A Needed Dose of Integrity (Wendy Samson and Curt Swenson, 2016)
The 2016 Olympic athletes competing in Rio, were truly a saving grace for our country and our world this year. With seemingly everything covered on the news this year revolving around “who is doing what wrong now”, our Olympic athletes shed a fresh light on what commitment, team accountability, attention to excellence and true integrity looks like. My examples of these important traits happen to be of American athletes, but both discretionary efforts and good sportsmanship were witnessed and evident in athletes from all around the globe.
Commitment – Watching 43 year old, Kristin Armstrong snag her third gold medal in cycling and then collapse once she heard the news, was a powerful testimony to finishing the race at all costs – and without drugs. Or how about Sam Kendricks, the young U.S. Army Reservist who stopped his pole vault mid-attempt when he heard the national anthem? At attention, standing straight as an arrow, his commitment to serving and honoring our country made us all proud.
Team Accountability – Listening to the Olympic swimmers support one another, cheer for one another, rely on one another during their relays AND wag their fingers at those who had cheated, showed that doing it right, on behalf of the whole team was their ultimate goal. This generation of athletes was not afraid to call out those who won medals with no integrity.
Attention to Excellence – Watching the Women’s Gymnastic Team work toward peak performances each and every time, was especially thrilling because they had no formidable competition. They were truly competing against themselves, trying to set their own records and cheering each other on all the while!
Integrity – Witnessing distance runners Abbey D’Agostino from the USA and Nikki Hamblin from New Zealand trip over one another, stop and help each other up and then attempt to finish their race, spoke volumes about how doing the right thing, is the greatest reward a person can win. The scene of them struggling together and then embracing at the end, sealed the deal for many viewers and earned both of them Sportsmanship and Fair Play awards. They will be remembered, when many of those who won medals will be forgotten.
Do you believe that these same qualities can manifest in us at our workplace? Do we have any more at stake or any more skin in the game than our Olympian competitors? How can we use their examples to set ourselves up to withstand the negative forces in our lives? For discussion and solutions around these questions, contact the consultants at FutureSYNC, International.