What we can learn from Spanish Women’s Soccer
Two Saturday nights ago, I was enthusiastically soaking bread in an infused milk mixture to get ready to make torrejas (Spanish French toast). Sunday morning was go time: the Women’s World Cup FInal was on at 6:00 a.m. Eastern between Spain and England and I wanted to be READY.
Our house was all Team Spain: my children’s father was from Spain, all his family lives there today and I never like to let a good opportunity to pair appointment viewing and tasty cuisine pass by. Despite a few obstacles getting the game on, and maybe sleeping in a little past the 6:00 a.m. Eastern time start, we watched the team win the championship and cheered on enthusiastically while devouring what was, if I do say so, a delicious breakfast.
Enjoying torrejas while cheering on the champs
I was especially intrigued because of a New York Times article I had read a few days before that talked about the lead-up to the World Cup. My jaw literally dropped as I read that in 2018 (a mere five years ago), the problems that faced the Spanish national women’s team were so numerous they included things seemingly as small as not having jerseys that were made to fit women’s bodies to as large as lacking a professional domestic league to prepare players as a pipeline. England’s story was similar, although they had about a four-year head start on Spain in tackling their barriers. As I zested the orange and mixed some cinnamon sugar, I reflected on the magnitude of being in the final of the World Cup just a few short years later. No matter what team won, it would bring home the first Women’s World Cup for their country. The next day, we would see dreams realized and a champion crowned.
The similarities to the work I do helping leaders was stunning. Getting to the World Cup final consisted of a million little moments: as big as a star player recovering successfully from an injury to as small a moment as a pep talk in the locker room during an earlier round. Champions would not be made the next day because of the actions that day: the fact that the teams made it to the final reflected their achievements and investments that had started years and years before. While part of my weekend was spent with my kids watching this particular game, the seeds had been sown long before.
Professionally that week, I was helping clients put the finishing touches on professional development sessions, sharing dashboards and protocols with teams, analyzing survey data: we were taking those small actions that would help put the organizations I supported on the path to the championship: the big goals they want to reach.
How long would it take until they saw those results? Minimally, months–and in most cases, years. But by taking the small actions day in and day out now, they were ensuring that day would eventually come: the organizations they lead would reach that point. Why? Because they got the help they needed, sought out the expertise and insight which was necessary and worked to align their team.
Watching the players on the pitch Sunday, they achieved their dream. While everyone wanted to take home the title, the reality is that competing at that level is literally a dream come true already: it’s giving your country its first shot at taking home that title in history, in front of a global audience of tens of millions of people. The New York Times article made me realize that while the dream had long been there, once the countries decided to put in the work, it didn’t take long at all, in the scheme of things. The moment you decide to act on that dream, identify barriers and systematically knock them down, take the small steps day by day–in many ways–that moment is when the magic happens. It will never be televised–and let’s be honest, probably happens in a series of meetings that would make C-Span look thrilling–and is such a helpful reminder that deciding to take action is indeed a turning point in the trajectory on the path to a championship.
If you want to discuss taking action together, let’s chat! Book a call with me here.