The biggest mistakes in business are usually made when leaders react instead of act. Reflexive actions are rarely effective when compared to actions borne out of a well-thought-out strategy.

 

This is probably the same lesson learned recently by American short track speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno. He set aside everything except training for the past two years. He sacrificed. He worked hard. His goal? Win the same number of medals in the 2006 Olympics as he did in the Salt Lake City games four years ago, including a gold in the 1,500 meters.

 

But back-to-back gold medals in this race were not in the cards for Ohno.  With only 1.5 laps to go in his 13.5 lap semifinal heat, Ohno made a mistake. I winced when I saw it. He made a move that probably wasn’t necessary. Watching it, it seemed like a thought floated through his head that played on his ego. And in that blink of an eye, Ohno made a bad choice that not only cost him a gold medal, it totally eliminated him from competing in the finals. 

 

Here’s what happened: In the semifinals, the first and second place finishers move on to the final race. Ohno was in second place. He was experienced and fast enough to keep his position, but for some reason he decided to try passing the leader. Whether his move was based in obedience to his coaching, fear that he might finish third, or an ego that needed to be at the front of the pack, we’ll never know. Whatever it was, with only a lap and a half to go, he made an outside move on the leader. Unfortunately, his hand touched the skate of the lead skater, and this threw off his concentration and balance. Ohno lost his rhythm and he fell back to fifth place.