Leadership Values: Courage and Respect

Martin Webster -

Today’s topic is respect. In this post, the Lazy Leader continue a short leadership series influenced by the Tokyo 2021 Summer Olympics.

The Olympics is a great spectacle of human endeavour. Over 10,000 athletes—Olympians—from around the world train for four years to have the opportunity to represent their nation. Every four years we see many Olympic and world records broken and even more personal bests smashed.

To celebrate the Tokyo 2021 Summer Olympics, I am taking a look at the Olympic values and examine their relevance in leadership.

The Olympic values are:

  • Striving for excellence,
  • Demonstrating respect, and
  • Celebrating friendship.

Let’s consider the second value: Demonstrating respect.

Courageous Leadership

British Olympian Sarah Stevenson was the reigning Taekwondo world champion and Beijing bronze medallist, leading up to the London Olympics. Yet, her London 2012 campaign lasted just six minutes. She was beaten in her opening bout by American Paige McPherson.