It’s difficult to get a grip on the actual value of the global sports industry, with estimates varying between US$2.65 trillion (2023) and US$487 billion (2022). Whichever way you measure it, one thing is clear: there’s a lot of money in sport.

Sport is about more than money, though. It is intrinsically woven into our lives. Whether you actively participate, or follow it from the comfort of your armchair, there is drama and ongoing narrative involvement: epic battles, heroic failures and glorious victories. The sporting spectacles we witness offer life lessons, examples of human endeavour, teamwork (or not), moral and ethical dilemmas.

Are there lessons from the world of sports that business leaders can learn?

We asked a group of sports-enthusiasts from across the AltoPartners alliance for the lessons they have learned from sports that they carry into their business lives.

1. Sport as character-builder

For Nicolás Mora Schrader, Managing Partner at Equation Partners / AltoPartners Chile, sport is more than a game. “I have been closely involved with rugby for many years, both as a player (in my youth) and as a passionate follower of the sport… Rugby became a school of values and discipline that has influenced the way I approach challenges, relationships, and leadership in my professional life.”

Thomas Heyn, Partner of Jack Russell Consulting / AltoPartners Germany, agrees. A basketball player during his university years, Dr Heyn says sport teaches fundamental values and character traits that are missing in modern society – including reliability and accepting the rules (no cheating!) even if they are not in your favour.

2. Sport as a place to learn

Heyn recalls a moment during a university football game when he lost his temper and pushed an opponent against a wall. “At the time I considered myself a nice guy, someone who stuck to the sportsmanship ethic. Forty-five years later, I still remember the lesson that taught me about self-control and the need for emotional self-regulation.”

Christo Badenhorst, Director Search Partners International / AltoPartners South Africa, who describes himself as a “crazy sports nut since primary school” and who plays a mean game of golf, says the opportunity to learn about other people is key. “The chance to engage with someone for five to six hours on a golf course is second to none – especially seeing how that person reacts when challenged or beaten!”

3. Sport and resilience

Tracy O’Such, Global Managing Partner, Media, Entertainment, and Sports: DSG Global / AltoPartners USA, who has placed senior level executives at all US major sports leagues (including NBA, NFL, NHL and USTA), says perseverance, and learning how to pick yourself up after a loss, strike her as major lessons from sport.

Says Mora: “You get knocked down many times, but the real measure is how quickly you stand up, refocus, and keep moving forward.”

4. Sport and planning

Keith Labbett, Managing Partner Osprey Executive Search / AltoPartners Eastern Canada, who has long-standing sport coaching experience in rugby, hockey and American football – alongside years of work in executive search and advisory capacities with National Sport Organizations (NSO) in Canada, professional franchises and leagues (MLB, NHL, CFL) – says he learned that the ability to execute a plan and learn from failure is more important than having a brilliant plan that can’t be implemented. “As heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis (who won a gold medal for Canada) said: ‘You can’t run from defeat. You study it, learn from it, and come back with a better plan’.”

5. Sport, humility and grace

O’Such recommends learning to accept defeat with grace. Jean Paul Hokke, Partner LTI / AltoPartners Netherlands, agrees, advising business leaders to accept failure, and to learn how to fail better. Hokke, who was the Dutch youth champion field hockey player at the age of 17 and played cricket at the highest Dutch level for over 10 years, says it’s equally important to celebrate successes – but humility is the mark of a true leader.

6. Sport and teamwork

Teamwork is often the focus of management thinking around how sport skills transfer to business performance.

Our AltoPartners experts have some insights:

● Labbett: “The best players are rarely the best leaders. The best leader is the person who can hold it together, the strategist and the one with the most commitment.”

● Heyn: Putting a team together is not necessarily about finding the people with the most talent. “Talented people often stop developing because success comes easily. They don’t learn the hard lessons. Dedication is much more important than talent.”

● Hokke: “In sport, if things go wrong, there’s an acceptance that everybody makes mistakes. There is not much blaming and shaming. In corporate life, when things go wrong, people look around, trying to find who to blame. Instead business leaders need to create the same kind of safe space, where people can be frank about weaknesses.”

7. Sport and business leadership as an act of service

Nicolás Mora Schrader has the final say: “If I had to choose just one thing I have learned from sport, it would be this: leadership is about service to the team. In rugby, the best players are not necessarily the stars, but those who create the conditions for others to shine. I used to play as a forward, in the second row, not a particularly ‘sexy’ position like scrum-half, fly-half, or even hooker. But it’s a role that, from the shadows, has a crucial impact on the team’s success: in the line-outs, in building second and third attacking phases, and in setting the platform for others to score. I wish more leaders embraced that idea… that true leadership means enabling your people to succeed, even if it means staying out of the spotlight yourself.”

Further reading

Ask Alto : What are workplace rituals and can hybrid / remote teams still benefit?

The AltoPartners Guide to Diversity and Inclusion : Safe Spaces – Could these be the missing ingredient in your DE&I programme?

Everything I know about business, I could have learnt from Star Trek!

Written by Renee Moodie