The excitement of the 2024 Summer Olympics has died down, but I’m still inspired by this story. At just 17 years old, Singapore Olympian Maximilian Maeder has made history by delivering Singapore’s very first Olympic medal in Kitefoiling—a bronze—at the Paris Olympics.
But his journey began much earlier. At the age of 11, Maximilian confidently expressed his desire to become a world champion. The environment he describes as pivotal to his success? Growing up with ready access to water in Wakatobi and having incredibly supportive parents.
This story reminds me of a key assessment I conduct with my corporate coaching clients, centered around what I believe to be two of the most critical elements for success – Passion and Context.
Maximilian clearly had both passion and context.
So, can we all achieve “Olympic-level” performance in our careers if we have the right passion and context? As a coach, I firmly believe the answer is “yes.”
With that in mind, here are two questions I encourage Executive Coaching clients to reflect on (rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being high):
🔥 What is your current level of PASSION for what you are doing at work (how deeply you care about and are energized by what you do)? 1-10: _____
🌍 To what extent are you in the right CONTEXT (environment) to leverage that passion—are you in the right industry, geography, company, with the right boss, team members, colleagues, etc.? 1-10: _____
Now, what do your answers reveal to you?
✅ If you have high passion but low context, you may not be fully expressing your passion, and it could be time to consider changing your company or even your industry.
💡 If you have high context—you love where you work—but aren’t able to fully express your passion, it might be the perfect moment for a career discussion with your superior. How could you express your passion more?
What about you? What kind of environment helps YOU thrive?
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