At the 1984 Olympics, Peter Vidmar (center, grinning) knew what he had to do. Going into the final exercise of the individual all-around competition in men’s gymnastics, he had to execute a near perfect performance – achieve a score of 9.95 – to win the gold medal. Vidmar’s eyes focused squarely on the parallel bars, and with a last deep breath, he launched into his routine. His performance was flawless – up to the very last second, when the power of his dismount caused him to hop ever so slightly. Vidmar scanned the scoreboard, added the numbers and quickly calculated that he had achieved a high enough score to win his sport’s top honor. Eyes bright and sparkling with an expression of “Ah, we did it,” he turned to look at his long-time coach and mentor Makoto Sakamoto. In the split second when coach and athlete’s eyes met, Makoto’s expression told Vidmar, “We almost did it.” Vidmar turned back to the score board to confirm what he had seen in Makoto’s eyes. Peter Vidmar had just made history by becoming the only US male gymnast to have won an Olympic all-around medal – the silver. He had missed the gold by 25/1,000th of a single point.

This poignant moment in the spectacular career of Olympic champion Peter Vidmar reflects the three elements of Vidmar’s success philosophy. The difference between winning and losing in any arena of competition is a very fine line; sharing a common goal between you and your boss is critical; teamwork creates a winning performance.

In his chosen sport, Vidmar has achieved remarkable success: As captain of the 1984 Olympic men’s gymnastics team, Peter led his teammates to the first US gold medal victory. He went on to win the silver medal in the individual all-around competition and the gold medal on the pommel horse. He is the single highest scoring gymnast (an incredible 9.89 average), male or female, in the history of US gymnastics.

Prior to his championship performances at the 1984 Olympics, Peter had majored in economics at UCLA and planned to go on to graduate business school. “Then I won the gold medal and that kinda changed things,” he admits.

Suddenly the young Olympic champion was in great demand. Advertisers wanted him to endorse their products; network and cable television sought him out as a gymnastics commentator; corporate America wanted him to inspire the troops by describing the secrets of his success.

Nearly six years after his gold medal victories, Vidmar is in greater demand than ever before. He spends 90 percent of his time traveling around the country on the corporate lecture circuit. In addition to his lecture activities, 27 year-old Vidmar broadcasts at gymnastics events for NBC, CBS, and ESPN. He teaches a one-day seminar on stress management at The Franklin Institute in Salt Lake City.

An excellent speaker, Vidmar combines speech with actual performance, using his favorite apparatus – the pommel horse – to back up points in his presentation. He has a computer print-out of every gymnastics club in the country, and uses zip codes to arrange for a pommel horse to be on hand for every speech. The result is a powerful presentation that has attracted such corporate giants as IBM, Mobil Oil, General Motors, Federal Express, Squibb, Borg-Warner, 3M, and Control Data, to name just a few.

The demand for Vidmar’s motivational services hinges on a unique ability to take his knowledge of gymnastics and apply it to the challenges, concerns and problems that face salespeople, managers and corporate executives. Such versatility characterizes every aspect of Vidmar’s performance, on the gymnastics mat or in the executive suite.

As Vidmar explains, “In my sport, there are four levels of difficulty-A, B, C and D. A is the easiest, B is an intermediate level, C involves advanced tricks and D, super advanced. In any given routine, if you perform it technically perfect, you will score a 9.4. Now, at a certain level (of gymnastic achievement) everyone can fulfill that requirement. To win, however, you have to score above a 9.4 and set yourself apart from everyone else.”

The way to do that in gymnastics and in business, says Peter, is through ROV – Risk, Originality and Virtuosity. “ROV is part of the judging criteria for the sport of gymnastics. The way to score above a 9.4 is ROV. You can score 2/10s of a point for executing a routine with virtuosity. It only adds up to 6/10s of a point but that’s the difference between winning and losing.”

Before speaking to a particular audience, Peter will consult with the meeting planner or other company representative to discuss what message or theme management most wants to convey.

Sometimes the message is “You need to go out on a limb,” or “We want to foster more spark.” “I didn’t create the rules (in gymnastics) but I learned a lot from them,” he says, “and I believe that success in my sport and in business depends on ROV. ROV teaches you how to put something into your work that’s uniquely your own. It sets the top performers apart in every endeavor.”

If Peter attributes his success to ROV, he credits his coach and mentor of 12 years, Makoto Sakamoto, with teaching him how to achieve ROV. “My personal coach had a profound effect on me. He had just finished competing in the 1972 Olympic games at Munich despite a torn biceps muscle, which is unheard of in gymnastics. He was a 10-time US champion and I really lucked out to have him as my coach.

“I started working out with him when I was 11 1/2 years old and basically, he acted like a 12 year-old. He made gymnastics fun and would tell these wonderful stories about past competitions and name some famous gymnasts. I ate it up, and thought, `Wow, that’s incredible. I want to be like that, I want to experience a world championship, I want to compete at that level.’ “

Inspired by his coach, and possessing a singular desire to be the best gymnast he could be, Peter trained for 10 years without a single vacation. “I took Christmas Day off – and Sundays,” says Vidmar, respecting the Sabbath of his faith – the Mormon church. In this he emulated past Olympic great Eric Liddell as described in the Academy-Award winning film, Chariots of Fire, Vidmar’s favorite movie. (Vidmar did indulge and take three days off in 1983 – to marry his college sweetheart, former UCLA gymnastics star Donna Harris.)

By choice Vidmar worked nonstop. Makoto respected his protege enough to let him follow his own instincts. “He and I were on the exact same wavelength,” Vidmar recalls. “He knew I wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize my gymnastics.”

Vidmar also credits Makoto with teaching him an important leadership quality – the ability to recognize one’s limitations. Vidmar recalls a time when he spent four grueling days trying to improve his weakest routine – the floor exercises.

“I was so frustrated. And finally, after four days, Makoto said to me, `I think it’s very noble that you want to do this but sometimes you have to be realistic.’ I wouldn’t have taken that from anyone else but him,” recalls Vidmar. Accordingly, Vidmar concentrated on mastering a slightly lower level of expertise in floor exercises. The strategy paid off. The following year, he made the Olympic finals in his weakest area, floor exercises.

This valuable lesson translates well for salespeople and managers who sometimes castigate themselves for poor performance when, in reality, quotas may have been set too high or expectations of a territory’s riches have been overstated.

“You have to be realistic and be willing to change your game plan halfway through and be satisfied with that,” explains Vidmar, whose coach also taught him that good leaders command respect. “Makoto has a great leadership style. He and I could relate to each other but I still knew that he was the boss.”

At the start of their relationship, Makoto told him what to do and he did it, Vidmar says. As he matured, both in age and in skill level, the nature of their relationship changed.

“He evolved as I evolved. His coaching style was completely different at the beginning from what it was at the end,” says Vidmar, who also values Makoto’s flexibility – the willingness to admit when you are wrong. “Makoto was big enough to do that,” Vidmar remembers.

In the end, sharing a common goal is the most important element in the relationship with your leader. “If you and your boss have completely different aspirations, it’s not going to work,” he explains. Play from the same sheet of music and respect the established rules.

“My coach didn’t want the victories for himself, and I realized that. I, in turn, didn’t want success just for myself – I wanted it for my coach. You have to pool your resources together to reach that common goal.” Success is a shared responsibility. No man is an island. When a team achieves success, everyone can bask in its glory.

Vidmar makes a continual commitment to improving his performance. By using them as learning lessons, he takes disappointments – failures – and turns them into successes. “It’s okay to make mistakes so long as you learn from them,” he says. There is no straight, flat road to success. It is always filled with hidden stumbling blocks, potholes to trip you up, icy hills and fog shrouded valleys.

Vidmar admits the learning process can be a “painful experience.” He recalls the lowest point in his gymnastics career when, in 1983, he was in second place at the World Gymnastics Championships. He knew there was no way he could win if he didn’t execute a particularly difficult trick in his routine on the horizontal bar. During warm-ups he kept missing the trick. Should he play it safe and leave the trick out or go for it? Peter decided he had to try – the “R” factor in his ROV philosophy. He tried – and failed.

“At that moment, I made a commitment to myself never to miss that trick in competition again. I worked a little bit harder on it, and the following year, at the Olympic Games, the horizontal bar was one of the events in which I scored a perfect 10. Because of that mistake, I became a better gymnast. If you’re willing to take a risk, learn from your mistakes, and then do the work that goes along with improving, you’re going to end up far ahead of where you would have beenwith no risk at all.” The word risk implies potential reward. No risk assumes no accomplishment.

Vidmar’s success requires constant application of his ROV formula. “Success for me means being honest with myself. It means asking myself, ‘What is my potential?’ and then going out and realizing that potential.

“Once I answer for myself `How good can I be?’ then it’s time to bring my performance up to that potential level. Every person is different and will answer that question differently. On that level, success is different for every person.”

The high point in Vidmar’s professional career came when he was “…standing on the platform with my teammates for the Olympic team gold medal.” Personally, it has been the birth of his three children: Timothy, 4 1/2; Christopher, 3; Stephen, 1. Somehow it comes as no surprise to learn that his favorite quote is, “No success in life can compensate for failure in the home.”

Vidmar sums up the secret to his success by saying, “Everybody works hard when they feel like it. The best work hard when they don’t. When you’re in the doldrums and you ask yourself, `What am I doing this for?’ and `What’s my goal?’ set it up in the clouds and look at it and ask yourself, `Is it worth it?’ Then you say to yourself, ‘Yes… it is.'”