Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Two Dozen Basic Management Principles -- (Pt. 16)


Chapter 14

Olympic Trials – Part 2

 

The second injury of Lopez’ career came ten minutes before the biggest race of his life. Over the three previous days, Lopez overcame the disappointment of the jersey pull in the 800 meters final and had breezed through the preliminary 1500 meter rounds. His body felt strong. His hamstring felt so good that he almost forgot he had injured it.

Right after he completed stretching for the 1500 meter final, his right foot came down on what appeared to be a normal patch of grass. It was a hole! His foot came down awkwardly, twisting his ankle on the same leg that had the bad hamstring. Pain shot up his leg. He tried to jog it out but he couldn’t put any weight on his right foot.

“Second call, 1500 meter men’s final,” the track announcer said. Lopez headed straight to Dr. Wharton. “I have a problem.”

“What happened?” Dr. Wharton asked.

“I twisted my ankle in a hole while doing strides.”

“Are you serious? Here, lay down. Let me see what I can do.” He grabbed Lopez’ foot and made a couple of adjustments.

“Third call, 1500 men’s final.”

His ankle still did not feel right but he had to go report for the race. They weren’t going to delay the finals until his ankle healed.

Lopez grabbed his backpack and started over toward the track. As he walked, he prayed. “God, I know You gave me this dream for something bigger than myself. You’ve done too many impossible things in my life so far for me to believe that You want my dream to end like this.”

Lopez took another step. The pain in his ankle disappeared. In fact, his ankle felt like he’d never run a race in his entire life.

“Runners, to your marks…Get set…” The gun sounded. Lopez took off. The first two laps went according to his game plan. He stayed alert on the first lap and got into position on the second lap. The pace picked up on the third lap. Lopez moved closer to the front, ready to strike. The hamstring felt great. There was no pain in his ankle. God performed a miracle on his leg. There was no other explanation that Lopez could come up with.

The pack rounded the turn and headed up the straightaway for the bell lap. All of a sudden, Lopez felt a push on his back. Someone had pushed another runner and that runner fell into Lopez. His feet flew awkwardly and Lopez struggled to keep his balance. Fortunately, his feet came back under him. No one fell. The bell sounded. It was time to grab the dream.

Lopez was right where he wanted to be at the 300 meter mark. He started his kick. This was his opportunity to make his dream a reality. With two hundred meters to go, he entered the final curve. He pushed his body harder than he had in any race in his life. With 150 meters to go, in the middle of the curve, running as hard as he could, his hamstring tightened with a yank. Pain shot up his leg. Lopez fell back. Runners passed him. For a moment, he could not run full speed.

He ran out of the curve and onto the final straightaway. Ninety meters to go. Eighty-nine. Eighty-eight. He fell further behind.

Then something remarkable happened, something Lopez could not explain. At the eighty-seven meter mark, a burst of energy came over him and neutralized the pain in his leg. His feet flew. He passed one runner, then another. Up ahead, he saw one runner and then another cross the line. No problem. His goal was the top three. With one final burst of speed, he passed the last runner in front of him and crossed the line in third place.

Lopez fell to the ground, overjoyed. “Thank you, God. Thank you, thank you, thank you. You did this, not me!”
 

Management Lesson #19 – Thank God & Those Who Got You There

It is easy to take credit for your successes. The reality is that most of the credit is shared. Your success was only possible because a sovereign God entrusted you with talents (you are but a steward of His gifts). Your success was aided by those who got you there. Make sure you thank God and those who assisted you in making your success possible.