The athletic advantage : from a team sports elite athlete to a top management position
Creators: name: Chevalier, Michelle
Publisher: name: ZHAW Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften
Year: 2023
Subjects: 658.4: Leitendes Management

description: Elite team sports foster diverse soft skills that extend well beyond the sports field, offering a solid foundation for professional success. This is reflected in the rising demand and recognition of soft skills in today’s workplace. Effectively applying and transferring these skills to the professional domain can facilitate the attainment of top management positions. Thus, providing a golden opportunity to transition from being a top performer in the field to becoming a top performer in the boardroom. Therefore, this paper identifies specific skills developed through team sports relevant to the professional world, emphasizing their successful integration into top management positions. 
The data is gathered through a comprehensive literature review and expert interviews. The literature review explores skill development in team sports, required competencies for success in both domains, and their transferability to top management positions. By comparing the skill sets, mutually beneficial soft skills are identified that bridge both domains. The expert interviews offer valuable firsthand insights from former elite athletes who effectively applied these skills in their current roles as top managers. This thesis employs the coding technique from Gläser and Laudel to analyze the interview data. 
The results confirm a correlation and underscore the transferability of soft skills in top management positions. Among the identified skills, communication, mental toughness, resilience, and preparation were most frequently mentioned by the interviewees. Resilience and the ability to perform under pressure were identified as valuable traits for addressing challenges in top management roles, while social competence was recognized as crucial for effective leadership. All experts shared leadership experience in sports, highlighting the valuable platform team sports offer for developing leadership qualities. Thus, these findings further strengthen the theory that professional team sports participation effectively develops valuable skills directly transferable to top management positions. 
Overall, the study provides convincing evidence of the interconnection between skills required in elite sports and top management. The challenges and high-pressure situations throughout the athletic career are a strong foundation for thriving in dynamic business environments. However, the thesis emphasizes the significance of a comprehensive approach in which athletes not only excel in their athletic careers but also actively pursue education and gain practical work experience. While the acquired skill set is undoubtedly beneficial, further development and refinement are necessary to effectively apply these skills in a distinct business context, which differs from the world of sports. Certain situations in the professional world may be incomparable to sports and can only be fully developed through direct application and experience in the business environment. Thus, the acquired soft skills, combined with qualifications and experiences, can provide athletes with a competitive advantage in the business world, leading to exceptional success.