Unleashing Your Inner Champion: What Léon Marchand Can Teach Us About Business

The French swimmer Léon Marchand is making monumental waves at the Paris 2024 Olympics. He is now the fastest swimmer on the planet, as he recently shattered the 400 meter record, set by Michael Phelps at the 2008 Beijing Games, and is on track to become a household name. This achievement not only marked a new Olympic milestone but also brought Marchand his first-ever Olympic gold medal.

What sets Léon apart isn't just his speed—it's his strategic use of a long underwater swim when pushing off the wall, a technique that other swimmers haven't fully exploited. He maximizes the distance off the start and off of every wall, often taking the full 15 meter allowed. This "underwater edge" serves as a powerful metaphor for what we can do in our businesses.

Just as Léon maximizes his distance off every start and turn, we can find and leverage untapped opportunities in our business strategies. Léon's secret lies in his exceptional breath control, allowing him to excel in his underwaters even when fatigue sets in.

In business, finding your "underwater edge" requires means identifying those elements that others might overlook or that are unique to your approach, and turning them into your greatest strengths.

Here are three ways to uncover an "underwater edge" in your business:

1) What are one or two unique aspects of your business that, if fully optimized, can give you a significant edge? This could be a unique skill within your team, an untapped market segment, or a proprietary process. Identify this and consider naming it (i.e. XYZ Framework), then feature this difference in your social media, marketing and on sales calls.

2) Innovate relentlessly: Léon’s success comes from pushing the boundaries of conventional swimming techniques. How can you do things differently from everyone else in your field? Are you doing strategy retreats with your team every six months to look at competitors and see where you can innovate?

3) Invest in people who can bring out the best in you. Marchand worked with Bob Bowman, also Michael Phelps' coach and who he credits with helping him to become the fastest swimmer with the brilliant underwater competitive edge. Are you investing in coaches and finding mentors who can help you maximize your potential?

Watching Marchand is a good reminder that it's not always about what’s visible on the surface—sometimes, the real game-changers are something seemingly small or overlooked in your industry. What's your "underwater edge?" Consider setting aside one hour this week to talk about it with your team, mentors, entrepreneurial bestie or coach!

note: image is not Léon Marchand, it's an AI-generated image from DALL-e but do go watch his recent 400 meter victory! you can watch it here or wherever you have been following the Olympics!

P.S. Watch how the crowd cheers every time he lifts his head from his breast stroke. That is another thing that gives us an advantage as business owners - when we have friends and family to cheer us on!