Every Olympian can tell you the same story: Championships don’t happen by accident. They begin with a dream. Then, the dream takes shape by diligently doing the work on the field and in the gym. And if you find others who are equally driven and willing to join your endeavor, you wind up on the winner’s platform. In short, you gotta have heart.
Heart is the common thread between the focus of our September series, The Boys in the Boat, and newly minted Olympian Kristen Faulkner. Faulkner didn’t set out as an Olympic hopeful. Instead, cycling started as a lark, as she tried to blow off steam in Central Park after long days as an investment banker.
Kristen’s life took a turn in 2017 after she attended a women’s cycling clinic. Seasoned riders lifted her up by encouraging her and sharing their pro tips. Slowly, what was an individual pursuit started transforming into a group effort. Faulkner continued balancing her day job with cycling until she landed her first pro seat on Team Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank in 2020.
Soon, Kristen was on her way to Paris—but as a replacement. However, she wound up qualifying for road racing as well as track cycling. In the end, she came home with two gold medals. Reflecting on her Paris wins, Kristen said, “This is a dream come true. I’m still looking at that finish line sign, wondering how my name got there.”
In the September series, Collaboration: The Boys in the Boat Way, we’ve discussed the people skills required to be a champion collaborator. Here’s a bonus skill you can take from Kristen Faulkner as well as the underdog University of Washington 1936 rowing team: The willingness to put their heart and soul into collaborations.
Becoming a champion athlete often starts the way work projects do, where there’s a lot of energy and sheer enthusiasm. But strength of heart is the X factor that helps you come out ahead. That’s because coming from the heart helps you stay engaged. You create consistent, positive relationships rather than going through the motions. And maintaining a success mindset is more than an aspirational slogan—it’s how you carry yourself, day in and day out.
For instance, champions courageously listen to their instincts and switch up training routines that aren’t working. They understand that recognizing a teammate’s talent doesn’t undercut their agency. In fact, there’s strength in numbers. And champions cultivate the self-awareness to know when it’s time for a recovery day to refresh their outlook. You can apply these same skills to your alliances.
So, if you’re ready to take collaborations to the next level, remember that you gotta have heart. Like Kristen Faulkner and The Boys in the Boat, you could wind up being a Cinderella story, too.
Here’s a recap of three non-negotiable qualities—cooperation, flexibility, and accountability—we’ve studied to make collaborating easier:
Each collaboration has its ups and downs, whether you’re in the office or trying to get eight people to row as one. But challenges get a lot easier with practical techniques in your back pocket. So, act as the creative, wise CEO of your life—a Soul Boss—and power every partnership with people skills.
Have you enjoyed this series? Keep the goodness going by discovering a new approach to skilling up. Check out my new book, Soft Skills Basics in a Flash.