On Saturday I did a trail marathon. A significant proportion of the race was spent thinking about food (= quantity of jelly babies consumed per 5km), the scenery (= I need an escalator to get up that climb) and whether I have applied enough lube to prevent inner thigh-based chaffing (= just about). In the moments that weren’t given over to jelly babies, steep hills or Vaseline I found myself pondering the lessons that I have learnt from sport, both as a professional/elite and as a recreational/amateur athlete, that might apply more generally to individuals and to organisations.
The starting premise is that there are many parallels, but perhaps the challenge in applying them with resonance and success is that (winning) elite athletes or teams are placed on a pedestal. Yes, they may have achieved sporting success, but they are also ‘othered’ - seen as super human, different or extraordinary. My contention is that the skills, behaviours and character traits that are seen and applied in a sporting context are transferrable and applicable across sectors.
Here are some of those actionable insights that I came up with as I covered the 26.2 hilly yet beautiful, jelly-baby fuelled miles.
Have clear purpose (your why): for me, sport was a route to being able to enact positive social change. It was a platform. It turned something that was inherently selfish into something that could bring about social change. This is the ‘why’.
Set process and outcome goals (what you want to achieve): both process and outcome-focused—ranging from ambitious stretch goals to stepping stones. Athletes commit to long-term goals but stay present, focusing on the task at hand and ‘run the mile they’re in’. Goals drive motivation, focus, and accountability, but achieving them doesn’t satiate forever and sparks new ones, creating a cycle of constant growth.
Plan and execute (the how): this is the meticulous planning (accounting for different eventualities) in terms of training and racing, and the commitment to consistent execution, underpinned by routines, habits, and support systems. There’s a fine line between pushing to excel and overexerting to the point of burnout. Hard work means working smarter, integrating periods of rest and recovery, receiving and giving feedback, taking a long-term perspective and thinking holistically about health, our identity and success.
Leave no stone unturned: Optimizing performance means addressing every pillar—sleep, nutrition, recovery, sports psychology, and more. Like baking a cake, every ingredient counts. Rest isn’t just a break; it’s foundational to sustained success. We need both speed and stillness. High performance comes because of rest, not despite it.
Lean into others: No athlete succeeds alone. They need a diverse, unified team where everyone owns their role. Race day independence is built on interdependence—feeling valued, supported, and guided by shared principles.
Receive and give feedback: Athletes have to be able to receive (from their own internal cues, from other people or technology) and provide feedback if they are to understand, learn, grow, improve and perform. This requires trust, honesty, transparency and vulnerability as well as an ability to listen to oneself and others. Even if seemingly negative feedback, when delivered in a constructive, respectful and sensitive way, is a fuel for positive growth.
Invest in training the brain: Contrary to popular belief athletes aren’t motivated, resilient, patient, adaptable or driven 100% of the time, and nor is natural talent sufficient. They have developed tools and strategies to enable them to develop and hone the psychological muscles necessary through consistent training, as well as from other areas of life.
Identify and work on both strengths and weaknesses: Athletes must nurture and leverage their strengths, yet also be aware of and work on weaknesses (physical, psychological, strategic, technical). Focusing solely on what you're good at can limit growth, while ignoring weaknesses can hold you back – the key is to balance work on both.
Curate a conducive environment: We are shaped by our environment, so we must curate one for success. For example, training alone to endure boredom; having a fridge stocked with nutritionally optimal food, having sports clothes ready for when you wake up, using sensory inputs such as music for motivation, having a positive mantra as your screen saver. Your environment can make or break you—manipulate it to work for you.
Be consistent yet agile: Consistency is key, but so is agility. Success doesn’t mean staying static—it’s about staying curious, innovating even when the outcomes are uncertain.
Innovate and adjust: This may mean a macro pivot (retiring as a professional athlete, or changing coaches) or smaller alterations, such as changing a training session or a piece of technology. It often means stepping outside of one’s comfort zone – whether that be a physical, psychological, environmental zone of safety and security to try new things, innovate, test and explore. It is especially hard if you are succeeding because often winning ways create inertia and a reluctance to change.
Accept the need for trade off/compromise, but also retain balance: Pursuit of a sporting goal inevitably requires compromise in other areas of life. It is hard to invest equal effort into every slice of life’s pie (work, family, friendships, hobbies, education), but focusing on one or two doesn’t mean the wholesale rejection of others. Athletes can thrive in other pursuits — in fact a diversity in interests often fuels, rather than hinders, peak performance.
Cultivate personal resilience: We can anticipate and plan for some risks or problems, whilst others are unexpected. To me, resilience – or endurance - is the process of withstanding, navigating, accepting, embracing, managing and learning from disappointment, setbacks, frustrations, crises and failure. Of course, it is multidimensional – for example sport requires us to have emotional, mental, physical, cognitive or social resilience. These can help minimise the risk of obstacles or adversity in the short and long term, and enable us to navigate and gain strength from them when they do arise. The strategies we deploy in the face of problems are contextual, for example needing to recognise the reality, accepting what you can’t change, reframe, controlling the controllables (our thoughts, our breathing, our actions), adapting and adjusting, leveraging a support network and setting micro steps and goals.
See perfection in imperfection: Things rarely go according to plan, in training or racing. To me, "perfection" is handling every imperfection as perfectly as I can.
Sport has helped me consider and re-evaluate what success truly means. Of course, standing on top of the podium can be momentarily gratifying and fulfilling, but true success is in pushing your limits, building friendships, embracing vulnerability, and facing fears—of failure, pain, or judgment, and fearing a little bit less about all those things. It’s about embracing a level of discomfort, self-discovery, and unlocking your full potential. Instead of an outcome it’s a process and a journey (and on the weekend this was one which was made even better with the of Vaseline and a whole bag of jelly babies). a journey that has enabled me to explore who I am and what i'm capable of, and in doing so achieve more than I could have ever imagined.
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