I want to share the fantastic GamePlan A by the Adidas Group. It’s the 1st business lifestyle magazine fuelled by sport. #JoinTheHuddle, @GamePlan_A, @adidasUK
It’s all about creators who tackle their work life with their athletes heart.
I have been doing competitive sport most of my life and agree with all the parallels they draw between sport and business. I use so much of my sporting experience to apply to my work role as a marketing communications manager in Microsoft. The main ones being a saying a previous coach drilled into me of all the P’s (Prior Planning & Preparation, Prevents Pee Poor Performance) as just like a training programme, a marketing plan needs to be well thought out to deliver great results. Also looking for all those 1% improvements done naturally day in and day out in sport, when applied to marketing campaigns in the data driven business world, leads to fantastic results. Well at least that’s what I’ve found!
It’s also the personality that being involved in sport creates. Passionate, driven, focused and ambitious individuals are the same traits anyone would want in an office. Along with the mental toughness and tenacity it takes to compete in sport, which is invaluable when applied to overcoming hurdles in business and finding solutions to problems.
The skills developed by sport are the same ones you need in the office. Be it coordinating different departments rather than teammates, both require great communication skills. Or managing a project, rather than managing a training schedule, both require great organisation skills.
Find out more at http://www.gameplan-a.com/ and below are a few of my highlights:
- Their skill drill section has tips and tricks to keep you up to speed and at the top. I’ll be recommending to my manager our next team meeting is more like Nadine Hauselt’s.
- Their in balance section helps you do what it says on the tin and find the right balance. I agree totally with Sophia Schlor that getting up early to workout before I get to my desk, makes me a lot more productive.
- Their leaderboard section has great advice from their everyday winners. I found Linda Murphy’s article inspiring. A materials developer at the desk and a cyclist with Olympics dreams away from it. In particular where she says “We’re taught our whole lives to work hard and push through the pain to get anywhere good – be it the next career level or a stronger body. It’s easy to end up in a cycle of stress and exhaustion. A shift in activities and priorities will get you on track.” This is so true and something I’m sure many of us fall into. Also calling out the women in the world doing their very best. I’m loving working with the Women’s Sport Trust through the Microsoft partnership to raise the visibility and increase the impact of women’s sport.
- Their what’s hot section keeps you on trend and in tune with the needs of today’s athlete at work. I liked the industry changing insights article and Claire Midwood’s comments about using data to “find out faster what the market really want” and be able to “respond faster too.” As with all marketing, the more insights and data you have the better you can meet your customers needs and deliver them the right solution.
- Their in practise section helps you raise your game on a daily basis, making changes to meet challenges head on. I really liked Olivia Rotenberg’s workplace insights from a sport psychologist and agree that athletes are good at driving towards performance goals in business, as they apply the same strong work ethic they did in their sport. As I said before the traits and skills from sport are also highly transferable to business.
- Their career coach section does what it says on the tin. I enjoyed reading Danielle Dupre’s article on hard work giving exposure that networking can’t. As I’ve always valued working hard to get to where I want to be. I’m also jealous that she got to meet Conor McGregor!
You can also get involved and be a playmaker rather than a spectator: http://www.gameplan-a.com/contribute. I know I want to!
PlantBased Sam T 