Next Play: Lessons from a 5-time Olympian

Recently I had the privilege of meeting Kerri Walsh Jennings, 5 time Olympian, 3 time gold medalist at the Clari EXCEED conference. In March 2017, Kerri announced her decision to compete in Tokyo 2020 Olympics in pursuit of her 4th Olympic gold medal.

I was intrigued by her decision. Of all the potential “Next Play” options Kerri had, why commit to her 6th Olympics? Mind it, aiming for an Olympics gold medal is a very serious commitment - 3 year regimented training schedule, personal sacrifices, risk of failure being a few top things.

It got me thinking about the reasons we embark on our next plays – good and bad - new challenge, more responsibility, more money, boredom, it is forced (laid-off) - the list goes on and on. If we make the wrong decision, we feel demoralized, cheated, disengaged and back in the fray for what to do next!

In a humble effort to help, I translated what Kerri shared about her thought process of deciding on her Next Play into a simple framework - as applicable to career and professional planning as it was to her personal decision.

1.      Are you moving forward?  How does this fit with your life plan? Are you deciding because it is the easiest option you have access to?

In Kerri’s words: “When we did not win Gold at Rio Olympics, I had no room in me to think about what’s next. I needed time to think through how everything fits together.”

2.      Are you passionate? Do you truly care about it? Is it just different or are you truly excited? Will you absolutely love what you will do?

“I’m a family of five, and this journey requires total commitment from not just myself, but my kids, my husband and so many other people. If I go four more years, which I want to, I need to consider lots of things, but yes, I’m in.”

3.      Do you think you will succeed? Is your mind and body invested in the challenge? Will this help you get better from skills perspective? In the environment you will be in, do you know who will be your supporters and who will be your detractors?

 “I am getting better at my game every day- both physically and mentally. I’m in to go win a gold medal. That’s like, period, end of statement.”

For my personal journey, taking on my current role at LinkedIn was the absolute right Next Play. I had achieved mastery in my then role of leading Commercial Operations for a mid-size infrastructure company. I loved the operating context – being strategic and working with senior leaders and sales reps to accelerate revenue growth. But I was dreaming bigger – I was ready to take on a broader operational role in a hyper growth business. Through the interview process, I could relate to the stories my LinkedIn interviewers shared about leadership, transformation and taking intelligent risks. I believed then that I could be successful at LinkedIn – I made the leap and haven’t looked back.

My advise for those evaluating their Next Plays would be to use the framework and then keep yourself honest by getting lots of feedback from mentors, colleagues, friends and family.

Share your experience in how you made your next play decision. Did you use a similar framework? Would you add anything? #NextPlay!