A Bolt of Lightning

Question: Would you rather have an abscessed and infected tooth pulled – without Novocaine, or would you rather pour through management journals looking for lessons that are written for managers but could be welded into valuable learning experiences for you?

Tough question, isn’t it?

Relax, you stick with the Novocaine and I’ll stick with the management journals. The beauty part is you get the lesson – without the pain.

Usain Bolt is the fastest sprinter who has ever lived. In an article addressed to managers, John Weeks, a business professor, draws a parallel between Bolt’s hard road to be a world class athlete, and a manager’s quest to be on top of his game. Every single thing Weeks talks about is relevant to our world and to you the technician.

Strengths – Earlier in Bolt’s career he was advised to stick to the 400 meter race. But he had enough self-knowledge to know his strength was in the 100 meter race. How well did he know his strength? Bolt holds the world record at 100 meters.

Here’s what Weeks says about strengths:

Often the things we are bad at are the things we don’t really want to do. A recipe for success is to do fewer of the things you don’t like and concentrate on what you’re good at. Are you playing to your strengths? You need confidence in yourself and, unless you’re the chief executive officer, you need an organization that will support you.

Think about that quote and what we’ve recently said about your strengths. Here and here. Neat eh?

Rough road – Bolt suffered through a series of setbacks that could have derailed an average Joe. The lesson here per Weeks is that successful people have to deal with setbacks. They however, take a positive outlook on the setbacks by learning and drawing motivation from them. You could do that, right?

Eye on the big picture – Bolt had to rehabilitate in ways that he didn’t like. But he kept his eye on the end result and got through it. It’s the same for you. No job is perfect. There will be things you don’t like. By keeping your eye on the end result and approaching your challenges in small, bite-sized chunks you’ll get through it. You will.

Go here to read John’s article.