Just do you

I was there in the Estabio Olimpico in Rio when Usain Bolt-Ed his way into legenddom, winning each of his 3 gold medals. I witnessed Elaine Thompson win her 2 golds and a relay silver as well as Shelley-Anne Fraser-Pryce conquering her biggest opponent – her injured big toe to win the bronze medal 100m run and anchor the relay team to silver. So much inspiration, so many reminders that greatness and world domination do not belong only to the 1st World. It’s there in each of us, no matter where we are born.

But no-one had inspired me more than Omar McLeod who slithered over 10 hurdles like a dolphin surfing the waves to claim the 110m Men’s Gold. Oh he was glorious to watch – perfect form, eyes transfixed, seeming to be one with the finish line, his smile radiant as a million suns saying to the world – “I am the best in the world” in the moment when he realized that he had won. What has continued to inspire me is what he stated in an interview a few days after the race. To prepare mentally, when the ghosts of recent trips and tumbles threatened to defy him his moment of golden glory, his coach simply said: “Omar, just do you.”

I remembered this last week when preparing for a strategy retreat of 30 persons of which over 50% were PhDs. I doubted if I should turn up with my usual approach that focuses on joy, fun and laughter. I mean, these are serious people, not just brilliant, but certified so. Would joy fall flat and totally derail the task of creating a strategic plan? Omar’s voice, repeating his coach, spoke to me “Marguerite … Just do you.” Do that laughter. Do that joy. Do those smiles. That only you do, because that is who you are.

So, I turned up as Marguerite. I did me.

“Marguerite. I don’t know where you get that energy from” said one participant. I get it from doing ME, because I am the only one qualified to do Marguerite. And in doing me, I enable others to do themselves – the CEO to hug a toy elephant as he described an elephant in the room, the CFO to waltz to Earth Wind and Fire with the head of a business unit, another making pipe cleaner bracelets, so many laughing, hugging, complimenting each other- all while crafting an amazing strategic plan for the next 5 years.

Don’t try to copy me. I am the only Marguerite Orane. Instead, just be inspired and “do you” as Omar McLeod did. Go for your own gold, because that’s your special gift to the world.