The majority of people like sport, for some it might be one favourite sport – others will pretty much watch anything competitive. 

And for me, sport is closely aligned with business and, regardless of whether it’s individual, pairs or in teams, if you are competing at elite levels you will need to have a team around you to achieve the very best. 

Andy Murray, Lewis Hamilton, Charley Hull and Anthony Joshua all compete in an individual sport, but they each have a support team. I imagine AJ’s support team is a lot bigger than Charley Hull’s, but each one of them will have people looking after their administration, finance and marketing – people who have nothing to do with their performance, yet still perform a vital role. 

Then they have their fitness coach, technical coach, dietician, physio and sports psychiatrist. The same applies to a team sport, where the support structure remains the same as for an individual, it just has more people in it. Each will all have structure, processes and targets.

Business can learn so much from professional sport. To be an elite athlete, to compete individually or as part of a team, you must be professional, dedicated, passionate and determined. 

Everyone’s definition of success may well be different, but look at many of the top performing businesses, regardless of what sector they are in, and you will see that they have a very similar approach to athletes and teams that are performing on a national and international level.

They will have support structures in place that take them to the next level and help them get where they ultimately want to be.

In summary, does your support team do enough for you to compete on a national or international level? If marketing and communications is one that needs improving, then we would love the opportunity to speak with you.