What Can Business Learn From Elite Sport?

The corporate world has a lot to learn from elite sport, writes PickStar founder James Begley.

Having worked in leadership consultancy for over ten years following my AFL career, and facilitated hundreds of connections between businesses and sports stars with PickStar, I am often asked about the crossover between business and elite sport.

Over the last decade elite sport undergone a business-like transformation.

The motivational “rah rah” before a game day no longer cuts it. You now hear common phrases like “leadership groups”, “vision”, “values”, “buy-in”, “empowerment”, “group expectations”, “systems”, “process” and “feedback”. The AFL in particular has led the way. Most clubs spend significant resources investing in programs that look at the dynamics of a team’s performance. It doesn’t guarantee a win, but it puts you in the running. Hence athletes are now facilitating corporate leadership and culture sessions with resounding success. Business leaders are using athletes for three significant reasons and it’s not just about motivation.

All athletes understand the link between feedback and improvement. Since the ages of 5 or 6 in most instances, athletes have learned that daily feedback between themselves, coaches, and teammates is imperative to succeed. They have learned a resilience that is often unseen in the corporate world. Imagine a colleague that works next to you, looking over their computer and saying “come on James, we are better than that, next time don’t be late to work”. The statement is powerful, positive, direct and most of all, it changes behaviour.

Under pressure, humans can revert to poor habits. Elite sport stars have mastered the art of staying focused under immense stress. It would be rare for corporate executives to have their performance measured daily, if at all. Athletes on the other hand compete against the clock, teammates, and weightlifting targets every time they practice. So when it comes to resilience under pressure and learning to fail, athletes have it covered. Their moves are covered by the media and their performance is critiqued by thousands. Business leaders can learn a great deal from an athlete who has had the whole nation (and beyond) watching them in an Olympic event. Something they have focused on for many years. They can learn how athletes shut out the negative self-talk, how they worked with their coaches and teammates under duress, and most of all how they continue to wake up and do it every day – challenges that also apply to corporate work environments.

Leadership used to be about yelling at a mate who wasn’t carrying a log through the mud on a preseason camp. It was about motivation and inspiration. Whilst those elements still ring true, a modern-day sporting leader now has a well-rounded range of skills. Leaders undertake behavioural profiling to understand communication techniques. They complete wellbeing data daily in order to pick up on mood swings that could affect performance. Leaders learn to communicate with old-school coaches and young ego-driven players. Their own personal backyards have to be immaculate as media attention will detract from team performance. No speeding fines and no drunken nights out. These sports stars take leadership models from the textbook and live it.

When we take these insights from the world of elite sport and apply them in a corporate environment, the impact is enormous.

Pickstar enables you to book a sports star for a leadership or team-building event, workshop, or conference. Businesses, associations, councils, clubs, and schools have used Pickstar to book elite athletes and coaches from all codes and backgrounds to share their amazing insights.

The process is easy, and Pickstar works with all budgets in any location. Find out more.

#Leadership #Teams #Corporate