Zabeen Hirji: Last week I had the pleasure of sitting down with two inspiring women - Canadian Olympic and World figure skating Champion, Tessa Virtue, and Deloitte Canada’s Human Capital leader Jodi Baker Calamai.
The topic: State of Performance: Applying lessons from elite athletes to organizational performance
We talked about strategies and practices to enable individuals and teams to feel and perform at their best. The audience was an intimate group of CHROs from leading organizations, who were also invited to bring along a mentee or son or daughter. We all drew inspiration from the techniques used by elite athletes in pursuit of sustained high performance to redefine expectations around the way we work.
Tessa and Jodi shared their experience and expertise, with a human touch, bringing honesty and vulnerability to the dialogue. The discussion centred around the criticality of creating work environments where human sustainability is prioritized (https://lnkd.in/gvh_YE3N).
Three takeaways from the conversation:
1️⃣ Stop chasing perfection and start pursuing excellence - “Failure had been my greatest fear - we learnt to embrace failure. It gave us confidence to make bold, ambitious choices. We were liberated - freed to be our best." (I personally feel freed in my #purposefulthirdact, wish I had made it happen sooner.)
2️⃣ Human Sustainability: To achieve a state of performance, you must equally value and focus on human performance and business outcomes (The “power of and”).
3️⃣ Energy Cubes: You only have so much to give in a week. Make sure what you take on is in service of your greater purpose, your why. Rest and recovery are necessary to operate in a “state of performance.”
And at a very personal level for me - learn to mono-task, vs. always multi-tasking.
Greg Edgelow: Maxx with Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue at Canadian Winter Olympic figure skating team announcement at UBC. They thought Maxx was the official mascot. he was happy to be given that designation, even though it wasn’t official. Here’s a kiss for good luck to Tessa, and it worked.!
Manjit Kaur Virk, MBA: I wanted to take a moment to express my heartfelt appreciation for the recent event organized by Opening Minds | Changer les mentalités and the Mental Health Commission of Canada. The event was truly exceptional, and I am grateful to have had the opportunity to participate.
All the presenters delivered powerful and insightful presentations, but I wanted to particularly highlight the impact of the presentation by Olympic & World Champion, Tessa Virtue. Her vulnerability while sharing her personal journey was incredibly inspiring and her ability to link high performance athletics and the corporate world blew me away. Her insights into the mindset and resilience required to excel in both arenas shed light on the universal principles of success that transcend industries.
In the past two years, I have come to realize the immense power of vulnerability in our lives. Tessa's presentation reinforced this notion and this was a profound reminder that our vulnerability truly is our superpower.
JuliaBlakesk8: We had an amazing training at I.AM Ontario 🇨🇦.
We truly appreciate Scott, Madison, Adrian and Slava for everything. We enjoyed skating with all the teams especially with our fellow Americans Christina and Anthony! We are excited to return again soon.
juliablakesk8: Last week, we were ⛸️ training at I.AM Ontario (@iceacademyofmontreal )with @scottmoir14@splashmadison@adriandiazbronchud@troj88 & @slavauchitel1314
We appreciate all your attention, time and creativity. We loved your positive energy/fun atmosphere and learned so much. Looking forward to returning again soon and we are very excited for the 2024-25 season!