Staff Writer – Audrey Linton
Wow, what an amazing two weeks: gold medals achieved; records broken; legends emerged. Despite the heartache of those Olympians who may not have won any medals – there were no losers on the Olympic stage.
The main themes I noticed were the strength of team working. The volunteer teams who undertook their roles selflessly; the Committee that organised the events; and the athletes whose training, dedication and hard work made them stand tall together in the stadium finale.
There was much display of team work in many of the events, but the most exciting has to be the relay races. All four team members need to play their part and fully cooperate with other team members in order to win gold.
Speed is of the essence but there are some observable attributes displayed during the games which engendered an excellent team spirit.
Play to your strength
Let’s use the Jamaican relay team for example. Each was in the position where they could play to their strengths: Yohan Blake was best placed running the bend and boy did he run; whereas Bolt was the best fit for the anchor leg.
What of those on first and second leg of the relay – they too played a vital part even though we did not hear much about them in the commentary. Nesta Carter ran the first leg of the race and firmly placed the baton in the hand of Michael Frater – both excellent athletes in their own right.
It saddens me that teams do not always play to their strengths, they are either under utilised, over utilised or just not recognised! – Hmm think about that for a while.
Delegate responsibility
Have you ever noticed those who do not delegate responsibility – they want to do everything.
How amazing was the Opening Ceremony, especially when Sir Steve Redgrave and other Olympians handed the lighting of the Olympic flame over to a group of up and coming young athletes. This gave them the opportunity of a life time – it was a selfless act of leadership. Great Olympians built a platform for success for up and coming athletes.
In order to empower others, learn to delegate responsibility.
Keep the communication channels open
Photo courtesy jamaicaobserver.com
Effective communication skills is a mixture of effective listening and questioning as well as verbal and non-verbal communication . People take in information by seeing, feeling and hearing. Unfortunately our communication process has become very narrow – email, text and facebook – these methods only convey information.
Take time to get to know your team. One commentator asked Nesta Carter after his team had just won the 4x100m finals what he and the rest of the team had been doing to prepare for the finals. His response was that they had been practising regularly and getting to know how they should work together.
You need to get to know who you are working with – how on earth are you ever going to trust them!
Leave a Legacy
Finally to relate this to spiritual principles, even Jesus himself took the time to invest three years into his team of disciples as he knew the work was far too great for one man to do. Jesus continually built a platform for success for his disciples by nurturing, encouraging, rebuking, affirming them and finally he laid down his life for them.
As the Olympics leave its legacy, what legacy will you leave, what platform will you build for your team, work colleagues, pastors, church members, family and even strangers?
