Olympic Reflections #9: Communications
by Ross Fletcher, Director
Herd Freed Hartz – Executive Search
Olympic Reflections and lessons learned for recruiting
I was fortunate to work at seven Olympic Games (and a few Youth Olympics) during my time in broadcasting. For the duration of Paris 2024 I’m sharing a reflection a day.
Great communication is a vital part of what we do in recruiting. It was the same for every Olympic Games I worked at – even more so when the inevitable language barriers hit.
As a reporter at the 2010 Singapore Youth Olympics I was paired with a fresh-out-of-college camera operator from Guangzhou, China called Pu Ke. He told me the way to remember his name was by calling him ‘little puke’. He only spoke a few sentences of English, which was still better than the haphazard Mandarin I picked up at the Beijing Games in ‘08.
After 48 hours of orientation meetings, we set off to news gather. We worked together every day for nearly three weeks and I still can’t quite understand how we managed to make the relationship work so well. I do remember there was quite a bit of gesticulating. It was also a lot of fun embracing our obvious challenges.
We made films in flea markets, asked the FIFA president questions at a press conference in a swanky hotel, and filmed soccer and 3-on-3 basketball like we were made to work together. We shared a common understanding and a common goal. And through the monsoons, sapping humidity and long days and nights we made sure to laugh at the moments when we came unstuck.
I often think of that time in Singapore and how with a little persistence and the right attitude, you can break down a lot of barriers.
#olympics #communication
If you liked this, you can also check out:
Olympic Reflections #1: The People
Olympic Reflections #2: Interviewing
Olympic Reflections #3: Across Sectors
Olympic Reflections #4: Resilience
Olympic Reflections #5: Fun
Olympic Reflections #6: Meeting Matthew
Olympic Reflections #7: Transport
Olympic Reflections #8: Bolt