Olympic Leadership Lessons

The last job I had right before going out on my own was also one of the best: managing the leadership and customer service training for the Salt Lake 2002 Winter Olympics. Like millions of people, I loved the Olympics and had watched both the Summer and Winter Games all my life. The chance to actually be part of their production was irresistible, even though we all knew it was a temporary job. But how often does such an opportunity come around? It was rewarding to know you were part of something really significant and meaningful, and it was also the most stressful work I've ever done.

It's hard to imagine the sheer size and scope of staging the Olympic Games. The paid part of the Games, the organizing committee, grew from a handful of people to around 5500 in about six years. On top of that we recruited over 25,000 volunteers. My job was to get all 30,000 people through three sessions of customer service training over two years, and some 5000 or so through leadership training. Yes, I had help! Terrific help, with a small training staff of six people and 26 part-time trainers. We wrote all the training material, designed and produced manuals, and tracked the attendance of all 30,000 + people in nine training locations. Deadlines cannot be moved with the Olympics, and there were were many seven-day work weeks and a few of my colleagues slept in the office to meet those deadlines.

On more than a few occasions tensions ran high in my department (and others), tempers flared and words were exchanged. Not nice ones. There were those who wanted to quit at times, but didn't. One of the reasons was we believed in what we were doing. The mission of the the Salt Lake Organizing Committee and volunteers was "To Be The Best Games Workforce Ever." We really believed that. I recently found a copy of the SLOC guiding principles:

• Teamwork
• Passion and Pride
• Communication
• Integrity
• Fun and Celebration

Each principle had several behavioral bullets underneath, and they meant something to us. Why did we believe so strongly in our mission and values? Yes, it was the Olympics, after all! But like any organization, we had our issues and like I said earlier, stress and tension levels were sometimes off the chart. A primary factor was leadership. Our CEO set a clear vision and communicated it to us constantly, from whole-company rallies to impromptu meetings in the hallway. We responded to his leadership and internalized the guiding principles. That kept us going through the hard times, which also included the tragedy of 9/11. You might have heard of him: Mitt Romney.

Leadership makes all the difference in the success or failure of any organization. If you are a leader, from CEO down to supervisor, do you give your people a reason to believe? Do you tell them? How often? Can they see and hear you out there in front? Too many leaders post the mission, vision and values and forget to communicate them. That sends a message to your people of "The boss doesn't care so why should I?" Build a culture that strengthens belief in what you do and then watch your people perform. We had it in the Salt Lake Organizing Committee, and the result was the IOC chairman declaring the Salt Lake Games to be the best-run in modern Olympic history. How about a gold medal performance from your organization?