Simone Biles may only stand four feet eight inches tall, but her global stature just keeps growing.
She absolutely dominated the competition in Paris, winning three gold and one silver medals to make her the most decorated gymnast in history. If there was any doubt before, Ms. Biles has proven that she is truly the greatest gymnast of all time.
Her talent, hard work, and remarkable achievements are apparent to everyone, but it strikes me that there are several lessons that this remarkable 27-year-old has to teach us CEOs.
Art of mastery
First, Ms. Biles is a living embodiment of Geoff Colvin's maxim that "talent is overrated." What sets her and, indeed, all the other Olympians apart is not whatever innate talents they possess (though that undoubtedly plays some role), but rather deliberate practice. I know I called out Colvin in my last article, but it bears repeating: Only through dedicated and rigorous practice over many years can we ever hope to master any skill.
Becoming CEO does not mean an end to our educations. Given the pace of change—of the world around us, of new technologies, or of ways of creating value for our customers—we must remain perpetual students, striving to master new skills.
By the same token, we should also encourage those within our organizations to join us on this journey—remaining curious and working hard to become masters in their own rights.
Maintaining focus
Ms. Biles is clearly grounded and focused on winning. This purpose guides her—but not at the expense of her health or her relationship with her teammates. And as the survivor of abuse, she has found purpose in being a role model and a voice for those who may find themselves unable to speak up for themselves.
Knowing what you want to achieve, working relentless toward those goals, but not losing sight of the broader picture and your core values, is an essential lesson that every CEO should keep in sight.
Building resilience
Her decision to withdraw from the Olympic games in Tokyo was an act of bravery, not of weakness as some at the time suggested. Her path back to competition, and ultimately victory, was not preordained. But Ms. Biles' decision to focus on her health and to slowly build back toward a point where she could not only compete but win 2 gold medals shows remarkable perseverance and strength of will.
Agility is frequently described as the ability to avoid a punch. Resilience is the ability to take a punch and come back swinging.
If your career is long enough, every CEO is going to get punched (metaphorically, hopefully) more than once. Our capacity to recover and come back stronger is what sets the best leaders apart from the rest of the pack.
A true servant leader
Ms. Biles raises up those around her and celebrates their success. After backing out of the Tokyo games, she remained on the sidelines to cheer her teammate Sunisa Lee onto gold. And when Ms. Biles won gold in Paris, she pulled Ms. Lee onto the floor to share in her victory.
As a CEO, are our actions making those within our organization better? Are we elevating, encouraging, and mentoring them? To get to where we are as CEOs, it took someone believing in us, often before and more than we believed in ourselves. We owe it to the next generation to do the same.
Ms. Biles is a true inspiration. There is something we can all take from her extraordinary example.
Originally published by Linkedin
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