Saturday, July 27, 2024

OLYMPICS LEADERSHIP SERIES – Featuring James Strock

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 James Strock, based in San Diego, California. James is an independent writer, speaker, reformer, and entrepreneur. He's also the author of several books about leadership, politics, Ronald Reagan, and Theodore Roosevelt.

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? 

JAMES STROCK: Along with many others of my generation, Friday, February 22, 1980, is a date to remember. This was the highly anticipated ice hockey confrontation of the United States and the Soviet Union during the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York.

To set the scene, recall that this was during the height of the Cold War between the US and USSR. Americans were in the grip of what was called a "malaise." The economy was in a slump, with interest rates for home mortgages approaching 13 percent in February 1980. President Carter was flailing in office, exemplified by his reshuffling his cabinet in the prior summer, his response to what he called a national "crisis of confidence." In the world, the Soviet Union and its allies were on offense. America was in a bit of a slump amid nearly a decade of decline, defeat, and relentless mediocrity - from Vietnam, to Watergate, to the Arab Oil Embargo and the Yom Kippur War, to the cultural desolation of Disco, bell-bottoms, CB radios, 8-tracks, and anti-heroes.

In this disordered moment, amid a cold winter, the Russians were heavily favored to retain the gold medal for hockey. They had prevailed in five of the six prior Olympics. Inevitably, the USSR-US game at Lake Placid became a metaphor for the larger moment.

Even the television network that owned the broadcast rights anticipated defeat, with the Americans serving as the Washington Generals to the Russia's equivalent of Harlem Globetrotters. As a result, in those pre-Internet days, it wasn't possible for Americans to see the event live.

Against all expectations, the American team achieved an unlikely "Miracle on Ice." The plucky Americans prevailed in a stunning upset, winning by 4-3. America came together as one, in a manner likely inconceivable to many young people in our fractured media and cultural moment.

Far more than "only a game," the Miracle on Ice set the stage for Americans' restoration of self-confidence in the coming years. In a bookend that no screenwriter could have credibly conjured, the Soviet Union collapsed a decade later. 

QUESTION: What Olympic MOMENT OR EVENT stands out due to EITHER a lack of OR evidence of LEADERSHIP? 

JAMES STROCK: For sheer drama, the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin constituted the backdrop for extraordinary, extreme events of leadership, and leadership failure.

Hitler's Nazi regime had been in power for more than three years. It remained enigmatic; this was well before its grotesque character was unmistakably revealed and comprehended around the world. The Nazis sensed a unique public relations opportunity. Filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl directed a propaganda documentary, presenting the games as the regime wished to be seen. Berlin was cleaned up, antisemitic signage temporarily removed. 

The marketing triumph of the Nazis was exemplified by the misguided decision of athletes from various nations to give a Nazi salute to Hitler. This infamously included a number of British participants.

Americans did not offer Hitler his desired salute. Instead, in the person of Jesse Owens, the US offered an irrefutable response to Nazi claims of "Aryan" superiority. Owens, an African-American who endured Jim Crow laws and other discrimination in his home country, won four gold medals and the heart of the world.

Hitler and other German hosts were disappointed to anger by Owens' triumph. Owens reported that Hitler nonetheless congratulated him - while American President Franklin Roosevelt declined to invite him to the White House. 

Perhaps, no other Olympics will occasion such an improbable, cinematic mélange of greatness and meanness, courage and cowardice, character and cravenness. 

QUESTION: What Olympic SPORT demonstrates effective and/or inspirational leadership? 

JAMES STROCK: The Olympics set standards of human excellence and striving across a range of events. Whether competing in an individual capacity or as part of a team, effective and inspirational leadership is the foundation for superhuman endeavor.

QUESTION: What is an important BUSINESS LESSON we can learn from the Olympics?

JAMES STROCK: Recurring business lessons from the Olympics are: dedication and focus; resilience amid failure; adaptability amid kaleidoscopic circumstances; individual self-control; the capacity to serve as part of a team; and a sense of being part of a larger enterprise and community that require tending to, sometimes at considerable personal cost.

SHARE THIS: A recurring business lesson from the Olympics is the capacity to serve as part of a team. ~@jamesstrock #OlympicsLeadershipSeries #DebbieLaskeysBlog

QUESTION: If YOU competed in the Olympics, which sport would you choose, and why?

JAMES STROCK: Possessing modest athletic gifts, the notion of my competing in the Olympics is fanciful - quite difficult to conjure even as an exercise in imagination. I could apply ingenuity in a workaround such as participating in a niche, little noticed event such as racewalking. My dream would be to strive for the talents and character of Jesse Owens, replicating his Olympic records as part of an enduring American homage. In the world as it is, I'm content to honor him and what he represents as a great, exemplary American.

My gratitude to James for sharing his leadership insights and for being a part of my #OlympicsLeadershipSeries.


Image Credit: Merakist via Wordswag.

Read more about the Miracle on Ice:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_on_Ice

Read more about Jesse Owens:

https://olympics.com/en/athletes/jesse-owens

Read "How Jesse Owens Beat Hitler in German Running Shoes"

https://habilitateblog.com/how-jesse-owens-beat-hitler-in-german-running-shoes/

Read more about the Olympic sport of racewalking:

https://olympics.com/en/news/all-you-need-to-know-about-race-walking


Connect with James at these links:

Website: https://servetolead.com

Website: https://jamesstrock.substack.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/servetolead

Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/jamesstrock

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesstrock


Check out James' previous appearances here on my blog:

SPRING LEADERSHIP SERIES - Featuring James Strock (April 2024)

https://www.debbielaskeysblog.com/2024/04/spring-leadership-series-featuring_0620073012.html

FALL BACK TO READING SERIES – Featuring James Strock (October 2023)

https://www.debbielaskeysblog.com/2023/10/fall-back-to-reading-series-featuring_0711042239.html

What Happens When Leadership, Service and Encouragement Join Forces? (July 2020)

https://www.debbielaskeysblog.com/2020/07/what-happens-when-leadership-service.html

Sharing Timeless Leadership Lessons (November 2018)

https://www.debbielaskeysblog.com/2018/11/sharing-timeless-leadership-lessons.html

Leadership Is All About Serving Others (March 2014)

https://debbielaskey.blogspot.com/2014/03/leadership-is-all-about-serving-others.html

Serve to Lead - What a Visionary Concept (March 2011)

https://debbielaskey.blogspot.com/2011/03/serve-to-lead-what-visionary-concept.html 


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