Editor’s note: Veteran entrepreneur and investor Donald Thompson writes a weekly column about management and leadership as well as diversity and other important issues for WRAL TechWire. His columns are published on Wednesdays.
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RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – In high school and college, I was a football player, and also, throughout his long career, my dad was a football coach at the Division-1 level. So, I not only played sports but also spent a lot of my life around very high-level athletes and coaches. That’s one of the reasons you’ll often hear me use sports metaphors in this weekly column. Another reason is that sports and business have a huge number of things in common. The lessons I learned as a D-1 athlete have helped me become a better teammate, business leader, and adviser. Here are a few of the top lessons that stand out.
Number one is teamwork. I’ve rarely seen anything big accomplished in a significant way because of a solo performance. In sports and business, great teamwork is essential.
Donald Thompson
In football, there was always a big group of people contributing to the team’s success, whether those people were visible on the field or did their work behind the scenes. From the folks who laid out equipment for the players and served food in the cafeteria so we had enough fuel, to the administrators in the office, booking flights for coaches to travel and recruit, and the academic counselors who helped us make sure we were on track toward our educational goals, there were so many people contributing to the whole that, as a team, we were capable of huge success.
I learned at an early age that everyone’s job matters. Everyone’s job contributes to whether we achieve the vision, or not. And that experience gave me great respect for how teams function. It’s not just the superstar – not just the quarterback – who matters. Every person must be great at their job for the organization to reach its potential.
When my dad coached for the University of Pittsburgh, I was a ball boy for his team. Really, I just wanted a chance to spend time around their greatness (including one of my idols, Dan Marino), but in order for me to go to training camp with the team, I needed to have a job. My role was to work with the equipment staff, do the dirty laundry, get the field set up, and take care of lots of little but important things associated with building a practice.
The average players made fun of us or just commanded us like servants, right? “Go get us a towel. Go get us cold water.” But some of the best players said, “Hey, thanks for having the water nice and cold, because it’s really hot out here, and I’m working hard. Thanks for bringing it to me. I appreciate that.” And one of the things I learned in that moment – one of the core lessons here about being a leader and building teams – is this. It’s not only what happens on the field that matters. It’s how you act behind the scenes too. It’s your appreciation for people around the field that makes what you do on the field matter.
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The second thing that’s really critical is, how do you get up once you get knocked down? Sports are a function of trial and error. Do it again until you get it right. Do it again and again and again, until you can do it well under duress and do it well under the lights.
You can’t just show up for game day. You have to do the work all around the game day too. When the lights come on, you can be more excellent than your opponent because you have done the work in the weight room and in the classroom. And the opposite is true as well. If they’re working harder than you in terms of nutrition or film study or memorizing plays or agility or whatever, it will show.
One of the other things I’ve made sure to learn as a business leader and an entrepreneur is how to do my homework – how to make the grind fun – so that when I’m in that pitch meeting or client presentation or whatever, I’m confident and prepared. I’m not overconfident, but I’m confident in what I’m doing and how I can help the person on the other side of the table because I’ve done the work beforehand to prepare. I’ve tested my idea in the marketplace and asked enough people to rough it up, so I can see where it could be stronger. You’ve got to practice getting knocked down and getting back up.
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The final thing is to embrace the lessons in competition and rise to meet those expectations. You have to expect to get better every day. You have to keep pursuing your own growth. Hire a coach, or do it on your own – whatever you need to do to make it happen – but never stop learning and growing.
If you get a little bit better every day, over periods of time, you’ll achieve great things. But you have to stay in the game, and keep working.
For me, the skills I learned as an athlete have helped me transform into a stronger leader.
Playing sports showed me how to make a winning strategy, to sit down and do the pre-work required, then win fairly within the rules of the game. All those things helped me build a foundation of success as an entrepreneur by translating what I learned from sports into business and leadership.
Perhaps the most important lesson I learned? Winning is so much better than losing! So do what you need to do to prepare, and win.
About the Author
Donald Thompson is co-founder and CEO of The Diversity Movement which offers an employee-experience product suite that personalizes diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) through data, technology, and expert-curated content. Their microlearning platform, Microvideos by The Diversity Movement, was recently named one of Fast Company’s “2022 World Changing Ideas.” With two decades of experience growing and leading firms, Donald is a thought leader on goal achievement, influencing company culture and driving exponential growth. An entrepreneur, public speaker, author, podcaster, Certified Diversity Executive (CDE) and executive coach, Donald also serves as a board member for several organizations in marketing, healthcare, banking, technology and sports. His autobiography, Underestimated: A CEO’s Unlikely Path to Success, is available for pre-order now. Connect with or follow him on Linkedin to learn more.
