GOOD THINKING

If you watched the swimming events at the ... Olympics last summer, you probably observed the incredible focus the medalists demonstrated.

Sure, they're strong and fast. But when hundredths - maybe even thousandths - of a second are all that separate the winners from the losers, it's obvious that something besides strength and speed is at work.

A comment by Flip Darr, a former collegiate swimming coach who played a part in training eight Olympic medallists, sheds some light on what that critical ingredient might be.

"I felt in my coaching career that if I would work on [the swimmers'] head[s], their bodies would come along," he said. "A lot of coaches work on their bodies and then at the last moment try to do their heads. The thing is, if they are working with their heads all the time, and working with their head over the body, mind over matter, they will have more confidence when they walk up to the block."

What a great illustration of the value of good thinking.

Athletic ability is important, but preparing for the biggest race of one's life is as much mental as it is physical - if not more so.

As Bill MacCartney, the former head football coach at the University of Colorado, once told me, "Mental is to physical what four is to one."

That's a powerful argument in the case for good thinking - on the football field, as well as in your office at work. The specific thoughts that increase your effectiveness as a leader might not be the same as those required for an Olympic medal, but the overall commitment to thinking is identical.

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