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Did you watch the Sochi Winter Olympics?

No matter what you may think about the Olympic movement, you have to appreciate the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. The human drama we experience at the Olympics is awesome in many respects.

What’s most compelling about the Olympics are the back-stories about the athletes – what they had to go through to be at the games. I am often overwhelmed at the obstacles they had to overcome and the depth of character they demonstrated in their arduous journey toward excellence. You can’t help but be inspired by their stories.

You gotta love the commercials as well.

Don’t tell me you weren’t moved by the Proctor and Gamble commercial about the power of mothers. If you didn’t see it, you have to watch in on YouTube. It is a series of shots of mothers with babies, toddlers, and young children in different cultures. The children are learning to walk, skate, ski, snowboard and, of course, they fall down. Their mothers simply continue to pick them up and encourage them to keep going.

The scene switches to Olympic competition where mothers are watching their children compete, then celebrating their victories with them. The commercial closes with this simple wrap,

“For teaching us that falling only makes us stronger. Thank you mom.”

Try to watch that and not get emotional!
However, the gold medal has got to go to the Canadian Tire commercial – “There are no unassisted goals.” It opens with Jonathon Toews from the Canadian Men’s Hockey Team sitting amidst a crowd of ordinary people dressed in red, with his mother and father on each side of him. The camera then shifts to other ordinary people in the crowd, focusing on those identified in the voice over. The final image reveals the crowd sitting in a maple leaf formation on the ice of a hockey rink.

The voice over is as follows:

“Jonathon Toews’ goal assisted by…the early rising parents, the back yard rink builders, the tireless fundraisers, the coaches and trainers, the pre-game meals makers, the kindly business sponsors, the trusty car-poolers, the play by play announcers, the crowd igniters, the statisticians, the organ players, the inspirational sign makers, grandparents, scouts, skate sharpeners, foam finger fanatics and everyone else whose efforts prove…there is no such thing as an unassisted goal. We all play for Canada.”

What a profound lesson for leaders…

Have you ever heard the expression, “A self-made man.”?

What a crock! Talk about arrogant! Any leader who actually believes they are a self-made man, or woman, is narcissistic.
No matter how difficult our lives have been; no matter how many hardships we have had to battle through, no matter how much we may think we had little or no help from anyone in our struggle to accomplish our goals – none of our goals are unassisted. There is always someone there along the way providing some form of assistance. From learning to talk, walk, read, write, do arithmetic, work a computer, drive a car, give a presentation…whatever, someone has helped us along the way. In fact, throngs have helped us along the way.

Even those who oppose you contribute to who you are.

“If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants.” Sir Isaac Newton.

We are the sum total of the myriad influences of others – humility is graciously and wholeheartedly acknowledging this on an ongoing basis.

Who is part of the throng that contributed to who you are and what you have done? And, to whom are you as a leader contributing?

The reality is, we accomplish our goals with the assistance of others. And, we have the great privilege of assisting others in the accomplishment of their goals.

I encourage you to choose to lead and live in gratitude for those who have assisted you in accomplishing your goals – and tell them so. Call them, email them, take them out for coffee and thank them.

And in addition, wholeheartedly lead with the intention to assist others in the accomplishment of their goals.

Together we accomplish far more. The power of team is profound.

Truly, there are no unassisted goals.