17 Apr Never be afraid to try – Marnie McBean, Olympian

“This gold medal,” said Marnie McBean, holding up her first Gold Olympic medal, won at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics for Pairs Rowing “proved without a shadow of a doubt that my Mom was right:”

Never be afraid to try

credit: Tweet from Nazerah Shaik https://t.co/8YSXkFyXEe

Why? Because Marnie did not discover the sport that would shape her future until she was 16 – when she watched ‘Oxford Blues’.  “How do you learn to row?” she asked her Mom, who promptly followed her mantra “Never be afraid to try … new things” by handing Marnie the phone book which led her to her local rowing club where she discovered her passion and life’s calling.

McBean at the 8th Annual Ministry of Education PIC Symposia

Marnie was the keynote speaker at the recent ‘Ministry of Education Parent Involvement Committee Symposium’ (Etobicoke, April 8, 2017, #picsymposia2017).
Her interactive presentation “Sport and Play: Life Lessons and Skills Training – What Going to and Winning the Olympics Taught Me” was entertaining, inspiring and educational – and filled with an Olympic bag full of medals and life lessons.  This is the first of a number of a series of posts inspired by her presentation.

Olympians are normal people

In these uncertain times, what can a room full of Gen Z parents and educators possibly learn about raising successful children from Marnie McBean – one of Canada’s most decorated Olympians?  A lot – as it turns out.

Because Olympians are just ordinary people, who grow up in normal homes.  With normal parents – like you and me.

How to raise an Olympian

One would imagine that Marnie, who is listed in the 2000 Guinness Book of World Records as the first woman to have won medals in every FISA event, had grown up in a very athletic home with High-Pressure Parents.  Not so.  So how did the child of regular parents end up with so many Olympic medals?  What her parents did give her was a normal childhood, tenacity, an insatiable curiosity, and courage

Never be afraid to try .. new things

They asked 2 things of their children:

1. Be curious – be willing to try out new things
2. Stick it out – stay committed and give your new fascination a chance

When all around you is shifting, focus on the fundamentals

But we live in uncertain times.  Careers are shifting like quicksand beneath our feet.  Cutting edge technologies are changing the face of manufacturing, finance, medicine and law faster than we can roll out new graduates.  Life decisions and career plans can be hard to make, especially when accompanied by the reality that all that investment in learning, time and money may be futile.  Today’s spectacular win rapidly becomes tomorrow’s new normal.

The parallels to life in the winning lane as an Olympian could not be more clear.

As a GenZ parent, how do we advise, prepare and equip our children for this brave new world?  Interestingly enough, some of the answers lie in focusing on the constants in this evolving equation.  Focus on the fundamentals.

Discovery, Determination, Learning how to Learn

Did we know the first medal she ever won? she asked the audience.  Chess.  She participated in most of the sports offered at her High School but did not excel at any.  And she played tenor sax in the Jazz band.  Not exactly a classic Olympic National team resume.  Yet, within two years of starting rowing, she was a world champion and would win Gold in her very first Olympic race.  So, what lesson did this offer for a room full of teachers and parents of Gen Z?

You always have transferable skills

While Marnie brought passion and energy to her new sport, she did not bring experience.  But she soon found that her time in chess and music gave her solid fundamentals because this Olympic sport is as much about tactics, pacing, rhythm, and commitment as it is about strength and agility.  As an avid sportsman, she understood team dynamics, and her years in Band and Chess also laid a solid framework in active listening and strategy.  Within two years, her hard work began to pay off.  She was a Junior World champion.

The fundamentals matter

Learning to follow rules (band), understand the strategy (chess), be disciplined to practice regularly (band and athletics), stay committed and value your team are fundamentals that stay constant, regardless of the sport or activity.

All her past experiences were transferable skills.

Learn how to Learn

With each new experience – climbing trees, playing in net for her hockey-fanatic brothers, winning at chess – Marnie expanded her ability to learn how to learn.  She developed a capacity to process, use and deploy new information.

Stay curious

Always be looking for your passion.  Explore.  Ask.  Try.

Marnie’s Message?

GenZ and Millennials – Reuse, Reduce, Recycle, Rapid

It can be disconcerting when everything around you is shifting.  But if you stay grounded in your basics, you will discover that the rest of your experience – your transferable skills – allow you to adapt and quickly rebuild new frameworks on top of your solid foundation.   This is going to be a crucial skill with the rapid pace of technological development.  Build good habits.  Her building blocks were tenacity, curiosity, strategy, commitment.  What are yours?

To GenZ Parents – Fresh Air, Love and solid foundations

The developmental years are all about creating solid foundations – discovery, discipline, determination, and learning how to learn.  In uncertain times the only thing you can be certain of is your foundations.

Allow your child to explore a broad range of activities.  Encourage them to stay committed to their new interest – until they are sure that it is not their passion.  Create solid foundations of communications, curiosity, determination and discovery.  Turn them into life-long learners.

Never be afraid to try … new things

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Discussion time:  What message spoke loudest to you?

As a GenZ student, a parent, an educator or a Millennial:

• Recycling your Learning and Passion into a second career: Marnie has attended 9 Olympics – first as an athlete and later as a mentor or member of the media.  She has authored ‘The Power of More‘, and is an Ambassador for Right to Play.  How could you breathe new life into the career of your choice?
• Your family mantras:  Do you have some tried and true family mantras?  How have they proved useful?  Have some passed from generation to generation?
• Foundations:  Triggered by this post, my Dad (a school principal) discussed formulae –  reusable thought templates, essay outlines, categorizations, methods and mind maps – to make it easier to learn and act on new material

HOPE FOR THE BEST, PLAN FOR THE REST

The GenZ student of today needs to stay informed and continuously incorporate advances in technology during their post-secondary education to stay at the top of an ever-evolving job market and be in demand for the careers of tomorrow.

Karena focuses on the Future of Work.  Her Career FutureProofing program with students and their families helps them get the best return on their investment of education and time.  An average undergrad+postgrad spans 4-6 years, which is as long as a technology cycle.

To work with Karena, please email Karena@theKarenaArena.com.

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THANKS, INSPIRATION, REFERENCES, CITATIONS

• Inspired by Marnie McBean MarnieMcBean.ca/about-Marnie
• List of Marnie’s Rowing Results
• Photo credit: Nazerah Shaik @nazerah99 https://t.co/8YSXkFyXEe
• Thanks to the Ministry of Education, Ontario and the committee that organized and hosted the Minister’s 8th annual Parent Involvement Committee (PIC) Regional Symposia
• FISA – Federation International Societe d’Aviron, the international governing body for rowing
• Lesson learned – Never be too shy to take a photo with a speaker who has impressed you.  You will need it for the blog post!