17 days ago, I posted Olympic inspiration for marketers  and in it I shared a few good lessons for marketers from the Games. With a long-term focus, discipline, results orientation and teamwork, all sorts of victories are possible - for both athletes and marketers. Those same lessons have been validated during the London games in a rather unexpected way by the presence and contributions of some of the brightest stars of the athletes - the women. Let me explain.

USA women achieved more gold medals than men
I heard a radio report this morning on NPR about how more gold medals among the American athletes were won in London by women than men. It's noteworthy and thought-provoking, especially for me since I have an athletic daughter who's a competitive swimmer and basketball player (but I digress). The reporter continued to explain how it may be partly explained by the fact that Team USA has more women than men - 269 to 261, and that the USA might be at the leading edge of a trend. According to the International Olympic Committee, 44% of the athletes competing in London were women, compared to just 24% at the Los Angeles Games in 1984.

Title IX legislation 40 years ago paved the way
A crucial point that was briefly mentioned on the radio but not included in the NPR online report, was actually addressed in a parallel report on CNN, titled "Women make their mark on the Games."  CNN's Don Riddell highlighted the relationship between the surge in women olympians and the landmark Title IX legislation in the USA that ended discrimination against women in education 40 years ago this year. In his words, it had an "unintended consequence of equal sporting opportunity" because education, of course, includes physical education. Sports Illustrated's Ann Killion has validated that connection in her article, also published today.

The lesson for marketers - lay the groundwork for long-term results
Coming back to how it applies to marketing, Title IX and its impact on the Olympic games underscored my previous point about focus, discipline, results orientation and teamwork. It shows that athletes achieve if you give them the opportunity to train - no matter their gender. It also shows how much is possible when you lay the groundwork today for long-term results. Fortunately, marketers don't have to wait 40 years to show results: Northern Tool + Equipment and Staples offer the best examples of that.

I see two ways to achieve long-term results as either an accumulative process, one that's evolutionary or both. In all cases, the benefits accrue once you've made the decision and after you've taken the first step to the brighter future.

• With the accumulative process, the improvements happen over the long term with small improvements that have the same effect over time as financial interest compounding. A 3% improvement over 10 years is not 30% better, but closer to 34.4.% For a concrete example, imagine the long-term impact of the 137% rate of return that Staples calculated by using customer intelligence.
• The evolutionary process is very subtle and entails concepts such as skills development, productivity gains from process changes, alignment, mentoring and the idea that success breeds success. High achievement and recognition generate their own positive momentum, but it doesn't happen on its own. It needs to be cultivated as a core value and nurtured over time in order to show results, which it always does because everyone wants to be on a winning team. It's human nature.

So, about that athletic daughter of mine that I mentioned. She just graduated 8th grade with the highest GPA in her entire class (she takes after her mother). As the School's Director introduced her, he also pointed out that she was able to do more pushups than any other student at the school except for one (the all-around jock). As you can imagine, we were bursting with pride - about both of her achievements. She wants to swim on her high school team, and who knows where she'll go from there thanks to Title IX.

There are so many more ways the Olympics can inspire and I know I am just scratching the surface. How have you been inspired by the Olympics? What have your favorite moments been?