2010 Olympics and Performance

On March 14th I attended a sport, culture, sustainability dialogue program hosted by students in the Undergraduate Semester in Dialogue for Simon Fraser University in  Vancouver, B.C. It touched a number of points for me that signal a time to move beyond old modes of we-they and power-control dynamics. Several assumptions were at work:

Assumption #1. Athletes represent the elite of athletes, therefore they must also be the elites from society.

Jeff Adams, ParaOlympian and Olympian pointed out that athletes are not born with silver spoons in their mouth. Many have overcome huge levels of adversity to get to where they are.

The opportunity from this reality is to use the athlete's  journey as a way to remember that is it not what life gave you but what you make from the life you have that truly counts. Those who would point to the disadvantaged as the disempowered and victims can use the inspiration that many of the athletes offer to elevate their own position to a stronger and better place of contribution.

Assumption #2: That VANOC or the Government should do what must be done...or nothing will happen.

This apparently ignores the incredible innovative thinking that governments are rarely capable of. The institutional framework was not designed to embrace and support innovation. Working with multi-levels of government has been an interesting enough journey as jostling for lines of authority and power interspersed with how much accountability and responsibility any level of government either can or are willing to accept.

The opportunity is to insert the BIG WE...what can WE collectively do together with each party playing a role. Up until Wednesday, I knew what VANOC was, but not what it has been doing. What i do know is that no agency can uplift victims, carry the disempowered and disenfranchised. This is the time where a collective effort with out of the box thinking is the only kind of thinking that will truly create sustainable results. It commands every ounce of self-leadership capacity dormant in each individual to come out and play. The legacy then, becomes the contribution of each person’s highest level of leadership in the process leading up to and during the games.

Assumption #3: Not really an assumption but the question was raised on the idea of combining the ParaOlympics with the Olympics. Once again, Jeff brought forward information that really indicates the energetic driver for what the experience is all about.

The motto for the Olympics is: Faster - Higher - Stronger

The motto for the ParaOlympics is: Mind- Body-Spirit

Athletics is a vehicle for elevating the disadvantaged to a higher level of achievement. Which motto do you think will truly inspire the highest level of human potential?