6 Ways the Athlete's Mindset Can Help You in Business

As a former collegiate Division I and NFL player, being a great athlete came naturally to Lou Alexander. But when he found himself leaving professional sports for the sales world, he was faced with a whole new game to master. Or so he thought.

After stints in door-to-door sales and sales management, Lou joined ProcurementIQ–a division of IBISWorld–in 2019 and worked his way up to his current position as head of revenue. As it turns out, there are more similarities between professional sports and the sales world than meet the eye.

In this article, Lou shares his playbook for success in the workplace, remembering how his days on the field with Syracuse University and the New Orleans Saints taught him leadership skills and how to overcome adversity.

Practice, practice, practice

Preparing yourself by doing market research ahead of a big meeting or negotiation seems simple enough, but setting aside time to practice your playbook and the opposition you’re likely to face is a key difference maker between a successful negotiation and one that leaves you fumbling for your second-best option.

“When you put yourself in a position where you want to add value,” Lou said, “that value is only due to the preparation [you’ve done] before you actually put yourself into that position. . . . If you don’t prepare, you don’t add that value.”

In football, practice makes perfect as they say. It’s not enough to rely on natural talent or experience. Practicing the situation beforehand–whether it’s a first down or rehearsing the answers to questions you’ll likely face in a tough negotiation–will set you up for success and position you to make the big play necessary to bring your team across the line for a touchdown.

Evaluate your strengths and imperfections

In the workplace, we often have a good idea of our co-workers’ strengths and weaknesses. While those observations are important, understanding your own advantages and not allowing your imperfections to hold you back is a key component for success on the field or in business.

Lou recalled, “When I stepped into business, one of the things I thought about was, ‘What am I really good at?’ I connected my truth to my story. I knew coaching was something I was really good at.”

Evaluating his strengths showed him the path forward. “I sold roof and windows starting off, [coming] from the NFL,” said Lou. He knew that his charm, his work ethic, and his ability to bring out the best in his teammates were his strengths. Door-to-door sales helped him get there. Lou found personal success as a salesperson, culminating in his leadership position at ProcurementIQ, but he knew he couldn’t do everything himself. Nobody can.

It showed him that to be a great coach and a great leader, he needed a great team.

Delegation as a strategy

When Lou made the transition from sports to sales, he knew the time had come to step into leadership and coaching. Through that, he realized that not only was delegation an important part of any successful team or business, but it was a strategy in its own right.

“Sometimes we forget to delegate certain things,” Lou said. “That delegation opens up time for us to do the things we are good at.”

In football, Lou wasn’t a quarterback. He couldn’t throw the ball like some of his peers, and he certainly couldn’t throw the ball to himself. Even the quarterbacks couldn’t do it alone. There enters delegation as a strategy. “For myself, Lou said, “it was about being selfless and protecting the quarterback, who can actually throw the ball down the field for us to score.”

Utilizing the athlete’s mindset to its fullest potential includes proper delegation so that the people who have the skills to perform a task or “score a touchdown” are put in the best position to succeed. Leaders can conduct a SWOT analysis on your team to help decide who to delegate to and when.

Trust your captains

You can’t delegate without first trusting your team and its process. In football, Lou trusted his quarterbacks to throw touchdown passes, they trusted him to protect them, and the coaches trusted the team to run the play as they’d practiced.

A team’s coach is the equivalent of Lou’s current position as head of revenue at ProcurementIQ. They design the playbook, develop the skills of their players, and ensure everything runs smoothly on gameday. But they’re not on the field with their players. That’s where the team captain comes in.

“There’s always a captain,” Lou said of identifying, or being, a leader within the team. “That captain leads by example. He’s the voice of the players.”

The captain doesn’t have to hold a manager or director title to play their role in a sales team. They could be a senior salesperson. They could be a supervisor. They could even sit on an adjacent team, working in a customer success or sales development role, as long as they hold the respect and trust of their peers.

“The reason I am the coach is because I have the skill set of leadership and coaching, but it’s completely different than the function of the players.” The captain is someone on the field who’s helping their team score that touchdown or close that sale, even if it they’re not the one who runs the ball across the line. And as the voice of the players, they’re the coach’s most valuable representative off the field. “If the captain is speaking,” Lou said, “then the coach needs to be quiet.”

The captain is better positioned to help guide other players from the field. Meanwhile, the coach’s view from the sidelines enables them to see the bigger picture, build the players’ trust in the playbook, and integrate a strong team culture.

Develop your skill set

Athletes continually develop their skills, talents, and mentality. They have to. As talented as Lou was when he began his journey, he didn’t make the NFL overnight, and he didn’t start off as ProcurementIQ’s head of revenue. Nobody starts at the top.

“Athletes start with development,” Lou said. It’s an area that needs to be emphasized more in sales and business too. Once you’ve outlined your own strengths and weaknesses, make an action plan on how you’re going to track your performance and cultivate your own skill set. Whether it’s learning new technologies or improving your people skills by roleplaying negotiations, striving to improve yourself is the key component Lou credits for his success across many different ventures.

But don’t forget: your individual talents are what make you unique. Develop your strengths as often as you work on your weaknesses.

Hone your emotional intelligence

Whether it’s on the football field or in a conference room, your mindset is what separates a perceptive and resilient problem solver from someone stuck in their ways. It’s important to develop your skills, build healthy team environments, and accomplish goals, but it’s equally as important to foster a healthy, positive mindset within yourself. That’s what the athlete’s mindset is ultimately about: emotional intelligence.

“It’s always good to hear you’re the best,” Lou said. “It’s great for your confidence . . . but you should [strive] to never get too high or too low.”

What does it mean to get too high? Overconfidence is a killer on and off the field. It closes your mind to new ideas and separates yourself from the skills development that is so integral to the athlete’s mindset.

But you should be wary of getting too low, being too self-deprecating, or getting too down on yourself after a “loss.” That’s where trusting your process, your team, and yourself comes into play. Not every game will result in a win. Not every play will become a touchdown. Working to improve your emotional intelligence and self-talk can make all the difference.

A touchdown and a victory should not always be the absolute goal. There will be times when you will face hardship and defeat, even if you made all the right plays. Working on yourself and your inner strength will carry you through these times and set you up for success down the line.

“It’s about developing the mentality of pushing through hard times when someone tells you you’re not good enough,” Lou concluded. “When someone tells us we’re not the best, how do we respond?”

Your mind is your greatest asset. Developing your skills and talents will only take you so far without the mindset to back it up.