The Links Between Business and Sport

'After every win or loss; we look ahead to next day, re-evaluate tactics and try to improve.'

The team securing three points after a gruelling ninety minutes can experience such a satisfying feeling, but it is not guaranteed every week. After every win or loss; we look ahead to next day, re -evaluate tactics and try to improve. We identify weaknesses in our opposition and exploit them. Most importantly, we work on our own game and aim to better ourselves every match day. These fundamental qualities of sport can be applied to so many aspects of our lives. However, the attitude, focus and planning that goes into a match, also is comparable to our working lives too.

Let’s just acknowledge the difficulty of entering a new workplace, moving into a different industry or interacting with tough clients and customers. There are so many curveballs we face everyday in our jobs. These nervous work moments require us to create plans and fundamentally, prepare. We engage in workplace training such as role plays and research to build up our confidence and prepare us for the unknown.

Building muscle or boasting our endurance levels is an ‘around the clock’ effort. We need to nourish our body pre-workout with the correct foods and sources such as protein. However, the amount of preparation can go beyond our nutrition. We need to consider aspects such as stretching and correct workout techniques to prevent injury. Being ready for anything is what really stands out between the workplace and physical exercise. A half-hearted effort in our preparation can halt our chance of being capable of lifting heavy weights in the gym or making that pivotal sale to a new client.

A CEO and a team Captain give directions to their respective teams, yet this isn’t achieved without clear and concise goals. The same applies to a Graduate or some team member on the bench, as each worker or athlete needs to have ambitions for their team and themselves. Goal setting is essential towards creating actions necessary to heighten our performance and improve. So instead of nose diving into a Monday morning shift, remember the amount of time we invest in structuring our training and tactics for our beloved sport to meet our goals. So why can’t we apply this to the office as well? Think about how you want to allocate the day and how much time is spent on each activity. Just like an athlete focuses on strength, endurance and balance, a worker can become a better all-rounder with calculated planning and goals.

Throwing a ‘Hail Mary’ or ‘Hospital Pass’ pass barely works for a football player of any code, let alone for any worker who consciously goes about their task without appropriate preparation and ambitious goals.

Sport and work align due to the opportunities they create for us to become better individual and team players as we strive to continuously improve. The effort we apply to be match-fit should be the defining example for when we walk through the door everyday for work. Who knows? You can be the MVP not only for the season, but within your industry as well.