What Sports Produce the Best Entrepreneurs? I adore playing sports (although as I’ve grown older, I’ve turned more of a viewer than a doer). Especially, I enjoy the psychological aspect of sports. I really believe that many different disciplines can find excellent training ground in sports.
I recall when I went through interviews for Spark, the hiring process heavily weighted excellence in particular sports. Of course, it's a decent indicator of competitiveness, but I believe it's considerably more profound than that.
This started me considering the mental and emotional qualities needed for entrepreneurs as well as the sports that help develop these traits. Although this is not a complete list, three sports truly help to develop a specific ability that I observe in successful businesses.
One of the most important lessons early on American football players pick is the need of "deliver the hit." The worst thing you can do, if you are going to collide against someone, is flinch. If you are the one "delivering the hit," even if you are a smaller player you will do more damage (and hence, absorb less damage) in the impact.
You often hear of businessmen that are “forces of nature” or can “run through walls” to get anything done. These people are relentless, audacious, and unaffected by the large obstacles or rivals before them. This is an immensely significant quality. I think it’s highly reinforced by soccer, even though most entrepreneurs I know maybe aren’t quite the muscular specimen best suited for that game.
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Golf: Something I think is unique between various sports and being an entrepreneur is the rapidity of decision making. In a fast tempo sport, choices happen so swiftly that much of it goes by instinct. Needing to hit a free throw to win a game is quite different from shooting a shot in motion partly because of the opportunity you are suddenly granted to think about the attempt and assess the dangers.
Golf is one of those few sports where every shot is deliberate, and none are reactive. Furthermore, there is a lengthy time among shots to ponder about what you are doing, become upset with yourself, doubt your thoughts, and resolve to adhere to your approach. Lastly, golf is one of those games where one lousy hole can dramatically wreck an otherwise wonderful round.
As an entrepreneur, your decisions are far more measured and intentional than reactionary. You have loads of time from day to day to examine yourself and experience hormonal highs and lows. And a few major blunders can compound on itself to severely wreck your firm. Possessing the cool-headedness and psychological discipline of great golfers is a big plus.
American Football: One of the essential principles that football players learn early on is that it is essential to “deliver the hit”. The worst thing you can do, if you are going to collide against someone, is flinch. If your opponent is the one "delivering the hit," even if you are a smaller player you will do more damage (and hence, absorb less damage) in the impact.
Wrestling: The issue with golf as a mental preparation ground is that it is a poor sport to educate how to be a “closer”. The rationale is because tournament golf is such that there is a vast field and only one winner.
Even the finest golfers in the world have winning rates of less than 20%, and many top 50 golfers probably find yourself in position to victory only a handful of times per year. But for a businesswoman, being able to “close” is vital. It’s a major skill - it’s relevant in selling to customers, hiring excellent personnel, fundraising, and closing important agreements and collaborations.
Whatever you want is a competition where the individual faces the necessity to “close” very regularly, and encounter the potential to “win” often enough to make the scenario second nature. As I pondered this through, the greatest sport I could think up with is probably grappling (or some other combat sport like mixed martial arts).
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Each match is a 1:1 combat with a winner and a loser. The guy facing you is trying like crazy to beat you, and have both been training like crazy to be prepared for the task. Pure aggression along is not enough to succeed, but you have to be level headed and strategic as well.
Another pleasant part of wrestling is the intensive preparation that culminated in a moment of peak effectiveness. Wrestlers train like crazy, cut weight quickly, in order to be as prepared as possible for a single match.
Although startups aren’t precisely the same, I think there is a substantial value to being mentally prepared for massive sprints and key moments of crisis or opportunity. An entrepreneur’s life isn’t one with a continuous cadence there are many tremendous peaks and valleys, and not everyone is prepared for that.
Of course, many other sports create strong mental skills that are valuable in many life circumstances. I don’t mean to skip over vital aspects like teamwork, leadership, etc. But wanted to point out some particular traits that are themselves particularly well developed by these three sports.
I play golf, however not Football. I adore watching the Fight and my college boyfriend was a wrestler, but I’ve actually wrestled myself. Gracias to Sean Lindsay, who was Jason Jacobs, Margaret Lum, Dan Primack, and everyone on Twitter who provided their ideas to this piece!