Business leaders can learn from sports

The dynamics of participating in sports, mirrors how we manage our business.

It has been seen that sports has played an important role in the history of mankind. Whenever a country, realised the importance of sports and put it into practice, it attained economic development. Today, we see organisations across the world; be it business or otherwise instilling principles of sports to influence the way of thinking and behaviour of people to harness the best potential. Training and development, coaching, team work, motivation, commitment, discipline and focus are very commonly used words in organisations. What is a business and what gives an organisation real competitive advantage? Is it brand, investment, technology, customer, market, channel partners or people - or is it a combination of a few or all. Different firms have different perspectives based on each one's orientation and experience. However, the majority would say that the main factor is people. It's human performance that matters in the business world.

Teamwork, cooperation, commitment and leadership are among many things people can learn from sports. The entertainment aspect also helps to create a passion for sports and to enjoy what you do. These attributes once acquired are taken into everyday lives of people that reflect in every action. When they build confidence on the sporting field, they also build confidence against challenges.

Hard work, mark of champions

Sportsmen and women have two strong qualities that set them apart from the rest: training and the will to win. They work harder at their games and are prepared to take challenges. They have the confidence to perform under pressure. They keep on training and participating with dedication to win. Importantly, they understand the difference between winning and losing.

"A sound mind in a sound body" was the motto of the Greeks and the model of the strong, healthy and vigorous Spartans. Their plan was a cause for the existence of Greece and for its literary culture. This model can be applied in management to drive business and obtain results.

Sports refreshes the body, tranquillises and enlightens the mind, and develops moral character. If you recollect your school days, students who did sports were always active, enthusiastic, fresh and vigorous and hardly got sick and tired. His or her energetic character, good disposition, higher level of discipline and interest in life are some of the traits we need today for effective execution of a firm's strategies and action plans.

Sports keeps your body chemistry in balance, which helps your mind to become receptive to new ideas in the work place.

Good health a sportsman has makes him to work harder. A physically weak person can seldom endure the hardship of a job, and have the right work-life balance for consistent performance at a desirable level.

Sports leader vs business leader

The saying "There is no 'I' in a team" is an off quoted saying Not everyone, though, has based their careers on that simple but powerful phrase. What we need to realise is that no individual is isolated in the business world and therefore cannot perform in isolation.

In team sports, you have captains and teams; in business we have leaders and teams at different levels.

You may be the best leader in the world but your success comes less from your own abilities than it does from your ability to motivate and inspire those around you to give of their best.

In sports, teams are prepared when they have a challenge and develop the grit.

Teams have greater motivation to beat teams that are champions. Defeat is depressing when you get beaten by a lesser-known team than when you are defeated by a heavy weight in any sport.

The Royal College Rugby team would be best prepared for the Bradby Shield; CH&FC will always take the match against Kandy Sports Club seriously. In school cricket, schools take big matches more seriously than others. Business leaders who aim high, prepare their teams to perform with the best or to lead the market which will always achieve better results.

In sports, good leaders will give more thought to the composition and balance of teams and will develop multi-talented people who can play in multiple positions. They will rotate people during the match and will rest players during easy times. Don't we as business leaders try to emulate these at our work places?

'Child' in an 'adult'

It takes a long time and concerted effort by leaders to build or change the organisation's culture due to attitudes, beliefs and values employees bring with them into the organisations. Common interests such as sports help create common values, beliefs and attitudes by linking people together regularly.

Engagement in sports in the workplace takes people back to their school days and there is no better way than using the 'child' in an adult to inculcate the desired culture. The use of sports is a good vehicle to bring people together and build team cohesiveness and spirit. It helps promote diversity in the organisation. A sports club is a good vehicle to organise and promote sports activities. There are a number of examples of winning cultures created by several organisations in Sri-Lanka that can boast of good business performance. Therefore, the correlation is already established.

We live in an era, where people frequently hear frustrating news, values have turned topsy turvy ; principles are replaced by expediency, the law is not respected; and character has been sacrificed for money. But the irony is that we need to motivate to achieve success in life. Sports helps a person to face these challenges confidently. Sports has an important and inestimable function in life and will inevitably in the future be regarded as an indispensable factor for physical, intellectual and moral growth. I was, and still am, very much sports-minded. It has always kept me on the right path and focused, without making unhealthy choices in life. It kept me not only strong physically, but mentally as well.

(The writer is Country Chairman, CEO/Managing Director of Chevron Lubricants Lanka Ltd and Chevron Ceylon Ltd. As a sportsman he was a National Schools Hurdles champion, 100 metres Colombo district champion and played rugger as a wing three quarter).