In sports, we throw around the phrase GOAT (greatest of all time) quite a bit. It gets used so often, it’s lost a bit of its meaning, but these conversations are always fun for sports fans. One athlete who unambiguously deserves the GOAT moniker is American gymnast Simon Biles. With more medals than any other gymnast, the star power to elevate her sport, and her positive impact on how we talk about mental health, Biles is a star worth emulating.
Biles built on her already stellar career with four more medals—three gold and one silver—in the recent 2024 Olympics in Paris. We may not be able to replicate her feats of athleticism, but the Olympian left us a lot of valuable lessons we can internalize in our own careers.
Be innovative
You don’t stay at the top of your game by doing the same things over and over. It takes courage to innovate and try to take your game to the next level, and that’s what Biles did when she submitted a brand new skill on the uneven bars. Biles already has five skills named after her, and this would have been the sixth.
She ended up not debuting the skill, continuing to work on it outside of the competition. But even attempting a never-before-seen skill (and on the uneven bars, typically her “weakest” event) shows a strong innovative spirit and a desire to take her already all-time level skill to even further heights. Even without that skill, Biles still went deep in her bag to achieve the gold.
Know when to take time off
In the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Biles famously withdrew from the games, realizing she needed to prioritize her mental health and focus on coming back stronger and ready for the next competition. The pressure of being a star athlete can take a toll on even the most outwardly resilient athletes. Biles received some criticism for this choice, but it turned out to be the right move.
Biles made the difficult but correct choice for her and came back with a dominant performance in 2024. Psychologist Adam Grant points to her decision as an example of how healing takes time and that resilience isn’t about automatically bouncing back. Healing is a process that everyone handles differently. Biles rose again stronger than ever. Don’t be afraid to take time away or look for a new path when the signs are telling you it’s time.
“However, it is unrealistic to expect everyone to perform at the highest of levels indefinitely. At some point, people are bound to hit a bump in the road.” –Lindsay Kohler, Forbes
Strive for balance
Literal balance is especially important for gymnasts, but striking a good balance in our own lives is just as important. Biles previously gave 110 percent on everything she did, which appears admirable until you consider how unsustainable that is. Humans aren’t made to constantly toil away. After Biles took time away, she was able to come back with a more balanced mindset and approach—a successful one from what we saw in Paris.
CEO Jennifer Dulski wrote that we can all learn from Biles’ example by learning the importance of taking breaks. It doesn’t have to be a full stepping away, but we can all take advantage of days off and vacation days to decompress and avoid hitting a boiling point. Burnout can lead to full meltdowns, so it’s vital to strike a sustainable balance.
Lead by example
Biles’ openness about her mental health struggles may have been criticized by some critics but not by her team. It’s tough for athletes to be open about their own struggles thanks to the expectation to be tough and above such things. But Biles isn’t the only one with their own struggles with depression, anxiety, and more. By being so open about her struggles, even crediting her success in Paris to keeping regular appointments with her therapist, she has set the example that it’s okay to be open about mental health and will inspire others to do the same.
The best leaders are ones that encourage you to undertake a journey with them, rather than make demands. In any facet of work, your habits will be better received if your team sees you practicing what you preach. Whether it’s putting your mental health first, elevating others in meetings, building a culture of trust, or any other work initiative, leading by example is the most inspiring way to build attention.
“If we think of mental health like a muscle, the more we attend to it, spend time looking after it then the stronger it becomes.” –Nathan Shearman, director of therapy and training at Red Umbrella Bespoke HealthCare Ltd.
Wrap up
Simone Biles’ dazzling performances have made her a multiple-time gold medalist, but her strong spirit, openness about her struggles, and her drive to grow and compete are what make her someone worth emulating. Biles taught us that we can have our struggles and still overcome them and achieve greatness and that we can forge our own paths to success.
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