blog

If there’s one thing we love about the Olympics, it’s the spirit that surrounds it.  Each country, team, and individual athlete has a story which are never short of overcoming the near impossible to rise to the top and achieve what they have always dreamt of.  How can you not feel nostalgic when they enter the Olympic stadium carrying the flag which has been carried by all the greats who came before them?  As these super-human athletes enter their domain each day it’s hard not to secretly want an ounce of their physical determination & talent.  As the newest member of Comlink Midwest, I’ve come to realize that as a team, and as a business, we do.  I’ve joined a winning team who share four key traits that make winning possible in business and in the world of the elite Olympians.

• Visualization – “seeing is believing” right?  This is a very critical part of the planning process and if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.  Visualizing the task, goal or win is the first step to putting it on paper.  Once you can see it, you can define the strategies, training and actions required to accomplish it.

• Perseverance – Olympic athletes never give up and neither do successful businesses.  You have to be prepared to weather a storm and stay the course.  Perseverance is not only a required personal trait, but it includes picking the right team, coaches, mentors, colleagues and employees who are prepared to go for the gold together.

• Adversity – no matter how hard it gets, successful people believe they will only become stronger by what doesn’t kill them (fade in Kelly Clarkson song here).  There’s no time for “why me?”  When we fall, we get up, analyze why we fell, learn from our mistakes, tweak the plan and move on with more determination to not fall again.  All the while maintaining a positive, can-do attitude.

• Focus – Staying laser focused on the plan is critical.  Being mentally “in the game” at all times is how winners do it.  They avoid the shiny objects, the fortune and the fame and they stay focused on the plan and exceeding the goals they set out to meet.  Nothing takes them off course.  And in the small chance there’s a distraction, they have their team to set them back on course.

Having a team with these core strengths is extremely motivating and these traits are the ingredients that keep the Comlink train moving swiftly down the tracks.  Here’s to many more years of success and many more awe-inspiring Olympic seasons.

Regan Duffy, EVP