The image of speed skater Dan Jansen taking his gold medal victory lap in Norway after winning the 1,000-meter race will be forever etched in the consciousness of Americans. Because of that one victory, he will always be remembered as a winner - despite previous failures to win a medal.
Yet the difference between Jansen's first-place finish and out-of-the-medals fourth place? Less than one second."Dan Jansen picked himself up one more time and won (a race) he wasn't supposed to win," said Jim Loeher, a world class sports trainer. "It was the greatest triumph imaginable."
While a great achievement in sports, the Jansen story is much more than a sports story. Rather it is a story about what life is all about: picking yourself back up and performing in the face of incredible pressure.
"There is a little Dan Jansen in all of us," he said.
Loeher, who with partners Jack Groppel and Pat Etcheberry, has trained some of the world's best athletes from Jansen to tennis stars Jim Courier and Pete Sampras, brought his message to Salt Lake Thursday as part of his "Mentally Tough Corporate Training" workshop for Utah business people.
In short, the strategy for winning in sports is the same as for winning in business, says Loeher, who has just released his latest book "Toughness Training for Life." It is the ability to perform on demand.
"We've never had an athlete come to us and say, `can you help make the stress a little less,' " Groppel said. "The greatest athletes have figured out that stress is fixed; you cannot reduce stress. You have to grow with the stress. No stress, no growth."
In a corporate world that is faced with cutting expenses and reducing staffs, workers are expected to produce more and be more creative, all with fewer resources and less time. Studies show the average white-collar worker works longer hours - about one month a year more - than his counterpart in 1971.
Still, most Americans work only to avoid getting laid off, avoid getting fired and to get a paycheck and go home. "They are not playing to win," Groppel said.
The LGE Inc. program blends physical training with nutrition and mental training to create a competitive toughness in individuals. The results, they say, are increased profitability, increased productivity and consistent performance, all with happier and healthier workers.
Among their strategies for becoming mentally tough:
- Creating the ideal performance state. These feelings and emotions include being relaxed, calm, optimistic, energized, self-confident, alert, mentally focused, in control and exhibiting low anxiety, enjoyment and automatic and effortless responses.
- Emotions run the show. "What you are thinking shapes everything you are," Loeher said. "The normal response when you feel lousy is to look lousy. When you feel like a wimp, you act like a wimp. Emotion is the link between mind and body."
The best athletes are also the "world's best actors" because they do not allow negative emotions to dictate their behavior. Rather, they always exhibit the look of fearless and confident fighters, even if they don't feel that way on the inside, Loeher said.
- Fatigue makes cowards of us all. Whether an athlete or a businessman, exercise creates a physical and mental state that allows the individual to be calm, focused and energized. Exercising several times during the day, even while sitting at your desk, changes heart rates, increases mental alertness and makes you a more productive employee in a shorter period of time.
According to one study by the University of Colorado, 60-year-olds who do moderate strength training have more muscle building and skin toning hormones than do sedentary 20-year-olds. "That is a wake-up call to all of us," Loeher said.
- Humor is directly linked to creativity and problem solving. Laughing decreases muscle tension and releases chemicals into the body that increase alertness and energy.
"We have to put fun back in the workplace - a pervasive spirit of fun," Loeher said, suggesting workers spar playfully with coworkers ("self-punches are best"), learn the art of puns and double meanings and find the humorous in everything. "Laugh at yourself and people will emotionally embrace you."
One company has even hired a "director of mirth" whose job is to make employees laugh.
Overall, the message in today's business world is clear: Either you perform or you don't play. And the common success factors in both sport and business are mental toughness and teamwork.