7-23-10 Shoulda Told Me #12

It’s been awhile since I’ve been down the “someone shoulda told me” bunny trail. And I guess today is a as good as any to take that trail……

I wish that someone had told me, early on, to pick a sport or two and learn how to be good at it. Of course, good being a relative term….. Most of us will never be professional-category good at any sport. By “good”, I mean good enough that you won’t embarrass yourself when you play the chosen sport.

Why is this important for the executive? Well I’ve thought of a few varied reasons.

1. Discipline. Most sports have their own set of rules and disciplines to follow. By learning the intricacies of any sport, you are disciplining your mind. In addition, it brings discipline to your body. In order to not be embarrassed when you play a sport, some practice and conditioning will certainly be involved. And what is practice if not a form of applying discipline?

2. Place to do business. It shouldn’t surprise you that a lot of business is conducted in sporting venues. I can’t tell you how many times that I’ve taken customers to play golf. In many cultures, doing business with someone means getting to know them first. And the links provided me with a way for my customer and I to get to know each other. Once we were back in the conference room, we had yet another positive link in our relationship.

3. Takes your mind off of business. I won’t go into the whole idea of life balance (yet again), but will suffice it say that playing a sport allows other sides of your personality to come out -- sides that may not see the light of day in a business setting.

4. It’s in the lingo. Even in the office, you hear sporting lingo. Doing an end around (American football). Getting a free pass (baseball). Acing it (tennis). It was a slam dunk (basketball). Whether we like it or not, sports permeate our daily business life with the lingo. And if you don’t know the lingo, how will you keep up?

And those are just the reasons that I can come up with in one sitting. I’m sure that there are many, many other valid reasons for becoming proficient at a sport. The point here is, whatever your reasons, having the ability to participate in a couple of sports is important and beneficial.

Cheers!