .22 Long Rifles in between cross-country skiing intervals for one of their measures. Meanwhile, Ski Jumpers have perfected an extreme forward lean with arms in front and skis parallel having jumped off from their toes, not heels, while fully extending at the end of their jump before turning into an airborne human fascination for many seconds. What goes through their minds while suspended in the air? I wonder. Well, years ago someone developed a breakthrough V style ski configuration instead of parallel. That led to a dramatic increase in air lift resulting in a Ski Jump world record of 832 feet – akin to over 4 Ice Hockey lengths. Imagine the degree of difficulty in all of these endeavors. All the discipline. All the commitment. All the rigor. All the trial and error involved. Imagine.
What’s the point? “All Excellence Is Equally Difficult.” The challenge is continually appreciating what it takes to be that good at something, for a master unintentionally makes it look easy to the newcomer.
It’s Your Business
There you are at work. What are the breakthroughs and innovations you seek? What are the elements of your work that you are mastering? Do you practice hours a day? If so, consistently? Ever time anything you do? Does your diet support your work? You have the opportunity today to break down your technique, examine each aspect, think about how to improve, and then consciously develop new skills and practice them. Are your operations optimal? Does your marketing make money? Do you finesse your finances? For the next 19 days, please ask yourself throughout the day, if an Olympic athlete watched me work, what would their assessment be? Then, get to work on what you see.
Excellence Is Elementary
Sometimes I am asked which teams I am a fan of. My shrewd answer is, “Once I set up stadium seating in my office and charge people to watch me write thought-provoking newsletters, advise clients over Zoom, send copious emails, jot down a note on paper, or take a break, then I will be a fan who regularly pays to eye other people working."
However, I am a fan of Excellence. In my career, I have personally witnessed the following: a trading firm go 880 days without a single losing day, a recruiter submit just one candidate that beat out 18 other candidates from 3 competing top-tier recruiting firms, a hedge fund manager go 5 ½ years without a down month, and, most recently, an exemplary client create over $300M in value in less than 20 months. That’s Excellence. What it takes for anyone to get to the pinnacle is what I admire. That's why I like going to the Super Bowl, regardless of the teams playing.
The good news is, whether you believe it or not, you can get there too, for “Excellence is a journey, not a destination.” Just take a step toward Excellence starting today. In honor of the Olympics, do that for 19 days. It really is possible for you. There is a seat for you on the ski-lift to the top. If you are choosing to go to the top, reply to this newsletter saying "Yes, I'm in!"
Alas, I have never been and am not currently jumping out to the Olympics. I suspect I have neither the mettle nor the metal to glide myself to an Ice Rink. Go Figure. So, I will just take my Skeleton, Curl up with a good hardback and sharpen my blade of Excellence. It will keep the ennui from even crossing the start line so I don't get SnowBoard this winter.
Here's to you and your awesome future.
Until then, keep your feet on the board and keep riding your wave!
Robert J. Khoury
CEO Agile Rainmakers