One of the big questions of today for sales leadership is how do we win in new channels that aren’t our traditional heartland e.g. OOH, discounters and e-commerce.

Watching the inspirational (if not on the crazy side of brave) athletes of the winter Olympics it becomes apparent two key attributes are needed to succeed:

· Mastering the fundamentals

· The confidence to leverage these in new disciplines.

Sam Blanchet is a former rugby union professional who has played for England Sevens and Exeter Chiefs. The skills honed in this sport (strength, toughness and power) are a great match to those required for the bobsleigh track hence Blanchet is fulfilling his ambition of representing GB at the winter Olympics.

“You can do it if you put your mind to it” says Sam

He is not alone.

· Joel Fearon, Britain’s 3rd fastest 100m runner in history, is also in the bobsleigh team

· Snowboarders Katie Ormerod and Billy Morgan both started in gymnastics where spacial awareness and power are also a fundamental.

· It’s well publicised that our most successful Olympian, Lizzy Arnold, used to be a heptathlete

Let the athletes of the winter Olympics inspire you to assess your mastery of the fundamentals and then leverage your strengths and competitive advantage into new channels.