@Jackie – Hi Jackie. I’m glad you enjoyed this piece. It’s nice to hear that this piece encouraged you to leave a comment; I appreciate that.

As with Ryan, I’m happy to hear that you’ve subscribed to my blog. Looking forward to having both of you join in again in upcoming discussions on my blog.

Thanks for the comment. I agree with you that the borders concept can be used for geographical ones, but I think most companies are hampered more by their own internal borders than any international ones and don't appreciate how significant this is to their competitive edge. And Rochette is the perfect example of why businesses need to recognize the importance of human emotions to work, of why the notion of checking your emotional baggage at the door needs to be removed if we are to move ahead. As Rochette showed with her win of the bronze medal in last night's free skate competition, being able to channel that emotion into our drive to succeed is a powerful motivator that companies would be served well to encourage and support.

Thanks again for sharing your thoughts on this, Bonnie. I appreciate your contributions to this discussion.

An excellent job of taking lessons 'we can put to our own use' from the world and news around us. I think you can make some of your points even stronger – business is moving across borders and the cross-border cooperation can refer not just to silos within an organization but reaching out beyond geographical borders as well. And as we are increasingly being 'given permission' to bring our real human emotions into the work place, channeling them as Joannie Rochette did under extreme circumstances will apply to us as individual as well 'corporate players'. Thanks for taking the time to reflect on 'Olympic lessons"

You have to love how the Olympics can teach us about who we are and how we act in the midst of our business. I'm thankful that you have taken the time to integrate the two.

Collaboration, Competition and Courage are all needed ingredients in business. You have shown how to do each of these with a sense of Olympic spirit that moves beyond the notion of "what's in it for me."

I believe more and more businesses are understanding that they must move outside this notion in order to truly "connect" with their customers. Customers want openness and transparency. They want to see that the company has their needs in mind first. They want to feel respected.

Your three examples exemplify how this can happen. Let's hope business has been watching.
.-= Frank Dickinson´s last blog ..4 Ways To Kick Mediocrity’s Ass: Diagnosing The Problem With an Uncommon Mentor =-.

I believe that the only competition is our own ignorance. I enjoyed the skier story; crossing the competitive gap no doubt prospered him in some way, shape or form in the future.

Great insight I’ve added you to my Reader.
.-= Ryan´s last blog ..Attract Wealth – How I Learned About Abundance From A Spider =-.