Just Add Water

Lessons from an Olympic Swimmer

I’ve always loved swimming. In fact, I was actually part of a synchronized swimming team in college. So, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that one swimmer I’m always excited to see is Katie Ledecky. World record holder, winner of nine Olympic medals (including one as the youngest swimmer ever to win Olympic gold), and 21 world championships, she is widely considered to be the finest woman swimmer in the world. So how did she get there?

In her book, “Just Add Water,” Ledecky notes that a strong genetic line of persistence runs through her whole family. Once one of them gets an idea, they execute it. And that, in large part, is what has driven Ledecky since she started swimming at age 6. She hasn’t always had the best technique or the most natural ability. But when her coaches through the years have been asked what has enabled her to swim the way she does, their answer is inevitably the same: hard work. Ledecky has always believed that the effort she puts in today will pay off down the road. She believes in the swimming mantra “no shortcuts”. There are no shortcuts to developing the skill and stamina required to compete at the highest level, just as there are no shortcuts to the end of the pool…you have to swim all the way. Powering to the wall is how she wins races.

Ledecky has taken to heart a key theme I’ve seen in successful leaders in a variety of fields. She thrives not on winning, but on continuous, unrelenting improvement. A knowledge sponge, she takes feedback eagerly and implements change as soon as she can master it. Never one to hit the snooze button, she is willing to set scary goals and take the steps necessary to achieve them. For example, she has long set what she calls “want times”…ambitious swim times that were private, but which became more and more reasonable as her swimming improved. So, let me ask…are you setting stretch goals for yourself? Are you willing to seek out feedback, even if it might be hard to hear? Above all, are you willing to implement change and work diligently at that every single day?

Above all, Ledecky remembers the most important life lesson of all. Doing right takes commitment. And being successful hardly matters if you can’t look in the mirror and be proud of who you see looking back at you. Above all, what everyone else does in the pool isn’t your business. Your business is to do your absolute best with complete integrity. Every single lap.

Stay Sharp,

Holly Hayes, President & Founder
ISI Consulting