Athletes impact in the business world

For many of us, this has been our life since we were young children. Starting at age 3, I have lived and breathed hockey, a journey filled with thrilling moments and constant adversities. Pursuing this lifestyle requires sacrifice. Sacrifice from the parents for their financial and time commitments. Sacrifice by missing many of the school events with your friends. Sacrifice by leaving home at a young age to pursue a dream. It is a journey that gives as much pain as pleasure. The pain of defeat, injury, politics, isolation, and public pressure. The pleasure of victory, emotion, expression, celebration, and comradery with your teammates.  Eventually the time comes to leave this world, the only world we know, left to watch from the sidelines. Having experienced this personally, it has shed light onto this unsupported journey. 

Pending my retirement from playing, I was fortunate to have a senior position secured, confirming my choice to stop playing. However, with a sudden last-minute change, I was forced to start from zero and find a new path. As a father of two and with an uncertain future, I felt the realities of spending my life in the spotlight, to being thrown alone into the dark unknown. Having anticipated this process for most of my career, I felt I was prepared for the challenges I would face, but I was met with many unforeseen circumstances. 

Many players can relate to this feeling, having a unique skill set, extensive experience, but unsure of the next step. As I was obligated to start from scratch, I took the time to actively self-reflect, an essential step during this process, designing a direction that aligned my passions with my strengths. It took some time, but ultimately helping others and people's development is what lights me up. Complimenting this, I always strive to insert myself in learning conducive environments, to cultivate growth throughout my experiences. This was my starting point, then I needed to decide what was the best path to pursue. I came to the conclusion that through sport, actively aiding athletes' development and designing a holistic community which athletes can benefit from, was the best application at this stage of my life.

My approach? Taking the time to constantly immerse myself in the business world, throwing myself into the deep end until I learned how to swim. Although I have always taken the initiative to educate myself throughout my career, and pride myself on being well read, it was certainly a steep learning curve filled with profound experiences.

I started this transition process by enrolling myself in the best business school I could find, IMD Business School in Lausanne, Switzerland. An auditorium filled with 64 international managers, CEOs, and executives with years of business experience; this was a new environment for me. On my first day we were divided into smaller groups of 5 or 6 and given the task of explaining a challenge our industries faced, collectively selecting one challenge to solve. Having a Ukranian manager of a chemical distribution company and an executive of a Japanese Trading company, we naturally fell upon the topic of sustainability. We were given 2 hours to draw a conclusion and to present this in the auditorium in front of all the business leaders and professors. Despite some highly interesting dialogue, after almost 2 hours, one member of our group, a Saudi Arabian Commercial Banker, interjected to suggest sustainability is the most challenging topic today and despite some innovative thinking, perhaps we should find another direction. With a few minutes to spare, I felt compelled to suggest something involving the hockey world which would be unique and interesting for the group. Shortly after this, we heard the ring of the cow bell, signaling it was time to return to class for our presentations...  

Heart pounding, I realized I had put myself in a position where I had to make a presentation on the spot without any preparation or support, due to the uniqueness of this topic. This was day 1 of throwing myself into the deep end...  

I managed to survive the presentation, presenting the topic of how to be competitive in a world with significantly different budgets and if investing in wearable and analytic technologies was a worthy investment. Many questions were asked following my presentation and eventually ran out of time. I had survived my first task at IMD.

This highly intensive business course continued daily, sometimes for up to 15 hours per day, providing incredible insights into the corporate world of business. I enjoyed every second and soaked up as much information as possible. From the quality of professors to the organization and professionalism, it is no surprise why this is a world-renowned business school. It was an experience I will never forget and am truly grateful for.  

After receiving my certificate from IMD, the next step on my journey was around my passion, player development. Enrolling at Sports Management Worldwide, I was expanding some perspectives into helping players cultivate their performance. Following the completion of several courses from this platform, I decided to throw myself into the deep end again, enrolling at the Ivy League University of Pennsylvania's Wharton Business School, where I completed a course on Neuroscience and Business. As someone who has seen first-hand the importance of culture within an organization, this gave me a deeper feel for the science behind creating a culture conducive to success, to support many of my theories. In addition, this course provided interesting prospects on how to create team synchrony, boost organizational innovation, decision making in leaders and obtaining better business results. Although I had accomplished several academic pursuits, I was also forcing myself to actively engage and network to share ideas with many business leaders. 

Throughout this process, I acquired innovative ideas but also strengthened my belief of how impactful professional athletes can be in the business world. Although many of us lack some hard skills, these can be rapidly learned. What professional athletes have is an understanding and experience that cannot be learned any other way. They possess the soft skills that usually determine the effectiveness of any business. Certainly, there is an 
adjustment period to acquire a new skill set, but what many professional athletes obtain is so precious and is undervalued in some business settings. As many business leaders will attest to, having someone with interpersonal skills, competitive drive, teamwork abilities, leadership qualities, and unique insights, are assets not to underestimate. All professional athletes are masters of sacrifice, managing adversity and hard work. This specialized skill set from professional sports provides a unique perspective that can be extremely valuable to any company.

All these experiences have brought me to my next challenge, co-founding a Sports and Arts Agency called ATHOS, working with talents, organizations and creating ATHOS events. Our mission is by creating a community of hand selected partners, we provide athletes and artists with an environment to receive holistic support for their performance, health, wealth, and education. ATHOS has developed a unique approach to ensure athletes and artists receive the best support to aid with this major life transition, emphasizing and empowering the person behind the performer.  

Reflecting on my transition, I am thankful for this experience, and all the learning that has come along with it. Alongside my partners, this journey has assisted ATHOS in designing our community effectively and providing something impactful to give back to the next generation. Aspiring for growth, lifelong learning and ultimately the community I wish I had as a player.  

To the business leaders, never underestimate the impact athletes can have on your organization. Their unique skill set can transform results, create a sustainable culture conducive to success and provide a perspective that can alter the direction of a company.  

To the athletes, recognize how unique your experience is and leverage these skills into your next career. Most importantly, never stop learning, growing and believing in yourself.  

Good luck! 

Cody Almond