[Archive from Aug 4, 2016] — Three months ago we all met in Vancouver at the Olympic Lab. Tomorrow, your summer teammates will be walking into the opening ceremonies of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games as one strong, proud, and united Canadian Team ready to take on the world in Olympic competition.

Since our time together in Vancouver you have been planning and training to take on the world yourselves, in PyeongChang, in just over 18 months. At the Olympic Lab, most of you told us that the event was critical to your success in preparing for PyeongChang. Check out the full survey report with additional insights from Lab participants. Your feedback will be used to plan Olympic Lab 2017 on June 1^st and 2^nd.  

Click here to take a rejuvenation break and check out some moments captured through the lenses of Devin Manky, our photographer. 

“Psychological safety” describes a team climate characterized by interpersonal trust and mutual respect in which people are comfortable being themselves. This overarching theme guided the environment that was created at the Lab. We shared practical tools on how to create these psychologically safe conditions within our performance culture.

 

• Growth Habits: Forget the summit and instead focus on creating growth habits. Being able to return from the Everest is much more important than the ascension;
• Engineer our Team: Achieve team performance through team learning. Building shared values and beliefs of success, along with team learning, can boost performance;
• Self-Regulation: Learn how to mindfully manage feelings, thoughts, values, and purpose for immediate and sustained positive efforts;
• Vulnerability: Explore the link between being our authentic selves and realizing our full potential;
• Who Fails Best, Wins: The way people respond to failure invariably determines their ability to succeed;
• Face Everything And Rise (F.E.A.R.): Concerns and fears will always be part of our Olympic reality; they are not the problem. The key is what we do with them.

In our commitment to being the best version of ourselves, every decision, every action we take is ultimately in effort to prove something, no matter how big or small. The Olympics are not every four years – they are every. single. day. As we cheer on our summer teammates over the next three weeks, we will be reminded that we stand on the shoulders of champions. Their actions will speak louder than words and will spur us on to great heights in our respective journeys towards 2018.

Be the proof.

• Download: Full Olympic Lab PowerPoint presentations
• Watch: We Are The Proof
• See: The Anatomy of a Manifesto