I guess it’s a good thing I live in Southern California, where the weather seasons are pretty non-existent, because the only season that I really look forward to every year is football season. I appreciate all sports and athletes who work hard to be at the top of their game, but mostly I have come to love all the parallels in sports to business.
Whether a solo business, where you’re the only person wearing all the hats, to large corporations there’s so much we can learn from sports and professional athletes. I think the single most important thing is competition, and why it only makes us better and stronger. I hear many entrepreneurs who are so concerned with their competition that it almost cripples them, they decide that the other person is more successful at it so why should they even try? When I think of some of the all-time great football icons like Brett Favre, Jerry Rice, Peyton Manning or Vince Lombardi, they fed off competition – how do you know that you need to get better at your craft if there’s no one to push your drive and creativity?
As a fan, I love cheering on my team, whether it’s live at the stadium or just in my living room I feel like every player feels that support and encouragement from all of us. As business owners we have to have that same cheering section of our family, our friends, our peers, our mentors and our mentees. Knowing that someone is always in your corner ready to help, ready to pick you up when you fall flat on your face, can get you through almost anything.
I have been lucky enough to watch many of my fellow entrepreneurs I’ve cheered on do well and succeed. There’s something about being in someone’s corner and watching them shine that just makes me love being an entrepreneur almost as much as I love football.
What parallels do you find with sports and business?