🏁 Drawing Leadership Lessons from Lando's Victory! 🏆

For anyone who reads my posts, you likely know that Udemy is the Official Learning and Skills Partner of the McLaren Racing Team. I often get asked, “why?.” Well, not only will the McLaren team be leveraging Udemy to upskill and reskill their teams, but we will also be learning from them as part of our partnership. 

What does this have to do with Lando? Well, if you are a race fan, you will know that this weekend was historic for the McLaren team as after 110 races in F1, Lando Norris made the top spot and secured his first F1 1st place win! In the follow-up to the win, there were lots of messages of celebration and thanks, including a shout-out from McLaren to their partners. It was a short video by CEO Zak Brown, Team Principle Andrea Stella, and drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, that was cool, but for me, it had 3 key leadership lessons that I think are really applicable to the world of business: 

Lesson 1: Taking the Time to Appreciate: McLaren's genuine acknowledgment of their partners exemplifies the power of gratitude and recognition. In the fast-paced world of business, sometimes, a genuine expression of thanks or recognition can uplift spirits and drive meaningful change. Just as McLaren made a choice to appreciate their partners, we, too, as leaders, peers, and colleagues, have the power to acknowledge and uplift one another each day in the workplace—we just have to make the choice and make the time to do it. 

Lesson 2: Embracing Persistence & Perseverance: McLaren's emphasis on persistence and perseverance echoes the journey of businesses navigating challenges. We aren’t always going to hit our numbers; some months, we will, some months we will get close, and others, we may be far off, but if we work together, celebrate the wins along the way, and keep moving forward, we will get that quarter when we hit the perfect blend of strategy, vision, and execution and that is reflected in the pipeline, revenue or stock price. Sometimes, it's easy to focus on what’s not going right, but staying positive, highlighting what is working, and acknowledging the challenges so that we show as leaders we aren't oblivious to the challenges but are choosing to focus on them at a certain time and place vs them always being the focus are all key actions to ensure we are dealing with the current reality and creating momentum for what's possible. 

Lesson 3: Championing Teamwork: Andrea Stella said something poignant in the video: "You go nowhere alone." That struck a chord with me. It echoes the sentiment of a sign I have on my desk: “There is no limit to what a man can do if he doesn’t mind who gets the credit” (it needs to be updated to say person vs. man), but the sentiment still remains—true success is a collective effort. Creating cross-functional and diverse teams who thrive together is a must for successful teams and businesses. 

In the spirit of Lando's triumph, let's embrace these leadership lessons as we navigate our own professional journeys, striving for excellence and collective success. Together, we can reach new heights and conquer any challenge that comes our way!

#LeadershipLessons #Teamwork #BusinessSuccess #Inspiration #skills