What can a figure skater learn from a basketball player?

The WSJ explored this idea in a great, insightful article – https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-nathan-chen-studies-lebron-james-and-stephen-curry-1518611567

The thing I love most about the Olympics, and especially the Winter Olympics, is the chance to watch excellence in so many different forms.

Last week I had a short conversation with the owner of a small company that manufactures and sells obscure industrial components – the kind of things that most people never see and wouldn’t be able to identify if they saw them, or even understand quite what these important products do.

He and his brother are co-owners. The business was started many years ago by their father. They’ve been through good times and bad times, and now want to reinvigorate the business. They are exploring training and coaching opportunities.

He questioned whether there was anything to learn from consumer-facing companies, such as boutique bakeries and retail stores.

My corporate experience is mainly in the industrial, B2B world. But inside those companies, I have worked with world-leading consumer brands and the people who manage them. I’ve seen, adapted, and directly benefited from B2C techniques in industrial, B2B businesses.

In my AdviCoach practice, I try to keep most of my business in the technology/industrial centered B2B world, but I also prefer to keep a third of so in consumer-facing and other kinds of industries. This keeps me sharp. It keeps me happy (quite frankly, I like the variety). But most important, I help my clients better, by bringing great ideas from the consumer side to the industrial side. And just as often it goes the other direction.

An obvious example is the rise of social media marketing. In general, consumer-facing companies are more experienced with these tools. But industrial firms are learning how they can use these tools too, to stay front-of-mind with prospects, customers, and former customers.

And many, many management habits are the same regardless of industry. We all struggle managing our time, team, and money. Excellence in any of these, from any other organization, can provide us with inspiration and models for how we can improve.

But we need a connector. Excellence is happening “out there.” Can you see it? Do you know those people? Do you really know what they’re doing inside their businesses, before the sale and the before the press release?
If not, I’ve seen several approaches for how other people have built those connections. Give me a call or send me a note and we can discuss how to adapt those ideas for you. https://advicoach.com/dgisser/contact/

And maybe I’ll tell you about my experience as an Olympic bobsledder in Lake Placid. I’ve also skied the Olympic cross-country trails, skated on the ovals, looked down the ski jumps, and in Beijing, watched people race on the track in the Bird’s Nest.

 

At the highest levels of performance, a premier figure skater (Nathan Chen) learns attitude, focus, consistency, preparation, and routine from basketball’s elite (Westbrook, LeBron, and Curry). Chen studies how they practice, before the game. He studies their great habits.

And all of them, Chen, Westbrook, LeBron, and Curry. All of them have great coaches to help them learn, adapt, and use those lessons.