What can executives and senior leaders learn from world-class athletes? So much. Take two-time Olympic champion Michel Gyssin, for example. He overcame major setbacks to win back-to-back gold medals in alpine skiing. I have worked with Michelle as a performance psychologist since 2015 and developed five key strategies to help her achieve excellence in her sport, even in the face of a debilitating illness. It's well worth taking a look at her career to understand what she was capable of.
Michel is one of the most decorated alpine skiers in the world, with World Cup podium finishes in every discipline including slalom, giant slalom, super-G, downhill and combined. This is an amazing feat in an era when competitors tend to specialize. She became the first Swiss woman to win a gold medal in the alpine combined at the 2018 Winter Olympics. At the 2022 Winter Olympics, she won bronze in the super-G and won the alpine combined by more than a second. This was a huge difference in ski racing. However, the path was not an easy one.
Adapting to adversity
Michelle achieved this powerful position by competing in all races in each discipline and accumulating a huge number of excellent results and ranking points. But the physical demands of competing in so many competitions were far more demanding than those of her competitors who specialized in one or two disciplines. The main focus of my work was to help her manage her energy as effectively as possible.
However, around July 2021, he suffered from severe fatigue to the point where he could barely walk on some days, and was diagnosed with mononucleosis. She had been struggling for months without regular training. As her illness dragged on, she began to wonder if she would ever fully recover. Although her health eventually improved, she still had to significantly reduce her training load to conserve her strength. Overall, it was calculated that she only completed about 25-30% of the training she had originally planned. There was no way she could endure the harsh daily routine that her rivals were able to maintain, and the Olympics were only a few months away.
Transition to mental training
I knew that if Michelle was going to compete, she had to do something fundamental. We definitely had to think outside the box. The only way she could compensate for her lower energy levels was through highly specialized physical training and working harder on her mindset.
We replaced much of her original training plan by adding daily mental exercises and meditation. I worked with her on issues such as letting go of original plans, setting new small goals, mentally rehearsing ski runs, generating positive emotions, and visualizing success. With the goal of getting Michelle to the Olympics, we focused on five core strategies that CEOs can apply to grow their companies.
1. Tightly manage your energy to build a strong foundation for sustained high performance.
Maintaining high performance requires well-developed physical strength, mental fortitude, and spiritual fortitude. All contribute to higher, more stable energy levels. This also applies to leaders, especially CEOs. By prioritizing staying healthy, motivated and confident, you'll stay inspired and be a source of inspiration for others.
• Pro Tip: Many CEOs in particular tend to focus on the requirements of their role and manage their responsibilities as if they were separate from the requirements for maintaining their own energy levels. However, achieving consistently high performance requires a lot of energy. If you tend to jump into every battle, consider which battles you can let go of in order to spend your energy on the battles that really matter to your success.
2. Think through a solid strategy that will lead to success. Michelle's case required an effective approach despite the less-than-ideal circumstances. Therefore, it was very important to focus on the spiritual aspect. It was a way to keep moving forward without getting stuck.
• Pro Tip: For leaders, a well-thought-out and robust strategy recognizes reality while keeping goals at the forefront, delivering tangible, positive outcomes. Thinking through your strategy might mean testing it and modeling it for the future. Make sure your strategy can withstand adverse conditions and succeed.
3. Work on developing a winning mindset. Michelle had the will to win, which is natural for a champion. And she was used to hard training, and that hard training fed her mindset. She now had to use the same mindset, even if she only achieved 30% of her normal training plan. She needed to develop a winning mindset that wasn't vulnerable to that change.
Pro tip: For CEOs in a competitive environment, it's important to constantly cultivate a desire to win and make an impact. Utilize the necessary mental and emotional skills to stay focused on what really matters to your success and keep your mind in a productive space.
4. Be prepared to adapt to change and setbacks.
Michelle needed to let go of a plan that no longer worked and execute quickly to avoid losing any more time. Faced with the need to accomplish a lot in a short period of time, she adapted quickly.
Pro tip: It's important for CEOs to constantly monitor their environment and be able to adapt to changes. Rather than viewing setbacks as negative, view them as opportunities to learn from them, while remaining grateful. You need to be honest with yourself and others, and don't let your ego control you. Champions in any field are masters at discarding plans that don't work or approaches that don't apply and moving on.
5. Visualize your success.
Michelle knows what success feels like and has visualized it many times. She aced the ski run and stood on the podium with a gold medal hanging around her neck. She put herself where she wanted to be, mentally and emotionally.
Pro top: If you're a CEO, picture in your mind the success you want. Imagine yourself there. Visualize a sense of accomplishment and success. Maintaining a vision of success conveys unwavering confidence and inspires others. That confidence will make a huge difference to you and your organization.
cross the finish line
Despite all the adverse circumstances Michelle faced, we relied on these strategies to put her in the right position to defend her Beijing Olympic title. And she did it! Imagine the joy we all felt when Michelle crossed the finish line once again as a defending Olympic champion.
Even after the Olympics, Michelle didn't stop. She continued to perform like a true athlete in the World Cup races, finishing the season in fifth place in the world rankings. One notable victory led to many more great results.
Michelle's extraordinary story has so many lessons beyond sports performance, especially for leaders and executives in today's ever-changing business environment. It's more important than ever to learn how to manage your nervous system, build the skills of a healthy, winning mindset, and lay the foundation for overcoming any obstacles that come your way.
Energy management and conservation is a universal challenge. But without a clear game plan, it will be difficult to achieve your goals. We've all seen leaders and decision makers stuck in dysfunctional concepts and beliefs, unable to shed them even though they aren't working. In order to aim for that, you need to see success. So what does that look like for you?
Everyone will face setbacks. What separated Michelle from the herd, and what could separate you, is how you deal with them. Achieving sustained high performance means being able to handle any situation and keep winning money. Prepare like a champ, adapt like a champ, and perform like a champ.
