The love story of business and sports is an old one. Indeed, in the nineteenth century, the rise of industrialization went hand in hand with practicing organized sports. These days, nevertheless, there isn’t any shortage of business tycoons who exhibit their sporting achievements. Take, for instance, Mark Zuckerberg’s penchant for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Mixed Martial ArtsOr Elon Musk Shows Off His Wrestling Sessions before his (never-insubstantial) cage fight with Richard Branson, former Virgin CEO. Branson is one other extreme sports enthusiast, from his record-breaking 1986 Atlantic crossing to his current grueling exercise routine.
What about athletes trying their hand at business?
With just a few exceptions, akin to Serena Williams’ enterprise capital adventures, this aspect of history is less discussed. As part of my research on lifelong learning at Kedge Business School, I made a decision to concentrate on the example Stephane Le DiraisonFrench captain who finished twice The Vendée Globeto explore how he transferred his skills to the business and what characteristics he had in common along with his recent colleagues.
Multifaceted identities
Our sense of who we’re doesn’t arise naturally – it is formed by the things we do, the way we speak and our interactions with others and the world around usAs we move through life, our identities often change and overlap. in an unexpected way.
Provided by the creator
Le Diraison’s story illustrates the development of an athlete’s identity, which might proceed as follows: number of trajectories
Deeply involved in sailing from a young age, Le Diraison eventually selected a profession in engineering. He worked for the Federation of the Maritime Industry and later for French naval architects, lobbying for regulations adapted to the realities of boats in-built France over the past 30 years. At a consulting firm in the port of La Rochelle, Stéphane worked on testing boats before they were placed on the market. During this time, he felt that something was missing in his life.
He made a brave decision to vary his job and began working in Veritas Office as an engineer. However, shortly after being hired, he found himself in the office of the head of resources, expressing a desire for a sabbatical to organize for a prestigious sailing regatta, akin to Rum route. His employer, appreciating his passion and dedication, became his sponsor.
Despite these achievements, Stéphane eventually realized that the demands of his job and his passion for sailing were too difficult to balance, and he ultimately decided to retire from his profession as an engineer to change into an expert athlete.
Effective Transition Skills
Professionals transitioning into the world of sports are going through a major change that requires recalibrating their priorities while utilizing a various set of skills. In each business and sports, performance management dictates that results come from a mix of skill, motivation and commitment. Stéphane developed his sailing skills with unwavering motivation, searching for a state of performance that brings results, putting aside the pressure to attain specific results, using strengths before correcting weaknesses.
As an engineer, Stéphane focused on the development of renewable energy and created an operational unit. The team’s success was based on setting goals, focused on developing expertise, reasonably than focusing solely on results in comparison with competitors. Their motivation got here from internal stimulation and drive. And, once more, it gave birth to efficiency.
A successful athlete, Stéphane takes on the role of adept band leaderin a position to articulate a vision and cultivate coherent interpersonal relationships for collective achievement. As an engineer, he engaged in advocacy activities where he needed to convincingly present the merits of his own proposals. This required honing his argumentative and communication skills to specific a transparent vision. As an athlete, during his time at Bureau Veritas, Stéphane proposed a vision to the company to realize financial support, emphasizing value alignment, instilling pride, and appealing to the passions of motivated employees.
Listening skills facilitate effective team management and support the diverse contributions which can be key to the progress of the project. At Bureau Veritas, Stéphane played a task in defining standards for the common interest. Establishing connections between stakeholders is inconceivable without listening. As an athlete, Stéphane has to interact in discussions with different profiles: CEOs of large corporations, hydraulic technicians on board a ship and various experts akin to electronics engineers, sailmakers, hydrologists, composite material specialists, IT and cybersecurity experts. It is very important to know people’s needs and propose a path that integrates them, enabling team members to make use of their very own skills to attain success.
Conflict Management is mandatory in each the sporting and business environments. During his skilled experience, Stéphane encountered considerable opposition, having worked in large business units (offshore, marine, construction and industry). Many conflicts arose as each unit desired to prioritize its own interests. Stéphane tried to exhibit that the same goal was shared and that achieving it required trust in him to mix skills around a project. As an expert sailor, Stéphane needed to take care of conflicts during offshore racing, which frequently occurred when organizers proposed rule changes that affected the boats. Stéphane demonstrated the ability to compromise, engage in dialogue and persuade with the knowledge he gained.
A way of belonging
Stéphane’s story illustrates how he regularly moved away from professional standards he adhered to. He has developed the ability to adapt to such diverse environments and interact effectively with individuals from different cultural, business and sporting backgrounds. Stéphane is currently an expert athlete and runs his own eco-friendly company, Time for Oceans. Such versatility comes with its own set of challenges, especially in competitive environments.
Sailors can sometimes feel lonely, hence the need for cohesion inside the community. Some skilled sailors still see Stéphane simply as a Parisian engineer, believing that he never truly embraced the identity of an expert sailor. However, Stéphane sees himself as embodying a multifaceted identity, spanning the spheres of engineering and sailing, which allows him to relate to different groups and communities. Developing such an independent sense of belonging comes at the cost of mourning the sense of total belonging to 1 community. To be adapted in every single place but the complete feeling of belonging to no place is a compromise for living outside your comfort zone, in pursuit of constant learning, improvement and adaptation.
I imagine that this meta-skill, rooted in the ability to know different settings, interact with multiple counterparts, adapt to different norms and behaviors, and ultimately adapt one’s personality, is at the heart of personal development in the years to return. In an ever-changing world, the ability to exist and interact effectively in multiple scenarios in a flexible way might be basic condition for immunityadaptation and innovation for a greater world.
