As
difficult as it was and as much as it may have affected my running, I truly am
thankful to have gotten the opportunity to attend business school. Coming from
a family of ‘scientists’ (my parents were biology and physiology college
graduates), I had no idea how embedded in our culture business principles
really are. From the advertisements that constantly and subtly surround us, to
the basic action of using a credit card. It quickly became clear that these are
concepts we should all have the privilege of understanding better. I absolutely
believe that even the most basic foundation of knowledge in finance,
accounting, marketing and management fundamentally changed the way that I look
at the world around me and should absolutely be included in all college freshmen
general education requirements. I know that I will not remember every formula
and every definition, but simply through awareness of these concepts, I have
been given the tools and confidence I need to tackle and solve problems more
strategically and efficiently than I would have before.
Perhaps the
most important thing about business school for me however, was that it proved
to me that not all businesses are solely money-centric. There is a whole other
side of the industry that believes that the core purpose of business is about
coming up with solutions to the world’s problems and generally improving
society as a whole. Helping us find meaning and draw connections between our
actions and where we are putting our energy, while giving us strategies to help
us share our passions with others. The money side of business comes into play
as we seek creative ways to fund our dreams. This new, refreshing take was
motivating and exciting to me and became the lens through which I choose to
approach my future in the field.
From the
beginning, my motivation for enrolling in business school was to learn more
about the business side of sport, in order to maximize my experience as a
professional athlete. Now on the tail end of my degree, it is time to put this
objective to the test. In the coming weeks, I plan to consolidate and share
some of the things I believe to be most relevant and helpful to Olympic Sports
athletes. Depending on your background and knowledge base, some of this may be
obvious and redundant, but my hope is that if you do choose to spend time
reading my insight, you at least find a few things interesting and
helpful. If you have experience,
thoughts, or objections at any time, please share with all of us. I truly believe that by working together,
sharing information, and applying these various areas of basic business to our
situations, we can all help each other begin to solve the logistical challenges
we are up against everyday, thereby enhancing our overall experience in the
sport.
That being
said, we cannot forget that we are, and should remain, athletes first and
foremost. Our reason for being in the sport is to maximize our physical
potential and most of us have a small window of time in which to accomplish
that. The moment we allow anything else to distract or take energy away from
the goal, is the moment that we should stop, reset, and reprioritize. Without
this foundation to stand on, we lose our differentiator and the thing that
makes this entire conversation relevant.
With this
in mind, I’ll kick us off with 3 key business principles that will underlie the
entire conversation moving forward and help us to always keep our priorities in
check:
(1) Identify objectives-
Every time you choose to put energy into something other than your sport, you
should know exactly why you are doing it and exactly
what you expect to be getting out of it. By clearly defining it from the beginning and keeping this in mind
throughout, you will reduce the likelihood that energy, resources, and time will be wasted.
(2) Consider all resources available-
In order to maximize a businesses opportunity
in a market, it is critical that they are able to think about and tap into any and all the resources available to
them. The same is true about individuals.
Fortune often favors the largest
network because the more people you know, the greater
the chance that you will be able to find someone who can help you solve your problems.
(3) Only put energy into people, activities, and situations that will give you energy back-
When resources and time are limited, there is no reason to spend time doing things that deplete you.
You are already breaking yourself down enough physically
in training. Everything you do in addition to this should only build you up. The same applies to the people you spend time with. There are too
many people on this earth and too
little time in life to spend time with people who put you down with negativity and doubt.
