Too many leaders use sports analogies to try to motivate their employees. The fact is, sports are a terrible metaphor for business. Why? First, what makes football or basketball so exhilarating is that each game and each season has only one winner. In business virtually every industry has room for plenty of winners. The most successful companies, those that win big and create the most economic value, worry less about crushing the competition than about delighting and amazing their customers. Second, teamwork in most sports happens among players whose careers are short and whose loyalties last for the duration of their contracts. Companies should be focused on the long term — on attracting, growing, and retaining the best people in their fields and on creating an environment where great people do their best work year after year.
Adapted from "Why Sports Are a Terrible Metaphor for Business," by Bill Taylor
