Elevate Those Around You

As a follow-up to my recent commentary on the significance of Shalane Flanagan’s New York City Marathon victory, The New York Times’ Lindsay Crouse highlights the impact Flanagan has had on her training partners over the years, a phenomenon she’s dubbed “The Shalane Effect.” And while most of us can’t mentor and inspire 11 of our running buddies to the Olympic Games like Flanagan has over the years, we can all do a little more to elevate the people around us and help make them better athletes, co-workers, spouses, friends and people, while simultaneously setting ourselves up for success in the process.

“But perhaps Flanagan’s bigger accomplishment lies in nurturing and promoting the rising talent around her, a rare quality in the cutthroat world of elite sports,” Crouse writes. “Every single one of her training partners—11 women in total—has made it to the Olympics while training with her, an extraordinary feat. Call it the Shalane Effect: You serve as a rocket booster for the careers of the women who work alongside you, while catapulting forward yourself.”

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