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Hi Reader, Welcome to Your Dose of Mana — a quick, weekly note with: When the World is Watching 1 Real Story Ilia Malinin, the “quad god,” losing it in his final skate. The headlines love a fall. The internet loves a narrative. What people don’t see is the chaos. I worked for the Salt Lake Organizing Committee in 2002. There were 48 major functional areas just inside the organizing committee: Accommodation To name a few… And that was 24 years ago. Layer on: International broadcast services It’s not a world championship. As a spectator, you see one venue and the path to your seat. As an athlete, you see: Village → transport → competition → media → doping → maybe medal ceremony → village. But the distraction load? It’s beyond comprehension. Drop a 21-year-old into that machine. Label him “Quad God,” add social media, douse with global expectations. Heartbreaking when he crumbles? Absolutely. At the Olympics, anything can happen. Just ask Simone Biles. Hello, twisties. Or think about Steven Bradbury in Salt Lake 2002. Who? He won the gold in the short track; every skater ahead of him crashed in the last corner. He simply stayed upright and crossed the line first. People call it luck. But he had spent years recovering from catastrophic injuries just to be in that race. Sometimes excellence is brilliance. ANYTHING can happen at the Games. And then there’s Chris Waddell. A rising collegiate skier whose crash left him paralyzed, a T12 paraplegic. Life changed in an instant. Career over. Or was it? He says something I come back to often: “It’s not what happens to you. It’s what you do with what happens to you.” He went on to become one of the most decorated Paralympic athletes in history. Met presidents. Met the Dalai Lama. Climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro. Built a life, he says he wouldn’t trade. That’s attitude. That’s ownership. ATTENTION: FREE SPECIAL EVENT Workplace drama isn’t random. It’s reinforced. And it’s not a people problem, it’s a pattern problem. On March 10 at 12 p.m. ET, I’m teaching how to break it in my invite-only webinar, Drama to Data: How You Can Break Behavioral Patterns. Reply, and I’ll share the invite. 1 Leadership Insight Leaders fall all the time. We look at someone’s performance in a single high-stakes moment and assume it reflects: – their talent We ignore the environment. Performance is never just about skill. It’s about context load. Noise. The Olympics amplify everything. Board meetings. When someone falters, the reflex question is: “What’s wrong with them?” The better question is: “What got in the way of success?” And then: “How will they respond to what just happened?” That’s where leadership really shows up. 1 Practical Takeaway Before you evaluate someone’s “performance,” pause. Ask: – What pressures are stacked on them at this moment? And if you’re the one stepping into the arena? Remember: Anything can happen on the day. Control what you can. And when something goes sideways? You still get a choice. It’s not what happens to you. Leadership isn’t about pretending chaos doesn’t exist. It’s about performing anyway. 1 Dose of Art A little whimsy. A little joy. A little video doodle. Too cool not to share. Doodle by Gary Schechner, Bad A$$ery video doodle of how Gary converts a Porche to a doodle for his AbstractRPM website. Even though this is a “mass email” I mean it when I say—let me know what you are up to. Reply, book a Zoom, pick up the phone. I’d love to catch up. And if leadership, culture, or people challenges are taking up too much brain space lately— Thanks for letting me show up in your inbox. More joy. Less friction. Always. |