您想不想成为世界级的精英？

    通常我们都会点点头回答:“当然想。”

    真是这样吗？

    最近某次各大公司首席财务官的集会上，我抽出一点时间，在台上采访了三位货真价实的世界级运动员：夺得2012年伦敦夏季奥运会两枚体操金牌、17岁的嘉比•道格拉斯；夺得2002年和2006年冬季奥运会两枚金牌及2010温哥华冬季奥运会一枚银牌、31岁的阿波罗•安顿•奥赫诺；和夺得2012年伦敦残奥会游泳金牌、腰部以下瘫痪的马洛里•魏格曼，现年24岁。

    听过他们的故事，一个震撼人心的教训也呼之欲出：他们为了登上所在领域的巅峰付出了巨大牺牲。他们三人为了跟随教练好好训练，十几岁就开始远离家人生活，每天训练8到12个小时，每周7天，从未间断。

    他们遵循的饮食方案已不能单单用“严苛”来概括了。奥赫诺节食导致身体开始分解肌肉，同时又不断加大训练量，在体重减轻的同时增加力量；整整一年他感受都很糟糕，体重最终控制在145磅（约为65公斤），而腿部推举力却高达2000磅（约为907公斤）。相比之下，体重300磅（约为136公斤）的美国国家足球联盟前锋，腿部推举力只有1300磅（约590公斤）。

    道格拉斯赢得奥运金牌后第二天，为了犒劳自己，她在训练间隙休息了10分钟，享用了一块加一只蛋的麦当劳松饼。现在，她已经将目标锁定2016年里约奥运会。

    5年前一次（缓解带状疱疹疼痛的）硬膜注射失败让魏格曼的双腿丧失了运动功能。这场不幸发生之前，她是一位满腔热情的游泳选手。不幸发生后，她在游泳方面投入了更多精力，每天花数小时，不光训练游泳，还要做大量的引体向上和举重，增强上半身力量。她同样也将目标锁定里约奥运会。

    这就是世界级水平的真相。下次再看到“世界级”这个词时，也许是在贵公司的使命或愿景宣言中，请不妨冷静考虑一下这到底意味着什么。只有很少很少的人愿意去承担成为真正世界级的代价。

    你是否也是这样的人？不管答案如何，只要是发自真心就好。

    奥林匹克选手的故事让各位首席财务官恍然大悟。会后，其中一位对我发誓说：“我再也不会顾影自怜了。”（财富中文网）    

    Do you want to be world-class?

    This is where we all nod and say, "Well of course."

    But are you sure?

    At a recent gathering of major-company CFOs, I spent some time onstage interviewing three genuine world-class performers: Gabby Douglas, 17, who won two gold medals in gymnastics at the 2012 summer Olympics in London; Apolo Anton Ohno, 31, who won gold medals in speed skating at the 2002 and 2006 winter Olympics and silver at the 2010 winter Olympics in Vancouver; and Mallory Weggemann, 24, paralyzed below the waist, who won a gold medal in swimming at the 2012 Paralympics in London.

    As they told their stories, the overwhelmingly powerful lesson that came through was the weight of the sacrifices they were required to make in order to win at the highest levels of their fields. All of them moved far from home in their teens to work with better coaches. All spent eight to 12 hours a day training, seven days a week, never taking a day off.

    All followed regimens that the word "strict" does not begin to describe. Ohno's diet caused his body to enter a catabolic state in which it was consuming its own muscle while he intensified his training so that he lost weight while gaining strength; he felt awful for a year, at the end of which he weighed 145 pounds and could leg press nearly 2,000 pounds. For reference, 300-pound NFL linemen leg press about 1,300 pounds.

    Douglas broke training for about 10 minutes and permitted herself a single Egg McMuffin -- the day after she won her gold medals. Now she's focused on 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.

    Weggemann lost use of her legs five years ago after an epidural injection (for relief of pain following a case of shingles) went wrong. An enthusiastic swimmer before the mishap, she became obsessed after it and now spends hours a day not just swimming but also doing pull-ups and lifting weights to build her upper body. She's also focused on Rio.

    This is the reality of world-class performance. Next time you see the phrase "world-class," which may well be part of your company's mission statement or vision statement, pause to consider what it really means. Very, very few people are willing to pay the price of becoming truly world-class.

    Are you? Any answer is okay, as long as it's honest.

    The Olympians' message was sobering to the CFOs. As one of them vowed to me afterward: "I will never feel sorry for myself again."