The Impact Of Team Sports In Leadership
Lorrissa Horton, Chief Executive Officer, SumerSports.
With football season well underway, there is much anticipation to see which teams will make it to the Super Bowl. It’s sobering to realize how competitive football is and how much effort it takes to reach the top tier.
From high school to college, and with only a few athletes making it to the professional level, it requires years of hard work, dedication and training from each player. This journey is supported by the expertise of strong trainers, coaches and general managers who not only understand the game but can also execute effective strategies while assembling specific sets of talent.
Reflecting on all of this, I think there’s a lot to learn from sports that directly applies to the business world. It can take years of training for an athlete to achieve greatness. Similarly, it can take years for an employee to master a career, with very few reaching executive levels.
Personally, I believe sports has been a critical ingredient to my success, including my recent change into the CEO role for SumerSports. A sports mindset is helping me shape the right team and strategies to win. Today, I’m sharing my personal journey and perspective on how team sports can serve as a playbook for success in leadership.
Becoming A Team Player
At the age of 9, I immersed myself in different competitive sports like basketball and volleyball. These experiences were foundational, teaching me invaluable lessons about being a good team player. Just like an organization, each player must understand their contributions and how to work in harmony with others. This lesson in teamwork and collaboration is crucial in any setting, whether in sports or a business environment.
Experiencing loss in a game builds perseverance. Every team aspires to be the best, but the reality is only one team will win it all. Every player is not created equal and might not have the same natural strengths or access to resources for improvement. Some must work harder, and this disparity teaches resilience. However, dealing with failure is perhaps the biggest lesson sports can offer. It’s a constant reminder that success doesn’t come easy and that when you fall, you must get back up and stand even stronger for your next game.
Self-management and continuous improvement through coaching are essential to making it to the next level. Working with others to improve your skills teaches you what is within your means to change and how to optimize your role on the team without causing confusion.
Stepping Into Team Captain
Beyond being a team player, I also discovered that sports empowered me to lead and influence peers without having formal authority. Whether serving as a captain of a sports team or a leader at work, the principles of teamwork, perseverance and strategic role optimization have driven my success.
I had to learn how to lead different groups of people in different sets of circumstances. I had to focus on getting to know people and building trust, which would later lead to victories. This is crucial because if your teammates do not trust or respect you, they will not listen to you or allow you to guide them toward a common goal.
One of the best leadership skills I learned from sports is the willingness to help wherever I’m needed. I really enjoyed this part of being a team captain, so I found more opportunities to practice this skill across teams. This helped me stay connected to people, making them realize we really are all in this together.
Being The Coach And Leader
Over time, my passion for leading people became even stronger, creating a path to more coaching opportunities and executive roles. I had the chance to create a vision for different teams and to help shape, mold and guide people toward a common goal. I also learned about accountability and how to manage responsibility for the delivery of a group or team.
In my 20s, I coached a high school varsity basketball team. I learned how to motivate the team toward a common goal, guide the players in specific roles and create group strategies. However, the biggest realization was that I had to trust the players to execute on their own. I couldn’t play the game for them, and I had to trust that they would do what was best to win the game.
Similarly, in business, you cannot do the work for employees, control things or micromanage teams—you must trust that they will do what’s right for the business. This is an important lesson for any manager or leader of a large organization. You must learn to let go and trust your people to scale so you can lead your team. I believe the difference in business is you’re responsible for the outcome, so you must trust but verify.
From being a first-line manager to a VP, SVP and general manager, each role required different leadership skills—many of which have similarities to sports leadership. Across all of these positions, it became clear that the people I managed were crucial to any success for myself or the team. I opted to select employees who were coachable and with a growth mindset. I found that these types of employees were able to adjust to business needs better.
One coaching tool I use across teams is called “heart, tree, star.” It’s where an employee identifies what they love to do, how they want to grow and how they want to be rewarded. It helps me better understand my team and what roles or positions I should play them in to maximize their value to the team. It also helps me align their personal goals and skills with the needs of the business.
Throughout my journey, sports have always served as a playbook for success in leadership. Whether applied in the technology sector or in the sports industry, these lessons have heavily influenced my life. The chance to blend my experience to build phenomenal teams while achieving business success is a dream come true.
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