Should leaders think like top athletes?

Concentration under pressure, resilience in the face of failure, and the ability to bounce back quickly after a mistake, all these are skills that make the difference in sport... and in the business world.

The image of top athletes is often reduced to their physical abilities alone. The media sometimes focuses on anecdotal stories, such as that of an athlete who was a semi-finalist in the 800 metres at the 2024 Olympic Games and a police officer, whose ability to catch thieves was highlighted in the press. But this approach overlooks a fundamental point: sporting performance is not based solely on physical performance, but on a high level of mental and emotional control.

As a former high-level judo athlete, I have been interested for many years in how sports psychology can help leaders and organisations optimise their performance. However, while athletes rely on proven strategies to optimise their mental and physical energy, these tools are still used insufficiently in the world of management.

If leaders and organisations want to optimise their performance, shouldn’t they draw inspiration from proven methods used by top athletes? What does science say about this approach? How can these strategies be adapted to the reality of management? What if sports psychology was the key to more effective and sustainable leadership?

Staying focused

Professor Orlick’s research and his concept of the ‘Wheel of Excellence’ perfectly illustrate how the emotional management skills common in top athletes can be transferred to the world of business. Using this wheel, he demonstrates that focus, particularly on one’s goals, is an essential skill for achieving success.

Manage your energy rather than your time

Rather than managing their time, leaders would benefit from managing their energy, as suggested by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz in their Corporate Athlete Model. This approach, inspired by elite athletes, optimises leadership performance. It is based on four essential pillars:

• Physical energy: a healthy body is the foundation of sustained performance. Sleep, nutrition and regular exercise are not options, but necessities.

• Emotional energy: the capacity to cultivate positive emotion (gratitude, optimism) helps you manage stress and maintain a state of mind conducive to decision-making.

• Mental energy: focus is a precious resource. Working in single-task mode and incorporating strategic breaks improves productivity and reduces cognitive fatigue.

• Spiritual energy: finding meaning in your work and aligning you actions with your personal values reinforces motivation and long-term commitment.

Just as an athlete has intervals of exertion and recovery, a leader must also learn to optimise their energy cycles by working in blocks of 90-120 minutes and including time for recharging. The result: greater mental clarity, better stress management and improved performance.

Developing positive mental imagery

In high-performance sports, the ability to mentally visualise a successful outcome is a key skill. Research by Feltz & Landerset and Morris has shown that mental images can directly influence performance, in both athletes and in professional environments. In sports, it is used to learn new skills, manage anxiety and maintain focus. In business, positive visualisation allows you to expect success rather than failure, building self-confidence and clarity for decision-making under pressure.

Techniques for developing positive mental images:

• Repetition and practice: just as an athlete trains to visualise a movement before executing it, a leader can mentally rehearse their speeches, negotiations or strategic interventions.

• Positive speech and affirmations: reframe your internal thoughts in a constructive way to adopt a winning mindset.

• Reframing: transform stressful situations or failures into learning opportunities.

Practical applications for leaders and managers:

• Visualise success: before a crucial meeting, take a few moments to imagine it going perfectly and how you will react to the unexpected.

• Positive affirmations: adopt motivating self-talk and avoid limiting negative thoughts.

• Reproduce optimal performance states: WYSIWYG “What You See Is What You Get” as shown by research in sports psychology. The image of a top athlete preparing for a competition: what you visualise in your mind directly influences your reality. By generating positive mental images that are aligned with your goals, you optimise your chances of success.

Accept failure as a springboard

What sets champions apart is not the absence of mistakes, but their ability to bounce back. This mindset, known as “growth mindset”, developed through the work of social psychology professor Carol Dweck, is based on the idea that failure is not the end, but a step towards progress.

After a defeat, an athlete learns to accept setbacks, analyse what went wrong, adjust their strategy and come back stronger. The best leaders should do the same.

There are several areas in which to adapt:

• Change your relationship with failure: see it as a springboard, not a wall.

In a fixed mindset, failure is synonymous with incompetence. In a growth mindset, it is a source of learning and readjustment. Effective leaders don’t try to avoid mistakes, but to learn the best lessons from them.

• Analyse without beating yourself up: learn like a coach.

A coach doesn’t judge an athlete on a single poor performance. They identify what didn’t work and adjust the training. A good leader must adopt the same analytical approach, without falling into futile self-criticism.

• Bounce back quickly: the key to resilience.

In judo, a fall is not the end, it is a transition, the beginning of a process of self-reflection. What matters is not the fall itself, but how quickly you get back into action. Resilient leaders do not let setbacks define their trajectory: they pick themselves up, adjust their strategy and move forward.

• Establish a culture of experimentation: make failure a driver of innovation.

In the most innovative companies, failure is part of the development process. Test, fail, learn, adjust: this cycle is what enables strategic innovation. Turning failure into opportunity means giving teams the freedom to explore and progress.

Failure is therefore not a problem. Refusing to learn from it is. In sport, as in leadership, the difference between a good performer and a great performer is not the absence of failure, but how failure is used.