Olympic Winners Often Exemplify a Key Trait for Entrepreneurial Success, Grit
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I love watching the Olympics.
The athletes are truly exceptional. The work required to compete at this level is inspiring. In some sports, the competitors make their sport appear easy. None of them are—not table tennis, not badminton, not the 100-meter dash.
The return of Simone Biles to center stage of the Olympics after withdrawing from competition in Tokyo is a prime example of grit. Tokyo was not a failure. It represented a challenge she overcame majestically in Paris.
My favorite Simone Biles moment at the 24 Games was the extraordinary character she displayed when she won the silver medal in the floor exercises event behind Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade, who won gold. She didn’t hint at disappointment, instead reveling in her team’s accomplishment finishing with silver and bronze—teammate Jordan Chiles picked up the third-place medal.
On the medal stand, Jordan and Simone literally bowed to the Brazilian gold medalist. What a sign of respect from the gymnastics GOAT!
Entrepreneurs, especially social entrepreneurs, can learn from her example. Real victories for changemakers come from peacemaking, helping others to lift themselves, and paying it forward. Simone and Jordan displayed that brilliantly.
My favorite Olympic moment came nearly 30 years ago at the 96 Games in Atlanta.
Kerri Strug was a key member of the team. Her strength was the vault.
In the team’s all-around competition, the U.S. women were competing against brilliant performances by Russia and Romania. Strug’s vaults were the final opportunity to win points and secure a team gold medal.
On her first vault, she performed brilliantly. You can see it in the video below. But on the vault, she injured her ankle. How badly wasn’t clear to anyone but her.
Standing on the injured leg, she queued up for her second vault. At full speed, she ran down the runway without an evident limp and completed the vault brilliantly, sticking the landing essentially on one foot.
Now, in obvious pain, she collapsed on the mat and had to be carried off.
Her coach, Bela Karolyi, a gruff, gray-haired Romanian who had previously coached Romanian gold medalist Nadia Comaneci in 1976 and defected to the US a few years later, carried Kerri around after her vault.
Her second vault vividly remains in my mind as the greatest moment I’ve ever seen in sports. The clip above doesn’t do justice to the sacrifice she made for her team.
Everyone knew she was injured. Everyone worried she couldn’t pull off the second vault. Everyone worried further injury could be career-ending. Everyone believed her score would determine the outcome. The suspense was so palpable a machete couldn’t cut it.
It was a moment for character, a moment for grit, a moment for sacrifice—and Kerri Strug delivered!
Changemakers face moments like that all the time, with one key difference: no one is watching. Social entrepreneurs who work to solve the world’s biggest problems frequently impact global health, climate change, poverty and social justice. Lives hang in the balance. And the great ones deliver.
Behind the social entrepreneurs are teams of people, advisors, coaches, employees, investors and others who enable and advance the work of changemakers. Sometimes, they get to pick up one who has fallen in the fray.
Here at Superpowers for Good, we’ve narrowed our focus a bit on the role that capital plays in changemaking. Regulated investment crowdfunding gives us all an opportunity to be impact investors, sometimes Investing as little as $5. Collectively, we make a great difference in supporting people we may one day recognize as the Simone Biles or Kerri Strug of changemaking.
As investors, we can apply a bit of grit to our own efforts. Not every investment will pay off. But some will. Changemakers we support won’t always have the impact we hoped. But some will. And we can take pride in helping them do it.
Max-Impact Members
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Upcoming SuperCrowd Event Calendar
If a location is not noted, the events below are virtual.
Impact Cherub Club Meeting hosted by The Super Crowd, Inc., a public benefit corporation, on August 20, 2024, at 1:00 PM Eastern. Each month, the Club meets to review new offerings for investment consideration and to conduct due diligence on previously screened deals. To join the Impact Cherub Club, become an Impact Member of the SuperCrowd.
SuperCrowdHour, August 21, 2024, at 1:00 PM Eastern. Each month, we host a value-laden webinar for aspiring impact investors or social entrepreneurs. At this month’s webinar, Devin Thorpe will provide a “Step-by-Step Guide to Raising Capital from the Crowd.”
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Community Event Calendar
Successful Funding with Karl Dakin, Tuesdays at 10:00 AM ET – Click on Events
Main Street Skowhegan and NC3 Entrepreneur Finance Workshop Series, September 17 – November 19, 2023.
Crowdfunding Professional Association, Summit in DC, October 22-23
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Originally Published on https://www.superpowers4good.com/
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