How Team Sports Is Like the Workplace

How Team Sports Is Like the Workplace

Just like a basketball team, or any sports team for that matter, we all have a role to play at work. For example, just as a power forward, guard and center have specific roles to fill on the basketball court, a cashier, accountant and manager have specific roles to fill in the office. Different organizations allow more or less freedom within each specific role, but the bottom line is that if no one follows their role, you will have chaos rather than a winning team.

People always say that playing on teams will help you in life. My coaches told me that, but now that I am older. I believe it. I’ve always felt like it’s helped me in numerous ways.  It’s helped me to work with others in a collaborative manner.  It’s helped build in me a drive to contribute to the overall goal, trying my best to make a big impact while observing the contributions of others.

I have been playing basketball for almost ten years. The size of my teams ranged from 10 at the youth level to upwards of 15 in college. I developed some of the closest relationships on these teams, many of which I’ve held onto until today.  My dearest friends, as a matter of fact, are former teammates of mine. But I also played with some guys I absolutely could not stand and others with whom I was indifferent. That’s part of the beauty of sports and that's how business is. I played with, joked with, ate lunch with, and traveled with guys with whom I would have never come into contact under any other circumstance. You meet people and develop relationships with them and some even last a lifetime.

If you have any Questions or feedback feel free to talk to me in class or send me an email.