I have written in the past about stories John O’Leary has shared in his Monday morning blog postings. The past week he talked about an interview he had recently with Scott Hamilton – the four-time World Champion Figure Skater, Olympic Gold Medal Winner, Co-Creator of Stars on Ice, Commentator, Performer, Author and Philanthropist. He kind of makes you feel like a slacker, doesn’t he?
Scott’s name is familiar to many of us because of his skating success. What many people aren’t aware of is that he is that he has survived cancer four times and now spends much of his time and gifts helping others. One way he does this is through The Scott Hamilton CARES Foundation (Cancer Research, Education and Survivorship) – an organization dedicated to changing the course of cancer through funding innovative research that treats the cancer and spares the patient. Like his famous back-flip, Scott wants his foundation to “Turn Cancer Upside Down.”
How He Got Here
One of my favorite parts in learning more about people like Scott Hamilton is their history – that back story of how they got to where they are and what drives them to do what they do.
Scott’s story begins with being an adopted child, struggling with personal health issues at a young age, and dealing with family tragedy all before becoming the World Champion that we know. This is where the real lessons are learned – how we deal with the lemons when making our lemonade.
Scott shared that he estimates he has fallen 41,600 times on the ice, so he is a pro at getting back up. He understands failure is part of the process and when it’s over, it’s over.
The Choice
When he confronts issues in his life, he looks at the situation as one that he chose or one that was chosen for him. Then he shifts energy to committing to work with it, not against it. When you take that approach, you make easier to achieve your best results by getting back up and going again whenever necessary.
There are many lessons that have been expounded on regarding what failure can teach, and they’re all true. Failure is part of life; it’s our choice on how we wish to use it. Scott’s about taking ownership of failures and challenges is one that holds a lot of merit, in my opinion.
In my business career – and my life, my failures have become my biggest trainer and motivator. It also has a big role in the technology and approach to our solutions. That influence can be found across our products, procedures, documentation and decisions. A good example is with our assetsPLUS product and how that solution is configured, delivered and transitioned.
If you would like to see the entire Blog interview with John and Scott, just click here. I highly recommend it.
Let’s all continue to enjoy the Winter Olympics and get to know the next generation of heroes that are emerging, and will be using their success in serving others!
