SPURspectives

The Winter Olympics will take place in Vancouver, Canada from February 12th through 28th. I love the Olympics. I truly enjoy the range of sports and all of the amateur athletes gathered together to represent each country’s best. It’s invigorating, motivating and I believe has a lot to teach us about business and life. So, for the next couple of weeks SPURspectives will include some Olympic themes in the posts. This is one of them:

I used to be a fencer. From about 4th grade into my early 30’s I fenced at a club level. I was never good at it, but I enjoyed it and got a good workout. During my freshman year of college I was fencing with a club in Cincinnati. My intentions were pretty straightforward — I was on a mission to get a decent workout with the vision of becoming a semi-competent fencer. At least that’s what got me in the door one night. All of that changed when I saw a new girl across the gym. She was hot. So, I went on a new mission — I hit on her. Somewhere along the way she asked me to fence. I realized something was amiss when we were walking to an open strip and she asked me if I preferred Russian or Polish steel blades. I had the blade that came with my foil. I think it was French.

It turns out she was good. How good? She was an Olympian, a veteran of the U.S. Pentathlon Team. She proceeded to slice me to ribbons and leave me in a crumpled, cramping heap, desperately gasping for air while my lungs incinerated. I deserved every aching moment of humiliation. I was a jerk. We both came in the door with a shared mission and vision for the evening. I changed, she didn’t. I blew a perfect opportunity to learn and get better. I wasted her time in the process. This was the first time I had met an Olympic athlete and I was a complete fool.

So, where’s the business lesson in this fiasco? Sharing your customer’s mission and vision may get you in the door. But it’s your dedication to helping them accomplish their mission and realize their vision that will keep you in the game. If you change your mind along the way you could get cut to ribbons.

Photo: The French Olympic Fencing Team, Athens, 1896 (Probably using French steel blades.)

Tags: marketing, mission, values, vision