Newsletter - July 2007
Lance Armstrong Recounts the Road from Tragedy to Victory
July 12, 2007 - By Bill Crigger, SPHR
Like many of you, I have sat through my share of long-winded, opening-session speeches from a variety of business people, consultants and celebrities. When Lance Armstrong walked onstage in his blue jeans, mock turtle-neck shirt and sports jacket, I thought, “Oh great, here we go again.” However, from that point on, I was riveted to his every word.
Lance began by honoring Ed Bradley of 60 Minutes who was scheduled to be the keynote speaker, but he died last year of cancer. What a nice touch, and this set the tone for the person of Lance Armstrong to unfold. Lance indicated that this was perhaps the largest group to whom he had ever spoken, and that he was a bit nervous – a regular guy.
For the next 45 minutes, Lance captivated the audience with his down-to-earth recollection of the events that lead him to the podium. At an early age, he demonstrated physical talent by winning the Iron Kids Triathlon. By his senior year in high school, he had begun training with the U.S. Cycling team. He was the U.S. National Amateur Champion in 1991. From there, he became a professional cyclist.
The future looked more than bright; it glowed with opportunity. Lance mentioned that he had begun to feel some unexplainable pain, but he brushed it off as nothing and worked through it, as professional athletes are trained to do (and as men most often do). Sometime later, the severe pain manifested itself as he coughed up a sink full of blood. He said he got the hint that something was wrong.
Now, 10 years later, you could hear and feel the emotion in his voice as he continued his story of being diagnosed with testicular cancer at age 25. He was given the horrific news that he had the “C” word disease, and that it had spread to his lungs, abdomen and brain. To most of us, this would have been a death sentence. His odds of survival were slim. But miracles do happen!
Lance commented that he actually knew very little about cancer and its treatment. He dove full-time into researching and learning about the disease, possible treatments, medical facilities and doctors. He told of several incidents of interviewing doctors across the country until he found one in whom he felt he could have confidence. He described his brain surgery, as told by his doctor, “like carving a Halloween pumpkin; you just cut and lift off the top and then place it back after you are done”.
His long-time friend and agent visited Lance in the hospital on many occasions after his brain surgery. On one occasion, his friend asked how he was doing. Lance commented, “Unbelievable.” This stunned the friend who repeated the question and asked him what he meant. Lance remarked, “Unbelievable. I am at the lowest point of my life physically, emotionally. But to me, it is all upside from here.”
He told the audience, “I really think that this is where the comeback began. When you are there at that kind of low point, just stop and cherish it because it is awfully good to come back.”
Well, the rest is history, sort of. Lance began the grueling trip back to his peak athletic cycling performance. But he lacked one critical element: a cycling team. The phone did not ring with offers as he had anticipated. He had been previously cut by the French cycling team when diagnosed with cancer. But not even they called him. In one of several moments of levity, with a smirk on his face, and clearly pride in his heart, he commented about the French team, that “Karma is a bitch sometimes.” We now know that Lance joined the U.S. Postal Services team and retired from professional cycling at the age of 33 with the unprecedented seven Tour de France titles.
Applying the training techniques from his cycling days, lessons learned, competitive spirit, persistence and determination, Lance Armstrong dedicates much of his time and energy to the global fight against cancer.
You have seen the yellow “Livestrong” wrist bands. This idea grew from Lance’s relationship with Nike, as a way to raise $5 million to fund the Lance Armstrong Foundation. The target was achieved within 6 months, and today more than 70 million Livestrong wrist bands have been sold to date.
"Being part of an army that is finding a cure for cancer is what the 70 million wrist bands represent," said Armstrong. "Early detection costs a dime, late detection costs a dollar. Make sure your employees are aware of the symptoms and get checked out," he said.
Through his ongoing efforts as well as being a cancer survivor and an athletic legend, Lance Armstrong is a symbol of hope and inspiration.
The Lance Armstrong Foundation unites people to fight cancer. They offer information and services to help cancer survivors live life on their own terms. For more information, go to: www.livestrong.org.
Bill Crigger is president and managing partner OI Partners – Compass Career Management Solutions (North Carolina). He has more than 30 years of experience in human resource management and career counseling. Bill is president for the Charlotte AREA SHRM chapter, certified as an SPHR and serves on the ACF-DOL taskforce. He can be reached at bcrigger@oipartners.net or 704-849-2500.