Today is January 26 and the Navigate the Chaos question to consider is “How often do you support your competitor?”
Navigating the chaos often requires one to support competitors or simply those who are different from you.
One such example came in the 1936 Summer Olympics.
Carl (Luz) Long was a German Olympic long-jumper who, by the summer of 1936, held the European record in the long jump and was eager to compete for the first time against Jesse Owens, the American world-record holder.
The long jump on August 4 was Long's first event where he set an Olympic record during the preliminary round. In contrast, Owens fouled on his first two jumps and sat on the field, dejected.
At that moment Long went over to Owens and told him to try to jump from a spot several inches behind the take-off board.
Since Owens routinely made distances far greater than the minimum required to advance, Long surmised that Owens would be able to advance safely to the next round without risking a foul trying to push for a greater distance.
On his third qualifying jump, Owens was calm and jumped with at least four inches to spare and easily qualified for the finals. Owens went on to win the gold while Long won the silver medal.
Long was the first to congratulate Owens, posed together for photos and walked arm-in-arm to the dressing room.
Owens said, "It took a lot of courage for him to befriend me in front of Hitler. You can melt down all the medals and cups I have and they wouldn't be a plating on the twenty-four karat friendship that I felt for Luz Long at that moment".
Long was killed in action serving in the German Army during World War II.
For his actions in the spirit of sportsmanship, he was posthumously awarded the Pierre de Coubertin medal - a special decoration awarded by the International Olympic Committee to former athletes who exemplify the spirit of sportsmanship in Olympic events or through exceptional service to the Olympic movement.
As Russian author Peter Kropotkin noted "Competition is the law of the jungle, but cooperation is the law of civilization."
As you go about your day, and amidst the competitive nature of life, consider asking yourself how often do you emphasize cooperation as an act of being civil?