Olympic Reflections #8: Bolt
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.
If you were looking for a great quote at the Olympics, Usain Bolt was a treasure trove. I had the great fortune to interview the fastest man on the planet by the finish line after six of his gold medal successes at the 2012 and 2016 Games. Total thrill.
Faced with a quote machine like Bolt it should have been easy to get what you needed. But part of the challenge at the Olympics was that you rarely had more than a minute with him, before a media liaison officer tapped you on the shoulder to wrap it up. And fair enough, when scores of other reporters were waiting to have their bite. So being short, sharp and targeted on your outcome was key.
While he’s the least shy guy on earth I’m pretty proud of getting him to call himself ‘a legend’, and then four years later describing himself as ‘immortal’. I love the art of the interview and I really enjoy that through recruiting, I still get to work on it every day.
#olympics #interviewing
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