With the eyes of the world on Paris, France, for the 33rd Olympiad, which events are you looking forward to? Do you know that the surfing competition will take place 9,770 miles away from Paris in Teahupo'o, Tahiti, an island in French Polynesia? In the spirit of previous leadership series here on my blog, I've asked 17 leadership and marketing experts to respond to five questions with the hope that both the questions and answers lead you to think about the Olympics in new and interesting ways.
For today's post, I'd like to introduce Melanie Bell, based in Houston, Texas. Melanie is the Co-Founder of Strategic Piece, a company that helps B2B businesses generate outstanding revenue growth by bringing together their marketing, sales, and service teams around an information-driven customer experience. However, Melanie is not only about marketing. She founded Leaders Who Fiction, a virtual monthly book club (where we met in 2023!), while running Strategic Piece. Through Leaders Who Fiction, Melanie helps people develop leadership skills by reading fiction and participating in monthly intellectual, business-oriented conversations centered around a selected novel. Prior to Strategic Piece, Melanie was President of Marketing Interface, which she founded in 2014, after serving as Director of Marketing at SURGE Accelerator/SURGE Ventures. Melanie earned a BA in International Development from McGill University in Montreal and an MBA from Rice University in Houston.
Before we begin, here are my two favorite quotes about the Olympics:
"In baseball and in business, there are three types of people. Those who make it happen, those who watch it happen, and those who wonder what happened." ~Tommy Lasorda (Team USA Baseball Manager in 1984 and Olympic gold medalist)
"You have to believe in yourself when no one else does — that makes you a winner right there." ~Venus Williams (Team USA Tennis, 4-time Olympic gold medalist)
QUESTION: What Olympic MOMENT do you most vividly recall, and why?
MELANIE BELL: I think our ability to recall details is so tied to where we watched something like The Olympics, who we were watching with, and what made that stand out or not. I was with my family in Dublin, Ireland, during the 1996 Olympics that took place in Atlanta, Georgia. We spent a lot of time in pubs watching The Olympics and cheered on Ireland's swimmer, Michelle Smith, who was cleaning up the medals that year! Her doping came to light later. That was the same Olympics when Kerri Strug pulled out an amazing vault and was carried off by her coach Bela Karolyi.
QUESTION: What Olympic MOMENT OR EVENT stands out due to EITHER a lack of OR evidence of LEADERSHIP?
MELANIE BELL: In the 2016 Olympics, there was the debacle that has been dubbed "Lochtegate." That was when a group of American swimmers said they had been robbed at gunpoint while enjoying a night out in Rio. However, the swimmers lied about what happened and then tried to cover up the real story. That lack of integrity — which happened multiple times throughout that scandal — sticks in my mind as a moment when there was a lack of leadership during the Olympics.
QUESTION: What Olympic SPORT demonstrates effective and/or inspirational leadership?
MELANIE BELL: Every single moment! Every Olympic moment is so infused with inspiration. Even athletes that compete in individual events are supported by coaches and teams, a whole slew of people whose teamwork makes it possible for them to compete at such an elite level.
But if I had to pick one, I'd pick ice hockey. (I hope it's okay to pick a winter sport for a post for the Summer Olympics!) I love watching hockey teams skate together, rotate through the line-up, and react to the other team. There are superstars and captains, but the most successful teams play with an unselfish style. Plus, it's an easy analogy to make to leadership because there is a team of people with the shared objective of scoring as many goals as possible.
SHARE THIS: Every Olympic moment is so infused with inspiration. ~Melanie Bell #OlympicsLeadershipSeries #DebbieLaskeysBlog
SHARE THIS: Hockey is an easy analogy to make to leadership because there is a team of people with the shared objective of scoring as many goals as possible. ~Melanie Bell #OlympicsLeadershipSeries #DebbieLaskeysBlog
QUESTION: What is an important BUSINESS LESSON we can learn from the Olympics?
MELANIE BELL: Why are we so pulled into this international sporting event every two years? I think it has to do with the emotional connection the brand has with its audience. I will gladly watch sports I've never played and don't follow simply because these are the best of the best, and there's nothing quite like watching someone win the gold medal or suffer "the agony of defeat."
The competition is certainly rife with controversy and ethical and moral questions that are challenging to solve, but seeing the rings and hearing the theme song (which will be stuck in my head for the rest of the day now that I've thought of it) will make me well up every single time.
SHARE THIS: We are so pulled into this international sporting event due to the emotional connection the brand has with its audience. ~Melanie Bell #OlympicsLeadershipSeries #DebbieLaskeysBlog
QUESTION: If YOU competed in the Olympics, which sport would you choose, and why?
MELANIE BELL: I would compete in synchronized swimming. I played a lot of sports when I was a kid, but I was also on my local synchronized swimming team for five years, and it was admittedly a quirky choice. The costumes, the music, the routines, and the aquatic fitness — I have a soft spot for all of it. One of the things I appreciated about the sport is that you can compete by yourself in solo events or as part of a team, and I like that it offers both opportunities.
My gratitude to Melanie for sharing her leadership insights and for being a part of my #OlympicsLeadershipSeries.
Image Credit: Swimming.org.
Read more about Michelle Smith:
https://olympics.com/en/athletes/michelle-marie-smith
and
Read more about Kerri Strug:
https://olympics.com/en/athletes/kerri-strug
Read more about Lochtegate:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lochtegate
and
https://ethicsunwrapped.utexas.edu/case-study/lochtegate
Connect with Melanie at these links:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melanieabell
Website: https://www.strategicpiece.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leaderswhofiction
Website: https://www.leaderswhofiction.com
Check out Melanie’s LEADERS WHO FICTION's appearance on my blog:
The Best Book I Read in 2023 (February 2024)
https://www.debbielaskeysblog.com/2024/02/the-best-book-i-read-in-2023.html
Check out Melanie's previous appearance on my blog:
SPRING LEADERSHIP SERIES – Featuring Melanie Bell (June 2024)
https://www.debbielaskeysblog.com/2024/06/spring-leadership-series-featuring.html
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for your comment!