The Executive As Athlete

In several ways, the demands of two jobs—executive of an organization and a professional athlete—are a lot alike. Both want to "win"—achieving their mission and making their strategic plan a success. Both need to assess the competition and make judgments about strategy and resources.

A recent article, The CEO As Elite Athlete: What Business Leaders Can Learn From Modern Sports, identified five leadership practices from athletes that executives can adopt in their personal development. These practices include continuous learning, data-driven decision-making, time management, personal resilience, and adaptability.

Most fundamentally, executives (like athletes) need to keep . . .