The value of sports in business

By Kishu Gomes

Sport is a great metaphor for business. The dynamics of how we deal with our participation in sports mirror how we manage our businesses.

Human performance; response to sports and business
In the world of human performance it is well studied and understood that thought and action have profound effects on delivery of performance. Sports have played an important role in the history of mankind. Whenever a nation, regardless of its resources and extension, realized the importance of sports and put that realization into practice she attained a notable stage of economic development. Today we see more and more organizations across the world; be it business or otherwise using sports metaphor and trying to instill principles of sports to influence the way of thinking and behaviour of people to harness the best potential in people. Training and development, coaching, team work, motivation, commitment, discipline and focus are very commonly used words in the vocabulary of organizations. What is a business and what gives an organization real competitive advantage? It is brand, investment, technology, customer, market, channel partners or people - or is it a combination of a few or all. Well, different firms will have different perspectives on this based on each one’s orientation and experience. However, the majority would say that the overarching factor is people. So it’s human performance that matters the most in the business world.

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

Hard work: Mark of champions (true for both)
Sportsmen and women have two strong qualities that set them apart from the rest: training and the strong will to win. They work harder at their games and are prepared to take on challenges. They have the confidence to perform under pressure. They keep on training and participating with dedication to win. More importantly they very well understand the difference between wining and losing and their consequences.

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

Sports refresh the body, tranquilize and enlighten the mind, and develop moral character. If you can remember your school days, students who did sports were always the most 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 quality traits we need today in our people for effective execution of the firm’s strategies and action plans.

Sports keep your body chemistry in balance which helps your mind becomes more apt to receive new ideas and thoughts found in the work place. The good health a sportsman acquires makes him work harder. A physically weak person seldom can endure the hardships of the job, and have the right work-life balance for consistent performance at a desirable level.

Sports leader vs business leader
Everyone has heard the saying “There is no ‘I’ in a team.” Not everyone, though, has based their career upon 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 out their best.

In sports, teams get better prepared when they have a bit of challenge, a bit of grit. Teams have greater motivation to beat teams who are champions. Defeats make you feel depressed when you get beaten by a lesser known for performance than when you get defeated by a heavy weight in any sport. Royal College Rugby team would be best prepared for the Bradby Shield; CH&FC will always take the match against Kandy Sports Club very seriously. In schools cricket, schools take the big matches more seriously than any other match. 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 much more thought to the composition and the 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 the leaders to build or change the organisation culture due to deeply held attitudes, beliefs and values employees bring with them into the organisations. Common interests such as sports help gradually create a set of common values, beliefs and attitudes by linking people together regularly. Engagement in sports in the work place takes people back to the school days and there is no better way than using the ‘child’ in an adult to inculcate the desired culture. Use of sports is a good vehicle to bring people together and build team cohesiveness and spirit. It helps promote diversity right across the organisation. A sports club in an organisation is a good vehicle to organise and promote sports activities. There are a number of good examples of winning cultures created by several organizations in Sri-Lanka who can boast of good business performance. Therefore the correlation is already well established.

We live in an era, where frequently people hear frustrating news, values are turned upside down; principles are replaced by expediency, law is not respected; and character has been sacrificed for money. But the irony is that we need to still motivate ourselves to achieve success in life. Sports help ameliorate the condition of a person to face these challenges confidently. Sports, in general, have had an important and estimable function in life and will inevitably in future be regarded as the 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, instead of 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.)