Top of the Podium

The top of the podium…it’s the place where people aspire to be.  Whether it’s in athletic competition or in a leadership setting, the position sits at the pinnacle.  It stands high above the rest and separates the best from the rest.   

Top of the Podium

This weekend, an organization that publishes ranking systems for high school wrestling came out with their predictions for the upcoming season.  Atop the 132lb weight class, a senior from Allatoona High School…Grant Albright!

Last season, Grant came just short of the top spot, finishing second in the State.  He has been working extremely hard in the weight room and on the mat all summer to try to claim that spot his senior year. 

On most podiums, there is less than a six-inch gap that separates first from second.  It’s only one step, but there is a lot packed into that single step. 

Here are some thoughts I wanted to share with Grant about what needs to happen in those six inches that make all difference…with some leadership lessons intertwined for you:

Keep Showing Up

There will be days between now and the State tournament where you wake up and your body is banged up, you’re under the weather, you’re physically exhausted, and mentally…you just want to stay in bed.  Get out of bed…keep showing up.    

There will be days when you will wrap up a tough high school practice and don’t feel like driving 30 minutes to your private gym for a second practice.  Get on the road…keep showing up. 

My jiu-jitsu Professor, Vic Rosati, used to tell us that, “Most people quit mentally before they ever quit physically.”  When these tough days come, be mentally tough…keep showing up.

In leadership, the position at the top of the podium is not for the faint of heart.  There are days when discouragement and exhaustion will set in…things will get hard.  When it does…keep showing up.    

Work Harder

The difference to the top can be overcome with hard work.  At the end of the day, every wrestler wants that spot, but only one can have it.  Not everyone is willing to put in the work to stand there.

Work hard when no one sees it.  Do the necessary things to make a big difference.  When everyone else is coasting, work harder.

There are some extremely talented people in this world.  They possess the natural abilities, the smarts, and the God given talents.  The great separator…the ability to work harder.  Hard work can overcome talent. 

In leadership, we will experience situations where we are deficient in knowledge, experience, and/or talent.  When all else fails, resort to working harder.  It alone, can get you to the top.    

Learn From It

God willing, you will wrestle more than fifty matches this year.  Somewhere between the first and that final match, you will make a mistake and it will cost you.  Learn from it quickly, so you don’t have to learn from it later.

You will experience setbacks.  Learn from it, set up the comeback. 

In leadership, failure will be your harshest, but best teacher.  Mistakes will happen, causing setbacks.  The greatest leaders learn from their mistakes.  They always learn from it, they always come back.      

See It, Believe It

Consistently envision yourself atop the podium.  Before you run that final sprint at practice, close your eyes and see it.  When you lay your head down at night, close your eyes and see it.  Obsessively see yourself standing there.  Will it to fruition.    

From there, believe it.  Belief is one of the most powerful tools that the human soul possesses.  Nothing great in this world has ever been achieved without the foundation of belief.       

In leadership, if your desired place is at the top of the podium, see it…believe it.  If you can’t see it now, it won’t exist later.    

Conclusion

Not everyone will make it to the top of the podium.  There is only so much room. 

What counts is the pursuit of the podium.  The fact that you kept showing up when others didn’t.  That you possessed the grit necessary to put in the hard work.  There was a willingness to learn from your mistakes.  You envisioned it, you believed it.  Sometimes the rest is left for chance.    

The journey will place us at the top, where we will find the best future version of ourselves.