Charming with an edged blade

More than 200 men listened closely as Fencing Olympic Champion Britta Heidemann spoke about winning and losing and how she motivated herself after defeats and setbacks. Her appearance during the ServiCon exhibition at the Olympiastadion Berlin was the highlight of this middle class entrepreneur event.

Heidemann told of her most important defeat when she still was relative young and unknown to the world. She had a chance at winning gold and failed against a far inferior opponent. “It motivated me so much, that I did not care about winning the silver medal”, Heidemann said. From that point on, she “wanted more”.

This motto serves her well and allows her to reach ever new highs. The entrepreneurs were able to relate to her story, as it was a metaphor for success. In business, setbacks happen and self-motivation plays an important role in the aftermath.

In a fencing “workshop”, Heidemann showed participants of the exhibition how to win points. She explained that it is important to control one’s own reactions. Those who master control can make more points, she said. Heidemann’s conclusion that women were better able to control their reactions than men, gave the entrepreneurs plenty to talk about afterwards during the exhibition inside the Olympiastadion Berlin Atrium.