Student Athletes as Sought After Business Recruits
Article written by Gregory Crawford and published in Forbes toward the end of 2022. The author highlights many of the most recognizable reasons that former collegiate athletes make excellent hires in the corporate world and brings a few lesser discussed attributes and experiences into the discussion.
The first that drew my attention was “a deep awareness of connection, trust and group solidarity.” It is not uncommon in the field of athletics to use terms like self-sacrifice, striving for unselfishness, and surrendering the ‘me for the we’ when instilling culture and program/team expectations. However, what is discussed far less is the impact this concept of self-sacrifice has on the identity of the individual player. Often, when this concept is executed properly, the individual components will begin to value the success of the group far more than their individual accolades, thus placing a resounding premium on group achievement. Thinking in terms of group success is a comfortable almost natural concept for an athlete to carry into their professional life and can be invaluable to an organization.
The author also mentions ‘service’ in the article. This isn’t something that I had ever considered as an attribute instilled through athletics. Every program I have ever been a part of has done community service of some capacity. Whether that meant reading to students in elementary schools, picking up trash on campus, or running camps for underprivileged kids most, if not all collegiate programs participate in some sort of community service. These activities generally have immediate impact on the those who participate in them, however I had never considered the value to the athletes beyond the specific services. As the author states, service experiences, assist student athletes in developing empathy, which amplifies their ability to provide effective servant leadership within their careers. There is a multi-layered benefit to giving back to the community. The impact of the service on the recipients, the direct impact of the service on the providers, and the longer lasting personal leadership attributes instilled in the providers. #leadership #team #culture #community #students #success #empathy #service #careers #athletes