5 Career Lessons From Extreme Athletes
Whether climbing a mountain or the corporate ladder, here's what you need to know.
Follow the lead of these athletes. Get determined and exercise your risk-taking skills.
1. You can overcome anything. Meet Paul Cayard, a yachtsman and professional sailor who has competed in the America’s Cup seven times and has circumnavigated the globe twice. This two-time Olympian describes the Volvo Ocean Race, which circles the globe and involves traversing 38,739 nautical miles. The race starts in Europe, ends in Antarctica and is composed of eight legs, which vary from four days to four weeks. Boats and crews experience sweltering heat, frigid conditions and blustering winds.
Biggest lesson learned: “It’s the age-old saying to never ever give up. In my second round-the-world race on Pirates of the Caribbean, we broke our boat on the first leg. We were in last place in Cape Town, struggling to gain confidence in a poorly built boat. Eventually, we got it on track, and in the end, we won the last leg and finished second overall. That was actually more satisfying than when I won the event in 1998. We climbed a steeper wall.”
How this applies to you: “You can pretty much overcome anything. You need to hang in there, keep tinkling, keep persevering and eventually you will prevail.”
2. Learn from failure, and take risks. Minda Dentler has been competing in triathlons for six years and was the first female to complete the handcycling event at the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii. In addition to training and competing in triathlons, Dentler works full time on Wall Street as director of operations at a large multinational insurance company.
As a result of having polio as a child, her legs are paralyzed. Her full Ironman competition equates to swimming for 2.4 miles, handcycling for 112 miles and pushing a racing wheelchair for 26.2 miles using just her upper body. The swim-bike cutoff time is a difficult 10 hours and 30 minutes, and the extreme elements include heat and strong crosswinds.
After not making the cutoff in 2012, she came back in 2013 with a new plan. “I knew I had to be very careful to manage my energy, pace and effort throughout the day to get onto the run course.” This time, she prepared differently, ensured her mind and body in the right space, assembled a team and entered the race “well-rested and without injuries.”
Biggest lesson learned: “There were moments in the 2013 race where I was in jeopardy of not making the cutoff time, and I literally had to push aside my internal voice that told me to quit. I had to tell myself to push through the pain and keep the laser focus.”
How this applies to you: “Mental toughness is a necessary quality to be a successful leader in the workplace. We must learn from failure, take risks, anticipate issues, handle tough situations and manage through change while not letting negative voices affect us.”
3. Taking the leap is almost always worthwhile. Ask Adrian Ballinger, founder of Alpenglow Expeditions, about climbing the tallest active volcano in the world, big mountain climbing and skiing, and he’ll mention “risk component." He says: "We’re always trying to manage risk, but it is a component of what we do. It’s not always fun in the moment.”
Ballinger highlights the power of danger and risks. “I like to manage and analyze risk to minimize it and make the goal attainable. The sport of climbing by its nature has hardship and accidents, so going through those things in the moment have forced me to think about why these experiences are worth the risks they entail.”
Biggest lesson learned: “Take risks. As I’ve grown in this industry and sport, I’ve often found myself in comfortable positions where it is easy to stay where I am in my career. But it’s worth it to take the next leap.”
How this applies to you: “The risk doesn’t have to be physical or about life and limb – it can be career, emotional or financial. If you have considered the risk and mitigated it to the greatest risk possible,taking the leap is almost always worthwhile.”
4. Have hope, fight hard and love what you do. There’s more to New York Giants’ linebacker Mark Herzlich than meets the eye. The author of "What It Takes: Fighting for My Life and My Love of the Game" beat a rare form of bone cancer and has been in remission for almost five years. He says: “When I was diagnosed with cancer, football was my goal for living.".
Biggest lesson learned: “My sport gave me a reason to fight. On my darkest days of back-to-back chemotherapy and radiation sessions, I would envision myself running out of the tunnel again with my teammates. It gave me hope, strength and a platform from which to help others facing adversity.”
How this applies to you: “Have hope. Fight hard. Love what you do. And believe in yourself. Believe that you have what it takes.”
5. Assess the performance edge and be willing to go there. Nationally certified race car instructor Sabine H. Schoenberg also happens to be a designer, builder and real estate agent.
The founder of SabinesHome.com says her racing hobby involves commitment. Any hesitation can result in lifting the foot off the gas pedal. “Even the slightest movement in that direction destabilizes the car. You will spin ... it can be serious.”
The challenge, she says, is how to get to the limit. “Steadfastness and endurance are a big part of it. The willingness to always learn and improve is another huge part. Conditions are always different. Things are never static.”
Biggest lesson learned: “Racing a car starts and ends with correct assessment. You want to get to your own and your car's performance to the edge or to the fastest speed. In business, too, you need to assess where that performance edge is and be willing to go there.” She explains when developing a property you have the choice to build a similar home that other developers are building. She says: “It looks like a safe path – but is it?”
How this applies to you: “Racing a car is opposite to street driving. Your biggest obstacle to overcome is one's own misconceptions! This is perhaps the biggest lesson I have learned and continue to learn between my hobby and life.”
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