Idea Athletes: 4 Commonalities Between Elite Athletes and Business Leaders
This post was written by Michael Sena, a strategist here at Jump. You can find him on Twitter @somemikesena, or get in touch with him by commenting on this post.
Elite business leaders routinely face ambiguous problems that demand hybrid solutions. The question “What comes after the electric car?” doesn’t have any clear guidelines except that whatever comes after it needs to succeed and be better than its predecessor. Athletes do the same. Games are multivariable events with multiple players and intangible influences, and the only thing athletes are charged to do every time they head to the playing field is win.
While not every single variable and intangible can be qualified and measured, the approach to solving these problems is what distinguishes repeat winners from the masses. Nike co-founder Phil Knight didn’t succeed by finding a one-size-fits-all solution and applying it many times — he succeeded by finding a successful framework and fitting it to a variety of solutions. Similarly, New England Patriots Quarterback Tom Brady hasn’t become a repeat NFL champion by winning every game the same way — he’s found a successful framework for winning and applied it to a wide variety of games.
So what do elite athletes and business leaders have in common? It’s not high risk tolerance, charisma, or a need for speed. In fact, many of the best leaders don’t actually value these qualities. Here are 4 traits they do have in common:
1. A deep-rooted sense of purpose: Higher-order values driven by passion for the job and serving some greater mission (not religious, although it can be) give athletes and business leaders a sense of drive that propels them to win. It’s not about “wanting it more,” it’s about a mission greater than just victory. This deep-rooted sense of purpose keeps elite athletes and business leaders humbled in defeat and grounded in victory.
2. Excellent pattern recognition: What are the signs in soccer that your opponent is about to make a dangerous run towards the goal? What weaknesses does the other team’s defense have that the offense can exploit? What are the signs that disruption is about to happen? And what are the tell-tale weaknesses in the industry or with competitors that your business can move into and dominate? Elite athletes and business leaders both have highly developed senses of pattern recognition, and more than that, both understand how to use and exploit those patterns as necessary.
3. A balance between rest and recovery: It’s not a marathon, and it’s not a sprint — it’s both. Athletes mix rest and recovery to allow their work and thoughts to settle in (and to allow their bodies to recover). Business leaders generate high-energy activity during periods of work, but undergo deep synthesis and processing when recovering. This balance is necessary to sustain high activity for long periods of time, to protect from burnout, and to expand their frames.
4. Focus on the long view: Short-term losses aren’t insignificant, but they aren’t the end of the world, either. Elite athletes don’t let a bad first half or sloppy defense prevent them from getting what they really want, victory; business leaders aren’t afraid of short-term losses or setbacks if it means the success of their long-term strategy. Focusing on the long view allows you to take actions that seem risky now but pay dividends down the road.
Elite athletes and business leaders aren’t so different after all. The similarities and crossover between the two mostly surround mental processing, planning, and frameworking. This is the stuff leaders are made out of — the formula to success. These successful people, whether elite athletes or business leaders, are idea athletes.
At Jump, we work to solve highly ambiguous problems with no prompt beyond “How do we create and grow businesses that win in their respective fields of play?” and “How do we become a leader and continue to lead by example?” Just like organizations, athletes are trying to solve a highly ambiguous game with no directions on how to win besides “come out ahead of the rest.”
The fact that we routinely use phrases like “where to play” and “how to win” demonstrates the point we’re trying to make here. It roughly covers the way to go about solving these highly ambiguous problems, but doesn’t pin that to a specific solution. These frameworks will allow you to solve any highly ambiguous problem time and time again.
That’s why the best idea athletes, whether in athletics or in business, can always repeat. Not because they’ve deciphered a specific solution, but because they’ve codified the secret to continued success in a way that’s repeatable. They’ve harnessed the power of ambiguity and uncertainty to their advantage. — Originally published at www.jumpassociates.com.
