Why sports are good for you?!
Exercise is good for you, doctors say that. But no, I am not here to writing a fitness. I am talking about how sports helps you take business decisions better.
For long, I have believed that if you want to judge how someone does business, watch how they play a game of sports. The golf courses around the world are famous for some of the biggest business deals to take place. Many other deals take place in the VIP sections of major sports events. Any game of sports, just as life, has its ups and down. Some are just born talent while others work their ass off to become a good player. So, how does this relate to business?
Barack Obama, the 44th President of the Unites States, was once asked what game he would call politics and he referred to American football. Just like in football, there are many players to work along with and you constantly have to change strategies and you have to keep pressing and push the ball up the field, sometimes even one yard at a time. Politics was his business at that point of time and this representation is quite fascinating.
Some like to play individual sports while others like to play team sports. While team sports would have a captain or a leader, individual sports you are pretty much on your own. Similarly, in business, some like to build a team and lead them while others like to be in charge themselves. A captain’s attitude is always under the scanner and people are quick to notice if they are captain cool, or hot headed or too scared to take risks. I believe you can observe similarities in the way they run their businesses in the way they play the sport, and this is not just restricted to the captain or leader!
I play cricket every weekend with a group of friends. One of them, I have known for 15 years. As a kid, he has always been hot headed and gets rallied up quite quickly. However, in the past one year, I noticed that he has learned to control his emotions, stay calm and even ready to take a few risks. He still gets rallied once in a while, but it is a vast change. The interesting thing is when he was discussing about his business, I could notice the similarity. He is willing to take risks quite often in his business and is far patient in his dealing as well.
In your day to day business, people probably would not yell at you if you do commit a mistake, most often no one would be aware about it. But when you are playing sports, specially with your friends or close ones, they will let you know their displeasure. Few weeks back, someone told me that I tend to get too defensive and that I should play more freely. I realized that I conduct business in similar fashion and that I need to make some changes in business as well.
In conclusion, if you run a business or intend to someday, go out and play. If you don’t, then figure out a sport that you would like to play, either with your friends, or love ones or whoever you can find. I am sure a game of sport will teach you something that you can implement in your business. And lastly, keeping the current pandemic and playing sports in mind, make sure that you always abide by the rules of the government and maintain social distancing.
