Has participating in sports made an important difference in your professional life?
Playing basketball has allowed me to realize my dream of playing in the Olympics. It has also given me the ability to establish a foundation that can help people in need. Has participating in sports made an important difference in your professional life?
To thank you for sharing your answers with me, five people who answer by midnight Saturday July 19 will be selected to win 20 raffle tickets each from The Yao Ming Foundation. The raffle winner and his/her guest get an all-expenses paid trip to the Beijing Olympics to see Team China play Team U.S.A.. They will also get to see a Houston Rockets game and meet with me afterwards. For more information on my foundation and the raffle go to http://www.theyaomingfoundation.org/.
Clarification added 11 months ago:
The entry deadline for the raffle is 3:00 PM EDT July 24, 2008. You can purchase tickets at https://www.celebritiesforcharity.org/raffles/raffle_yao.cfm
Answers (30)
Yao
Although I have I not played to a professional level of sport, I have found that business and sport have a great deal in common. It has certainly helped me to achieve my goals but also keep me healthy and and fighting fit in rough periods.
The attitudes and human characteristics to winning in business are also related to those of winning in sport. In all forms of sport and business, there are people how have achieved their goals through commitment, drive and determination, and those who have achieved them through their natural talents alone. A great book I have recently read was "Winning!" by Clive Woodward. He managed the England Rugby team and won the world cup at the same time as running his own business.He discusses how his playing career, corporate sales roles, business management and sports management relate and the techniques he used within all 4.
Clarification added 12 months ago:
Reading Jia's answers, I would agree that I have also had the same advantages. Sport is a great talking point with colleagues, customers and prospects and can raise great interest.
As a person long past their athletic prime I still feel that sports is the perfect analogy and preparation for today’s business world.
Business is all about competition, whether it is winning new clients, influencing how clients spend their precise resources or as simple as staying ahead of your counterparts at work. These are all concepts that those who have participated in sports transfer into work.
When I interview people I usually like to find out if they have done one of two things, have a military background or have played organized, competitive, team sports. Through these life experiences people learn and understand what it is like to work hard, sacrifice and embrace the idea of working together makes it easier for everyone to win.
Robert F
Inside Sales/Demand Generation Expert and SalesForce.com Administrator. Proven history of increasing sales pipelines.
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I was never a professional athlete, however, growing up and playing sports) football, baseball, basketball, tennis, and swimming) had a major influence on me.
As a child, into my high school years I was very over weight. Being physically active not only made me lose weight, it gave me self confidence, increased my ability to concentrate, and was an outlet for aggression.
I was the "fat kid" who shot foul shots for hours, hit the tennis ball against a wall for hours. Never really talented, I became a decent athlete through sheer will and determination. Those are characteristics that have stayed with me all my life.
Also, sports have helped not only personally but in business, too. Not only does it give common ground to start a conversation but it also teaches one both cooperation and the belief that sometimes, even in a team environment, it is up to a single individual to make it happen. Also the fact that you understand competition puts it into perspective. Although there are times you lose, and no one likes that, if you have given it all you have and left noting undone you can have a sense of accomplishment. Look no further than the recent Wimbledon Men's final. Both men were at the top of their game, mentally unwilling to lose, pushing their bodies beyond normal limits. Yet at the end there was a winner and a loser. The greatness of the winner was matched by the greatness of the loser.
Great question. Good luck to you in the upcoming season.
All the best,
Bob
What a great question! As a coach educator I would suggest that sports
can be positive. Sports has the potential to play a positive role in one's life as long as the sports experience is positive. Thus, if one has a good positive coach and is taught positive lessons I believe sports can be very beneficial and build character.
Growing up in New Jersey, I played most of the typical American sports, including basketball and baseball. My real passion, however, was soccer. When I moved to Texas during my high school years, I remember our athletic director told me, "Boy, we don't play no soccer down here. We play football."
Texas high school football is a lot like the military. Practices are super intense, the coaches are constantly pushing you, and you better have thick skin because your birth name will be replaced with some sort of degrading or embarrassing name like pukey (I once threw up after miles of running in the 110 degree heat, and my coach told me to go find a nice brown spot on the field where the grass doesn't grow and puke over there).
The point being, while you are going through the trials and tribulations of training, and putting in all that hard work, at the end of it, you find that you're some how a better person for having gone through that experience. You find that you can put up with and endure much more than you thought you were capable of. It inspires self confidence, and a feeling of achievement. It teaches you how to deal with adversity, and toughens your body and mind.
As an environmental lobbyist, I've found that I can always draw up on the my experiences back in the old days playing Texas high school football when I'm told "no" one hundred times a day, or when I'm told that the objective I'm trying to accomplish is impossible. I smile, chuckle and say to myself, it's going to take a lot more than that rattle me. I'll be back at it tomorrow, and eventually, I'll get my way.
Organized sports taught me what it means to jump into something you may not think you can handle, and come out the other side a stronger person. What you can or cannot endure is just a state of mind.
Sports has definitely made a positive difference for me as an entrepreneur.
1. The winning spirit and the belief that everything is possible. Many underdogs have won championships.
2. Team work. Recruit team member, use everybody's talent, motivation, strategy and make sure everyone is on same mission.
3. Coaching and training. There is always some one can teach you and your team for the best.
4. Growth. Life and business are both about growth.
5. Sportsmanship and integrity are needed to gain respect.
6. Make more friends.
"The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part; the essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well."
-- Pierre de Coubertin
Without a doubt. It's interesting though because I think that most people will probably respond with thoughts on how playing group sports make you more accustomed to being a team player. I actually grew up doing more or less "solo" sports if you will (i.e. ballet, figure skating,etc.) so I have a bit of a different perspective as to what my sports experience taught me. Skating and ballet taught me poise and grace under pressure. Skating in particular taught me that no matter how hard you fall, you have to get back up and finish your performance (so I think that's taught me a lot as far as perseverance and seeing a project all the way through). As I've grown older I've also learned that sports is a great release for me. I always put my all into the work that I do at my job, but there's something to be said for being physically exhausted (in a good way) at the end of the day too. If I go to the gym or go running in the morning, it's a great way for me to release all of the day's frustrations. I also find that I sleep better. Exercising on a daily basis also gives me more energy and makes me feel mentally refreshed as well. I think that being in skating and ballet (since they both tend to fall under the fine arts/sports category) has also fueled my creativity.
Yao,
I will assume we are not to talk about how participating in Rockets fandom has been important in our professional lives, despite the fact perusing the internet for Rockets related information has helped me through many a workday...
I have played soccer competitively since the age of 4. To do so requires a great deal of dedication and hardwork, as your career atests to. Through the years I have experienced both jubilation and heartache at the hands of the game. In the hard times you realize that if it was not something you loved, you would not keep coming back to it.
These are ideals which I have carried over to my career, and fully believe that my work life is happier and much more productive because of this.
Although my career does not afford me as active a lifestyle as I would wish. I still find time to use soccer as an healthy outlet for the work week. Without regular exercise your body not only succums to the physical deterioration of inactivity, but also mental deterioration from lacking a constructive outlet to relieve built up stress.
In summation, I would not be the person I am today without sports.
Liza H
Television Person
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The perseverance required to play sports at nearly any level is great preparation for work. When you must keep trying at something in order to succeed, you learn a skill that can only enhance your professional and personal life. I've never truly excelled at any sport, but I've tried and tried with enough of them to enjoy myself. I like to think that even those born with superior physical attributes, have had to work at the mental game just like the rest of us!
Wei L
Global Citizen; Volunteer; Social Entrepreneur; Creative Thinker & Strategic Partner; CEO; Bridge & Matchmaker
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Hey Yao Ming,
It is a surprise for me to see you here. I am glad of course to have you to contribute to the positive culture of the LinkedIn's Q&As, the number one global professional on-line network tool.
Participating in Sports is one of the most important things in my professional life. I've been regularly practicing sports such as swimming, Taiji, Qigong, fitness etc. for over 28 years since I was in Shanghai. It is a part of my daily life and a source of my positive energy. This habit has profoundly influenced my family members including my two kids...
Thank you for the question !
Luo Wei
Clarification added 11 months ago:
One of my kids born in Houston asks me to say hello here... you are our hero and proud.
Clarification added 11 months ago:
You are our Pride.
Dr. Susan B
Coach, author, & speaker on personal & professional reinvention & renewal
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Xie-xie nin, for a great question, Yao Ming!
Right now, I have a whole legacy of unfortunate sports lessons that I'm "undoing" or "revising" as a member of Team-in-Training with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. From first grade through eighth grade, I had the same PE coach in elementary school, and when I'd run the track, she's scream, "Bernstein, you little runt, hurry it up!" I'm quite petite, and I didn't like how she treated me. I started to think that I was always playing "catch up" in life. I started hating sports, and would give up easily.
Fast forward to now, and the experience with Team-in-Training. I'm going to ride the Marin Century on August 2nd with an awesome team of enthusiastic cyclists, and I've never done anything like it before. I am so thankful to be on a team. From this experience, I'm learning lessons that are definitely transferrable to my professional life:
(1) We need the support and encouragement of others to do things we've never done before. I'm thankful to my coaches for helping me ride better and better. And, this reminds me that when I coach people in career change, not only is my technical advice helpful, but they benefit when I tell them "You can do it!"
(2) Teammates make the experience. Last weekend, pedaling up a steep hill, one of my teammates, who was riding behind me, yelled, "You can do it!" Another one, who was fast approaching me said lethargically, "When is this going to be over?" Attitude is everything. How we view the world matters. I realize that in my professional dealings, I can look for what's wrong or I can look for what's working. I prefer the latter. And when I look for the latter in my athletic performance, I get better and better.
(3) We're always setting new stardards. Eight weeks ago, I was very skeptical that I'd be able to finish the metric century ride (62 miles). When I passed a ride of 20 miles, then I started setting the bar higher. Last weekend, I rode 44 miles with my team. And a 28 mile "recovery" ride the next day. Needless to say, I now know that I'll finish the big ride on August 2nd. So now, I want to ride a full 100-mile century. I have bigger aspirations. But I never would have gotten anywhere without my intial goal to show up at every team practice. So, as in business, we start small and build gradually, and we can keep achieving more. I love pushing through fears and breaking through my perceived limits.
(4) It's important to have a balance of personal and team time. I love the camaraderie of my group rides. It's great to chat while we ride, and to hang out for a meal afterwards. And, sometimes, I need to be on my own, to push my limits or to ride more slowly one day. If find the same at work -- I need some time on my own and some with others.
Thanks for all that you are doing for rebuilding China with your foundation. I lived there 1988-1989 and miss it very much.
Go Team!
Susan
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Jan S
President, Simpson Management Group
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Yao Ming - good question.
Sports has made a huge difference in my life - - breaking it down:
1. It has made me more focused on reaching my potential physically and mentally - mentally had made me a tougher competitor and I have learned to anticipate more - my mind is quicker when competiting in sports.
2. I have met and played with and against some of the greatest people that I am honored to know today - and
3. It has taught me to laugh at myself -especially when those great people kick my butt and then walk away laughing -
4. It has taught me that there is always someone out there - who may be an underdog - but normally has more passion for the game and are the ones who normally beat you the worst. But their passion for the game is so unique it changes your preception on the game -
Now - with all that said - when is Houston going to go to the Playoffs and win the Championship? It is time - rights? Sorry - just a huge sports nut.
I was a OK at sports as a child. I stopped playing as I got older, because I didn't have interest in playing in an organized league. I'll be 40 next year and I've been playing pick-up volleyball for the past 8 months.
We organize it online, but pretty much anyone can join. We also invite interested watchers at the park to play with us. The level varies from absolute beginner to advanced, most fall somewhere in between.
It all works out because we meet to play in the spirit of good sportsmanship. That's pretty much the only rule, "good sportmanship".
I'm in Los Angeles, so we're talking about a very diverse group of people who come to play. The age range is mostly 20's-30's, with a few younger players, a couple of older players.
The things I learn
1. Fair play
2. Discussing disagreements and coming to an acceptable agreement or agreeing to disagree amicably
3. Practice, practice, practice pays off. Some players start off with greater natural ability but don't practice that much so they don't improve as fast as those who start off with less natural ability but practice a lot more
4. Inclusiveness, giving everyone a fair shake at being a part of our group
5. Understanding, we're really culturally diverse, so our communication
styles can be different. We learn to adjust and adapt to those differences, rather than jumping to conclusions.
6. Overcoming all the issues related to diversity by having a simple core philosophy of "good sportsmanship" helps us benefit positively from our differences
7. Everyone, even the best players, make mistakes, so we're don't berate anyone for making a mistake.
8. Tolerance. Not everyone who comes to play with is consistently about good sportmanship and the spirit of friendliness we have, but we accept that everyone will. You can't get along with everyone, no place is perfect, focus on the good people.
Much, much more...
Thomas "
@myerman on Twitter. While supplies last.
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I've focused most of my athletic attention on two things since leaving college: martial arts and running. The martial arts has taught me focus and lets me bleed off frustration. It also gives me a sense of community and camaraderie with other practictioners. The running gives me solitude. The longer runs allow for a lot of introspection, deep thinking, and garbage collection. I also enjoy being out on the road logging the miles. Every week I add a little bit of distance or try to run a previous distance a bit faster.
Cher W
Sales Manager at Rite-Way Publishing, Inc
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I think the most obvious differences from my Taekwondo have been the gifts of patience, perseverance, and extreme dedication.
Thanks for the great question- Cher Wada
Sports helped me in a couple ways.
It was the first time I really came out of my little safe 'group' and mingled with kids from other areas and groups. The other BIG benefit is that I was always an incredibly shy kid growing up who kept to myself. I'll be the first to admit that I was not great at the sports I participated in but I sure had a great time playing them. It was the first time I really got out - outside the 'nest' and it enabled me to make new friends and fine something in common with people that I never expected to.
Ian M. P
Project Manager/CAD/CAFM Systems Manager at Transitions...Managing Change in the Workplace, inc
As a Little League coach I was compelled to learn the art of communication with a variety of personalities . . . . though they were just children, the skill set transfers.
Participating in sports has made more of a difference in my personal life rather then my professional life. In a sense, my professional life is a sport that I have to constrantly strive to be the best and motivate my team around me to out perform the competition.
Personally, sports have allowed me to disconnect from business and the political tendencies that come along with enterprise. It has allowed me to take a deep breath and share fun moments with my wife and family. Sports have also taken me to nice places where I can enjoy serenity and the great outdoors.
I think sports are so important that my business name reflects it - I am a business consultant and my company is called Fit For Business.
I was a competitive middle distance runner and the characteristics that made me successful are the same ones making me successful in my own business (www.fitforbusiness.ca). Persistence, determination, stubbornness and of course self confidence help both in my sports life and my business life.
I think sports are so important that I continue to coach. I coach two hockey teams in the winter and a soccer team in the summer.
Cheryl
It has taught me that hard work, discipline, and team work apply not only in a sport setting, but also in a work setting. The attributes gained by excelling in sports can certainly help one excel in a career as well. Moreover, it has taught me how to give it my best effort each day, to win gracefully, and to lose gracefully. These are important qualities at work as well.
Yes, sports make differences. I play quite a lot soccer, which me two thing. One is that good team beats team with good players anytime. Second, try do the best you can, not just for winning.
Yao,
Success in sports and business is due in some part to talent but in large part to persistence. Team and individual sports, if done correctly, teach not only self-discipline but drive and determination which builds into persistence. Participation in basketball and rugby (yes, we play rugby in Texas), and in individual sports such as martial arts helps one learn these skills.
And, of course, you can always talk sports to almost anyone you meet in any type of business climate. It becomes an easy common language for all, even across borders with the sports I have participated in.
Good luck in the Olympics, but don't tire out, our Rockets need a rested Yao to hit that NBA Championship level.
Yao,
Sports, although not on a scale larger than college, has helped me in numerous ways:
1. It has given me the confidence to stand and speak before people, especially those I don't know. It has given me a sense of self-confidence and presence that has helped me in every position I have ever served.
2. It has given me a better sense of the well-being of my body, and the need to be active in order to feel alive.
3. It has given me a spirit of competition that has helped in striving to be better personally so that I can be better for others.
4. It has helped to connect me to people I never would have considered meeting, let alone knowing personally. some of my best friends are also athletes!
5. Finally, it has given me an avenue to meet new people, and sometimes make a difference in another's life, simply because of my knowledge and experience of a game.
Sports are an important part of my professional life. Playing sports allows me to relax, take care of my health, clear my mind, and depending on the sport I am participating in, such as swimming, focus on thinking about a business problem that I need to resolve.
What a wonderful question! I have been a manager and a CEO for years, but learned more about people management and motivation later on when I became a kid's soccer coach then I ever did in any management class.
In coaching kids soccer I got to watch different styles of coaching and their effectiveness with the kids. I got to try out the techniques I learned and see immediate results. I watched what happened when I encouraged a child to be a team leader and how that child's style of including other players by passing the ball to them made them work so hard to live up to that trust.
It is ironic that I signed up to coach because I wanted to give something, but what I received back was a fabulous education!
George P
Accomplished B2B Sales and Marketing Leader
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This is a great question, and I can say that since taking up tennis and being coached on the things I need to pay attention to, I have been able to very easily translate that to my professional life.
Example: In tennis, it's NOT about keeping your eye on the ball. It's really about first getting to the ball, then keeping you eye on the contact point - the precise place where the racket strings need to collide with the ball to send it on its way to the desired part of the opponent's court..
Translated into my profession of sales and sales management, this lesson tells me to concentrate less on the result (where the ball lands) and more on the thing(s) I need to do to get to the result - asking good questions, giving a good presentation, qualifying, asking for the order, etc.
If I focus on doing the right things on a consistent basis, the results will take care of themselves.
Hope this is of value.
George
Peter B. G
Co-Founder & CIO at P3 Social Media
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I think that the importance of sports is something that is overlooked by too many. I have often said that if we are going to save the world we have more chance by doing it through football (soccer) than any other means.
What I mean by that is that football has been known to stop wars - something that even religious ceremonies cannot. But then soccer has fans in 99.9% of the lands of the world and 75% of Manchester United fans do not know where Manchester is on the map.
I used to play basketball when I was a kid - as a warm-down from my athletics training.
Good luck with your foundation and in the Olympics (Go China!)
Clarification added 11 months ago:
At the end of the day playing sports with your professional colleagues builds and solidifies relationships within the workplace. I have found this to be true even where project members all work for different companies. They have two areas in common sports and the project - this aids results and can break through barriers that may otherwise remain insurmountable.
Viveka V
LinkedIn Trainer | Social Media Trainer ► Founder of Linked Into Business ◄ LinkedIn Expert | Twitter Training 7600
Thanks to the influence of my father, I took up hang-gliding when I was 15. At a young age I learned to overcome my fears, push myself physically, and play well with other (or die). I also learned about the joys, benefits (and restrictions) of sponsorship. My life would have been completely different without this experience.
I have never been a professional athelte, but I grew up playing sports for my school. In sports, I learn the importance of team work, the desire to win and achieve your dream. It is also where I learn and taste the meaning of losing, rejections and disappointments. At the end of the day, the biggest thing I take away from sports, that I apply for my professional life, is perseverance.
Yao, I admired people like you, Kobe, Karl Malone, etc who have unquestionable work ethics.
Albert M
Dynamic Engineering Team Leader and Builder, Passionate and Creative Innovator, and Devoted Mentor
Ming Yao,
Xie Xie for your question, and for your foundation that will help rebuild schools that were destroyed by the earthquake in central China. The short answer to your question is I learned that having a team-player attitude kept me focused on the team's goal instead of my own, selfish goals. I knew I had to do my part for the whole team to succeed, and that the success of the team would bring recognition to all its members.
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