Why You Should Fill Your Company With 'Athletes'

Forbes ^ | October 2, 2013 | David K. Williams

[blueunicorn6]

I coached a basketball traveling team. It’s like the Old West. You go out to private tournaments and look for the best to compete with. I also coached a team from a small Christian School. There are a few good coaches, but most coaches are trying to get to the next level. That is their focus. It’s not at all like it used to be. Teamwork? Not important. What’s his time in the forty yards? Is he coachable? Not important. What’s his vertical leap? Give me a company of fattys who can work together and I can beat 90% of the competitors focused on how their employees look. And the 10% who might beat us would mostly just be lucky.

[Rodamala]

J.C. Watts Jr.

[FoxInSocks]

I think BMI is a dumb metric. It suggests I’m overweight at 12 percent body fat; I’d look like a scarecrow if I were to meet their idea of a “healthy” weight.

[Lancey Howard]

True athletes - - at least those who have the slightest clue - - are NEVER liberals. Liberals are clumsy oafs.

[FoxInSocks]

I’d rather hire polite, well-spoken, intelligent nerds than arrogant, jacked-up, over-testosteroned meatheads.

Did you read past the headline and the first sentence?

"I don’t mean this necessarily in the physical sense . . . . But when I advise people to seek and hire athletes, what I am really referring to is the athlete traits (akin to leadership traits) that make any individual an exceptional hire."

[bramps]

He doesn’t like to talk about it but I hear Bill Gates won several decathlons before getting into computers.

[Doomonyou]

So you assume everyone here is fit and trim? I doubt it.

I sense a disconnect. Never assume. Besides, I could dump 15 L B's.

[avenir]

Motivational cant, piped in to a sterile conference room for all eternity, is Dantean as it gets for me. The horror...the horror.

[trebb]

1. They have the drive to practice a task rigorously, relentlessly, and even in the midst of failure until they succeed. Athletes are tenacious—they seldom or never give up. They also have a strong work ethic and the ability to respect and deal with the inevitable issues of temporary pain (along with the intuition to know when the cause of the pain is an issue too serious to safely ignore.)

2. Athletes achieve their goals. If one avenue is blocked, they find another path to success. If their physical strength has given out, they learn to work smarter, not harder. As they learn to become more effective they become more efficient.

3. Athletes develop new skills. Even though an athlete is highly specialized at certain skills, such as speed, blocking, or hand-eye coordination, they are also good at adapting to scenarios that call for cross-functional skills....

Athletes get 3 credit hours for changing a light bulb with only two instructor assists...

[Balding_Eagle]

Or maybe you should fill your company with people who are demonstrably skillful at the task you wish to hire them for?

I think that's what he meant to say. He just didn't have the intellect necessary to say it so plainly.

[Anton.Rutter]

Pretty people have assured prospects of employment. What a shock.

Good thing we ugly folk build businesses...