Reimagining How to Market Yourself

A person I greatly admire is Toronto Blue Jays President and CEO, Mark Shapiro. This spring, Mark spoke with our team about high performance.  Several of our players aspire to work in professional baseball and we asked what he looks for in new hires. You could sense he was humbled by the high quality of resumes he receives. He mentioned every candidate is smart, hardworking and passionate about baseball.  Those things are the baseline, he said. To stand out, there has to be more.

The conversation with Mark made me reflect.  When I ask student athletes: “what did you learn from your experience” the typical responses are: hard work, commitment, team work, and overcoming challenges. Those are baseline answers.  In a competitive job market, cookie cutter responses won’t be difference makers.

I’m clearly biased, but I think every organization would be wise to consider hiring a former student-athlete.  Their experience on the court, field, track or in the water has provided them with transferable skills that can impact an organization.  The problem for most student athletes, however, is they struggle to articulate their value.

Things for Student-Athletes to Consider

Employers need to learn how your past experiences will impact their culture moving forward.  In order for your experiences to resonate, reflection is required.  To get your mind going, I compiled a list of positive attributes I’ve observed.

Resilience– Sports are filled with moments of adversity.  For me, I went from being first-team all-league my sophomore year to being benched during my junior season.  I wasn’t producing.  I was angry.  I had a choice: make some positive changes or go the negative route.  Fortunately, I was able to overcome the setbacks. The professional world is filled with pot holes.  It won’t be smooth sailing.  The ability to bounce back will be a much needed life skill.

Show Up: A tremendous power humans possess is the ability to choose how we show up every day.  Competitive sports programs are frequently in high pressure environments.  Character (and culture) are revealed in times of adversity. In sports, we show up regardless if we got beat by 20 runs the night before, we lose the starting job, we have a big win the day prior, or we are tired and not feeling well.  A consistent teammate is valued in any sector. Leaders love people who dance through the storm.  Obstacles are part of the journey.  Those who embrace challenges with a big smile will always be in demand.

Collaboration: Exceptional effort by all team members is required to achieve challenging program goals. This requires relying on the skill and expertise of coaches, trainers, managers, custodians, and many more. Humility is developed along the way- no one person can do it on their own.  In business, working together to solve complex challenges is a must. Working tirelessly and not caring who gets the credit is valuable. Individuals who have the skills to work in a team, and suppress their ego, will thrive in the future.

Emotional Intelligence: Being a part of something bigger than yourself is a reminder that everything is not about you.  You are forced to get over yourself real quick.  Sports help with self-awareness and equally as important, help you become aware of others. You learn to have empathy for the teammate who makes a crucial error .  I believe E.I. is the most important skill in life.  The ability to connect with a diverse group and show compassion will enhance any industry.

Adaptability: A hallmark of competitive sports is the unpredictable nature. The circumstances are constantly changing. The ability to quickly process information, make a decision, and execute are crucial to success. Life is full of uncertainty. Embracing chaos is more important now than ever. Adaptation and perseverance are now a necessity.

Competition: Well-adjusted athletes develop a healthy relationship with competition. Competitive programs are breeding grounds for fierce internal and external competition. Internally, the talent differential amongst teammates is incredibly small. Externally, the best programs seek out other top programs for a challenge. The margin for error is minute. It takes years of incremental improvement to make a splash.  Professional life isn’t much different; competition is everywhere. Failure and rejection are present.  Being comfortable in uncomfortable situations is a major advantage.

Thoughts for Parents:

Writing this piece made me realize how many parents are focusing on the wrong things. Parents frequently agonize over playing time, the fairness of their child’s treatment, and wins and losses. The life-skills listed above have nothing to do with these things. The lessons are actually packed in the journey.  The student-athletes ability to reflect on the experience is what determines the value, not actually what happens.  We need to consider this when we want to intervene- intervention will likely disrupt a rich learning experience.

Final Thought:

Simply being a student-athlete isn’t enough.  The NCAA alone has nearly 500,000 student-athletes. Common phrases like commitment and teamwork won’t cut it.  Connect with your unique experience and challenge yourself to articulate the journey. It’s worth the investment.

While today’s newsletter focused on student-athletes, I think we can all learn from Mark’s insight. Being smart, hardworking, and passionate aren’t enough to separate ourselves.  We must be willing to go deep. Doing the work allows us to align with people and organizations who will enhance our life. I’m more convinced than ever that “fit” matters.  We can either hope we align or be intentional about building our future.

Reflection Question:

How can you better articulate your unique life-experiences?