“If your career was like the Olympics, what event would you win the gold?”
That was my favorite interview question in my corporate roles.
Sometimes, the candidate would just look perplexed, so I’d offer, “For example, I’d win the gold in managing cross-functional, diverse teams because I excel at empowering each team member to use their unique gifts to achieve personal and business personal successes.
I asked this question for three primary reasons. One, are they self-aware enough to know what top business event would win them the gold? Two, the Olympics requires heart, commitment and talent. Depending on their answer, I’d discover if they were connected to what lights them up at work and if they have the ability to lead with their heart. Three, I’d get a sense of whether they prefer to work on solo projects or amidst a team dynamic.
I believe if everyone plays to their ‘gold medal’ passions, diverse teams emerge that deliver solid results on time and within budget.
What is your Olympic Gold medal event? And how often do you share it with others? The people energized when they experience your gold-medal skill and performance are the ones that appreciate what I call your “Heart Value.” Being energetically, emotionally and rhythmically connected with your value
But how do you discover your path to the podium, your event that earns a gold medal?
For me, it was a years (maybe decades, lol) of trial and error, but I found a way. And now I’m thrilled to share those steps of discovery with others in Heart Value: Feel Appreciated in Ways that Matter and Discover Your True Stride – to be published in 2021.
I wrote Heart Value to help people unlock their heart-centered value. I want to teach readers to be able to express their expansive value and implement heart-centered strategies that activate more appreciation, joy and fulfillment in their life.
When they are able to do this, I know they will realize their True Stride.
The Olympic example also helps to reframe the idea of a work/life balance. If you are connected to your heart value, if you have chosen your own path based on your inner compass, balancing two things isn’t the outcome. Rather, it’s your life, your whole life, working in rhythm with what elevates your joy.
As five-time Olympic Medalist Mary Lou Retton said, “Each of us has a fire in our hearts for something. It’s our goal in life to find it and keep it lit.”
Any adventure will have its ups and downs. There will be times when every movement or task seems to require extra effort and other times when you feel the wind is at your back. For the Olympic athlete, it’s passion that keeps them moving forward, helping them to be faster, higher, stronger. You deserve to be driven by passion too.
With Heart Value, I want to help you find that passion, be able to articulate the value it represents, use it to fuel your effort as you choose your own adventure, and keep it lit by getting authentic appreciation.
Don’t delay… go win your gold today!