9 Things Sports Can Teach You About Running a Business
Protecting yourself from financial pitfalls as a business owner can be difficult. In addition to having the right education and experience, successful business owners work well with other people, have excellent problem-solving skills, and can keep cool in stressful situations.
The elements you can apply from the world of sports to running a successful business are wide-ranging and impressive.
From teamwork to using failure to spark growth, the lessons learned on the sports field cross over into the professional world.
#1 Sports and Business Parallels
Whether you play competitive sport or run a team, you will already have a number of skills that are transferable into the world of business.
That is true of any leadership position outside the office, but there are some unique skills that cross over with sport.
#2 Size Up the Competition
One of the first things you consider before going up against a competitor is to understand their strengths and weaknesses. If you want to take the victory, you have to work to hone your skills as a sports team or as a business professional so you can rise above the rest.
That helps the coach or team captain as much as any business owner to make the best decisions on the fly during critical moments.
#3 Risk and Reward
A good business professional understands the importance of assessing the risk versus reward ratio before getting involved in a business deal.
Research is essential in building a case for any major business decision. The same is true for sports. Knowing the odds is important for sports players and enthusiasts alike.
Many people like Stakers.com since this site puts odds on many sports as well as offering sports betting options.
#4 Be a Good Sport
Good sportsmanship is an essential skill on or off the playing field. Learning to win graciously and lose with dignity is important in sport, business, and life in general.
Having pride in yourself for working hard and doing your best is essential for a team to function and for the individual players to develop confidence.
#5 Working With Others
Playing sports teaches you flexibility and to work with others. Being on a sports team is typically about more than one player taking the spotlight during every play.
While there may be a star player, even they learn to look for cues from the coach and work with teammates to be successful. That is true in business as well. Whether you take direction from a boss or client, it is vital to be highly-skilled yet open to their input.
If you work on group projects, it is essential for managers to assign responsibilities to the right person for the job.
#6 Culture and Recruiting
When it comes to recruiting the best for your sports team or your company, you look at how to attract them. Aside from pay, you can attract the best candidates with perks like excellent teammates and culture.
While choosing teammates is not an option for some non-professional teams, business managers do have to choose employees.
You will bring the best candidates to the table by offering an appealing company culture by keeping up employee morale, creating an appealing office atmosphere, and offering benefits and perks.
#7 Invest in Your Team
Not only should you invest in your professional team with financial rewards, but you should also invest in the technology and equipment that they need.
Much like providing a team with the right sports gear, providing your employees with the best equipment and facilities will allow them to work effectively, boost motivation, and improve productivity.
Much like how a mascot and cheerleaders support the team and pump up the crowd, you can pump up employees with onboarding goodies, free swag, membership discounts, team-building, and company-hosted events.
#8 Reward the Players
In business and sports, you will want to celebrate your victories; that lets team players know their hard work is appreciated.
Make sure that you praise everyone on the team and give special recognition to those few outstanding star players. When people are recognized and praised for their effort, they will work harder.
Avoid being too harsh when your team loses to help them do better in the future, especially when you provide useful feedback and tips for improving.
#9 Team Pride
Once you have created an excellent work environment, have hired the best people, built a strong company culture, invested in your team, and rewarded players, your name will be something employees say with pride.
It is amazing how important employee opinions can be in shaping the future of your business.
As you can see, sports and business have quite a few things in common. From sizing up competitors to rewarding team members, the skills that you develop by being involved in sports can be useful in management and business ownership.
